Scott Copeland (he/him) is the Program Director - Bachelor of Commerce. During his time at the University fo South Australia, which he joined in 1998, Scott's role as a Senior Lecturer involved him coordinating one of the large first year financial accounting courses as well as teaching across a range of accounting courses before taking on the role of Program Director - Bachelor of Accounting in 2023. Scott served on numerous committees througout his tenure at UniSA, including various Teaching and Learning committees and was elected in 2020 to serve on the Business Academic Unit Board.
Scott’s academic career focusses on the development of high quality and engaging courses for first year accounting students studying on-campus, online and internationally. His teaching philosophy centres on the premise that academics are facilitators rather than deliverers of content and should be providing opportunities to learn and guidance on how to achieve that learning.
Scott’s research interests centre on accounting education, with a particular focus on student development and the transition from secondary education into the tertiary sector. From 2019 - 2024 Scott held the elected position of co-Chair of the AFAANZ Accounting Education Special Interest Group, having previously served as Secretary since 2014. This research focus complements Scott’s previous career as a secondary school teacher and his continuing involvement with this sector as a Lead Practitioner for Accounting with the SACE Board, a position he has held since 2000, working to develop resources and ensure the subject provides high school students with an insight into the work accountants do.
Scott is also member of Chartered Accountants – Australia and New Zealand and joining the SA/NT Regional Council in at the beginning of 2025 before being elected as Chair for 2026. Scott has a long history of working closely with the accounting professional bodies in exploring the opportunities to encourage secondary school students to choose to further their studies in business at university and preparing tertiary students to join the accounting profession.