Achieving AACSB Accreditation: Pathway to High-Quality Business Education

1. Achieving AACSB Accreditation: Pathway to High Quality Business Education and International Legitimacy by Prof. Dr. Zafar U. Ahmed BBA (New York), MBA (Texas), Ph.D., (Texas) President and CEO Academy for Global Business Advancement Fort Worth, Texas, USA

2. My Accreditation Background • Regional accreditation reports on three different continents. • AACSB Peer Review Team member • AACSB accreditation mentor • AACSB accredited program

3. Accreditation What is accreditation? “Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental process that includes an external review of a school’s ability to provide quality programs.”

4. Business School Accreditation • AACSB – Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business • EQUIS – European Quality Improvement System • ACBSP – Accreditation Counsel for Business Schools and Programs • AMBA – Association of MBAs

5. Why Accreditation? • 95% of accredited schools report that AACSB accreditation improves quality. • Curriculum • Program design • Delivery methods • Recruiting high quality faculty and students (91%) • Opening the door to international partnership (83%) • Enhancing faculty morale (96%) • Thought leadership

6. Why Accreditation? International Accreditation Signals Legitimacy

7. How Do We Do It? • Submit an Eligibility Application • Enter the Pre-Accreditation Process • Initial Accreditation • Maintenance of Accreditation

8. Eligibility Core Values and Guiding Principles • Ethics • Collegiate Environment • Commitment to Corporate and Social Responsibility

9. Eligibility • Become a member of AACSB • Offer degree-granting programs in business or management • Programs must be supported by continuing resources • Programs must ensure oversight and accountability • Scoping programs to be included

10. Pre-Accreditation • A process of assessment and feedback by: • AACSB staff • Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC) chair • Assigned a mentor • Pre-accreditation committee liaison • Create a standards alignment plan to align with AACSB accreditation standards (up to 2 years) with the mentor’s assistance. • Mentor reviews plan and makes a report to the Pre-Accreditation Committee and the Initial Accreditation Committee • IAC reviews plan (objectives, progress checkpoints, measurements of progress, accountability, specific, quantifiable, realistic, comprehensive) • Annual progress reports from school and mentor reviewed by the IAC

11. Initial Accreditation • Once Standards Alignment Plan has been implemented, team applies to start the initial accreditation process. • Peer review team appointed • Mentor meets with peer review team chair • Self-evaluation report is sent to peer review team by the university • Chair send letter to IAC recommending visit or no visit • Peer review takes place • Peer review report submitted to IAC • Board ratifies and sends letter to applicant

12. Peer Review Team Visit • Three deans from accredited schools. • Two day visit • Meet with all stakeholders including students, faculty, staff, industry representatives, alumni • Seeking to substantiate report content • Make a judgment and present results to dean and university president before departing

13. AACSB Philosophy • Innovation • Impact • Engagement

14. Standards • Strategic Management and Innovation • Participants – Students, Faculty, and Professional Staff • Learning and Teaching • Academic and Professional Engagement

15. Strategic Management and Innovation • Standard 1: Mission, Impact and Innovation • Standard 2: Intellectual Contributions, Impact, and Alignment with Mission • Standard 3: Financial Strategies and Allocation of Resources

16. Participants • Standard 4: Student Admissions, Progression and Career Development • Standard 5: Faculty Sufficiency and Deployment • Standard 6: Faculty Management and Support • Standard 7: Professional Staff Sufficiency and Support

17. Learning and Teaching • Standard 8: Curricula Management and Assurance of Learning • Standard 9: Curriculum Content • Standard 10: Student-Faculty Interactions • Standard 11: Degree Program Educational Level, Structure, and Equivalence • Standard 12: Teaching Effectiveness

18. Academic & Professional Engagement • Standard 13: Student Academic and Professional Engagement • Standard 14: Executive Education • Standard 15: Faculty Qualifications and Engagement

19. Maintenance of Accreditation • Accreditation is an ongoing process of continuous improvement • 5-year review • Largely the same steps as Initial Accreditation • Greater focus on consultation by peer review team

20. Keys to AACSB Accreditation • Mission Driven Process • Continuous Improvement • Strategic Planning • Faculty Qualifications • Sufficiency of Faculty • Assurance of Learning Outcomes • Stakeholder Involvement • Impact

21. Keys: Mission Through exceptional business education, we help students become successful professionals who build our community.

22. Core Themes • Delta: Maximize student improvement through engaged learning. • Placement: Help students obtain and succeed in careers aligned with their goals. • Scholarship with Impact: Produce and promote research that improves business education and practice. • Reach: Serve as many people in our community as we can.

23. Keys: Continuous Improvement The key to obtaining AACSB accreditation is to demonstrate that the school is engaged in a continuous process of self-examination that leads to improvement on relevant outcomes.

24. Keys: Strategic Planning • Ongoing process • Clearly tied to mission • Involves major stakeholders • Faculty • Staff • Students • External constituencies • Specific

25. Sample Strategic Objectives • Scholarship: Produce and promote research that improves business education and practice. • Measures • Number of Peer reviewed publications: _______ • Number of students researching with faculty: _______ • Number of students published: _______ • Number of professionals contacted: _______ • Number of practitioner publications: _______ • Number of organizations involved in research: _______ • Number of faculty externships: _______ • Dollars raised for endowment: _______

26. Keys: Faculty Qualifications

27. Keys: Faculty Sufficiency • Participating faculty • Supporting faculty • 75% of faculty must be participating

28. Keys: Assurance of Learning • Providing evidence that students are learning what you say they are learning • Direct vs indirect measures • Closing the loop

29. OurEssential Learning Outcomes • Graduates will have a functional and integrated knowledge of basic general business concepts and disciplines. • Graduates will be able to express their knowledge and ideas appropriately in writing and through verbal presentation. • Graduates will be able to demonstrate effectiveness in the use of quantitative business tools. • Graduates will be able to utilize appropriate procedures, frameworks, models, and experience to gain knowledge, solve problems, and make appropriate decisions based on various informational sources.

30. Key: Stakeholders Accreditation is not a process that resides in the dean’s office. It is about creating a process and culture of continuous improvement that involves all key stakeholders in improving student learning outcomes and the overall quality of the school.

31. Key: Impact • Mission alignment • Academic • Instructional • Practice/community • Student Success

32. AACSB Accreditation What questions do you have? How may I be of help to you?