Employee Profile: Dr. Michael Bandy

Photo provided by Rampage student photographer Natalie Burgess.

Dr. William Michael Bandy is one of many amazing professors at Bluefield University, and he continues to shape young minds through his passion for not only teaching, but also coaching.  

As an assistant professor of accounting at BU, Bandy teaches or has taught Principals of Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Accounting Info Systems, Auditing, Income Tax, Cost Accounting, Business Finance, Management Info Systems, Personal Leadership Strategies, and Intro to Business.

Along with being a professor, Bandy is also a certified public accountant (CPA), running an accounting services business that specializes in individual and business taxes, accounting, and consulting. 

“I started doing taxes on the side in 1998,” Bandy said, “and then purchased a small CPA firm in Richlands, Virginia, in 2001.”

On his way to becoming a CPA, Bandy earned a number of different degrees, including an associate’s degree in accounting from Southwest Virginia Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Bluefield State University, a master’s degree in taxation from Old Dominion University, and a doctorate in leadership from the University of the Cumberlands.

Bandy began teaching at BU in the fall of 2018, and for the past five years he has helped shape hundreds of young men and women into servant leaders. 

“I’ve taught seminars and various ‘mini-classes’ for other colleges and for the Virginia Society of Tax and Accounting Professionals,” Bandy said. “I wanted to go deeper into teaching, and that’s when Dr. Pat Neely (BU’s executive vice president for online and distance education) approached me about teaching business and accounting classes at Bluefield University.” 

Bandy said he uses a two-part approach to his instruction in the classroom, one that some might consider a rather unorthodox way of teaching.

“I would best define my teaching style as a mix of ‘sage on the stage,'” Bandy said, “where I talk about concepts and ‘guide to the side’ where the students and I work through problems together covering the concepts.” 

Many students, especially international students, have taken a liking to Bandy’s unorthodox teaching style.

“Dr. Bandy has done an amazing job at teaching in a way that is dynamic as he has the ability to teach the same thing in different ways to students who might not grasp knowledge in the same way,” said Adam Gymnander, who is one of Bandy’s current accounting students. “Being from Sweden, I feel like I learn in a much different way than that of my peers simply due to the language barrier, and Dr. Bandy has always done an amazing job at making sure that I am just as informed as my fellow classmates…He also does a great job at making the learning environment fun and enjoyable.”

Other students say Bandy makes learning enjoyable.

“Dr. Bandy has always been one of my favorite professors,” said Camila Coradi, another BU international student. “He has always made life in the classroom enjoyable all while teaching the material at a high level that is easy to comprehend.”

Bandy considers accounting to be extremely important when it comes to running a successful business and references it as “a language all on its own.”

“(Accounting) helps business owners, investors, employees, and lenders understand how a business operates fiscally,” Bandy said. 

Bandy encourages his students to understand accounting as he credits it with effectively and efficiently operating a business. 

“Several of our students are entrepreneurially-minded and see the benefit of understanding their business by being able to understand the numbers,” Bandy said. 

This is where Bandy finds much pride and a purpose when it comes to teaching.

“Nothing makes me prouder than my students graduating and telling me how they are using what they learned,” Bandy said.

Outside of the classroom and in addition to his accounting business, Bandy enjoys coaching soccer for a local recreation league and a high school program. In fact, he admits that a lot of his teaching skills have come from coaching.

“Coaching essentially is teaching, and I have been coaching for a very long time,” Bandy said. “I love watching the kids that I coach succeed.”

Ultimately, Bandy hopes to continue to shape young minds each and every day as it is his life’s mission to make the world a better place through coaching and teaching.