Profile Showcase: It All Adds Up For Accounting Adjunct Edward Altemus

By Adolfo Gonzalez

Every Tuesday at around 3:50 p.m. Edward Altemus leaves his office at UHCL to walk down the hall and into a classroom, where he teaches a course in Managerial Accounting.

“I actually have a full time staff job here,” said Edward Altemus, adjunct instructor in accounting, “and I have a professional credential in the area that I teach.”

Altemus received his B.S. in accounting in 1966 from Pennsylvania State University. He received his master’s degree in accounting at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 1995.
 
“I attended Penn State a long time ago, right after they discovered electricity,” Altemus joked.

Before coming to UHCL Altemus worked at two different places. He was an accounting supervisor for U.S. Steel for 12 years, and then he became a practicing certified public accountant with a partners firm called Medelovitz, Altemus, Urban CPAs for about 16 years.

Altemus went from being a CPA to teaching accounting at UHCL. Altemus has been teaching at UHCL for 14 years.

He worked as full-time faculty in the School of Business teaching accounting courses for about eight years. Five years ago he accepted his full-time staff position at UHCL, but he still teaches Managerial Accounting courses in the evenings.

“I went from full-time faculty to, actually, what they call ‘participating faculty,’ that’s an adjunct that does more than just adjunct, it’s a new classification for the last two years now,” Altemus said “There’s a couple of people like me who are adjuncts, but we do much more than that. We go to faculty meetings, we vote, we’re actually on the faculty, but we don’t get paid as faculty, except adjunct.”

“One thing students seem to prefer and acknowledge is instructors who have had real world experience,” Altemus said “Students tend to prefer people who have been there rather than people who have studied about it.”

“Professors who have worked in what they teach, always seem to have a better grasp of the subject matter,” said Yajaira Pulido, currently working on her master’s degree in business “I think they bring a lot of real world experience to the classroom, and that’s a good thing.”

“In reality, I’m not just teaching for money; adjuncts don’t make a lot of money, but I found that I’m very clear about my mission in life,” Altemus said “My mission is to have people see all their alternatives and then be empowered to choose again.”

Altemus said it took him a long time to realize his mission in life. That was really important to him and the students get that right away. “The students get that I’m out for them to win,” Altemus said “I’m an adult, I’m already handled so I’m here for them to win.”