Abstract The article presents information on the Statement of Members' Opinions is submitted on behalf of the American Taxation Association (ATA). The ATA, chartered In New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1974 as an independent organization largely of tax accounting professors, became the Tax Section of the AAA in 1978. Membership In the ATA grew rapidly from a charter group of about 25 members to approximately 900 members today. The decision to survey the entire ATA membership on the issues of (1) degree and (2) experience credentials for tax accounting professors arose because of a lively floor debate at the annual ATA convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 22, 1979. That floor debate followed an ATA Executive Committee report concerning recommendations which had been made by various professional accounting groups to accept the Juris Doctorate as satisfying terminal degree requirements for tax accounting professors in AAPC's plans for accreditation of educational accounting programs. Additional background information concerning this membership survey is included in the Appendix entitled "A Statement of the Issues."
Ray M. Sommerfeld (Sun,) studied this question.