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

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

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.” Process of continuous improvement. Talk about institutional accreditation and specialized accreditation.

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

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 91% leads to higher quality faculty and students 83% partnerships 96% faculty morale booster – badge of honor AACSB conferences and publications help keep us up to speed on what is happening in the field.

International Accreditation Signals Legitimacy Why Accreditation? Talk about the GMAT, ISO, and other types of standards. AACSB and other accreditations do the same thing. We will speak about the standards represented by AACSB presently. Scotland Partnership International Accreditation Signals Legitimacy

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

Eligibility Core Values and Guiding Principles Ethics Collegiate Environment Commitment to Corporate and Social Responsibility A – Ethics: The School must encourage and support ethical behavior by students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff. - Policies in place addressing legal and ethical behavior including how breaches are addressed. B – Collegiate Environment: The school maintains a collegiate environment in which students, faculty, administrators, professional staff, and practitioners interact and collaborate in support of learning, scholarship, and community engagement - 1) requires learning and scholarship of university caliber, 2) interaction and engagement between students, faculty, administrators, professional staff, and practitioners, 3) faculty involvement in governance. C – Commitment to Corporate and Social Responsibility: The school must demonstrate a commitment to address, engage, and respond to current and emerging corporate social responsibility issues through its policies, procedures, curricula, research and/or outreach activities. - 1) Diversity as culturally embedded, 2) Sustainable development and other CSR issue, 3) Cultural differences *Talk about diversity in terms of BYU, Zayed University, and Utah Valley University

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 Scoping 25% of a bachelor’s degree courses in business and 50% at master’s level Accreditation by other bodies may allow exclusion, specialized degree programs such as hotel and restaurant management, degrees offered on a separate or independent campus – it is a question of branding, external market perception, financial relationships, and autonomy

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 Mentor comes – helps to understand standards and processes. Mentor leaves – university team works on standards alignment plan. This is really a strategic plan for the school which also discusses gaps in where the school wants to be.

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

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

AACSB Philosophy Innovation Impact Engagement Innovation – Focused on the quality of education and supporting functions. Supports demanding but realistic thresholds while challenging b-schools to innovate through a process of continuous improvement. Striking a balance between quality and consistency, on the one hand, and creativity and experimentation on the other. Impact – We live in an era of increasing accountability. We are accountable for demonstrating student learning and the impact of our intellectual contributions/scholarship on business theory, teaching, and practice. We should also demonstrate that we make a difference in business and society. Engagement – We need both academic and professional engagement. Left up to the mission of the school but consistent with an acceptable definition of quality. Shows up in the people hired (new balance in initial qualification) and their ongoing activities to remain qualified.

Standards Strategic Management and Innovation Participants – Students, Faculty, and Professional Staff Learning and Teaching Academic and Professional Engagement Emphasize that these standards are meant to build enduring but cutting edge quality.

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 These are the standards by which the school will be evaluated in the initial accreditation

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

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 Evaluate progress, early identification on retention, intervention, separate help programs Faculty understand expectations of time investments in coursework – review of syllabi, lecture notes, etc..

Academic & Professional Engagement Standard 13: Student Academic and Professional Engagement Standard 14: Executive Education Standard 15: Faculty Qualifications and Engagement 15 90% SA, SP, PA, or IP with at least 40% AQ and 60% SA, PA, or SP

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

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

Keys: Mission Through exceptional business education, we help students become successful professionals who build our community. The key here is that AACSB’s evaluation of your school depends on your mission. While all schools must provide some kind of scholarship, a heavy research school will be evaluated differently than a more teaching focused school. We are meant to be doing community outreach. How do we do this? How do we show that we are doing this? (Doing Business with China, tracking student engagement projects, work of our boards, participation on external boards, market research center… Again, the key is that we are checking our performance against our mission in an effort to make sure we are delivering what we promise and improving how we deliver on those promises. By the new standards, this mission is probably too generic in a way. There is a desire to to differentiate much more here.

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.

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. Set this up as a lens by which we will explore all facets of accreditation. Writing lab example

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

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: _______ Highlight how these tie to the mission.

Keys: Faculty Qualifications Others are less than 10% SA>40% SA+PA+SP>60

Keys: Faculty Sufficiency Participating faculty Supporting faculty 75% of faculty must be participating Curriculum development, course development, course delivery, academic assistance, academic advising, career advising, committee service, assessment of learning, clubs, etc… Recognizes that there exists a body of work that is to be carried out that goes beyond the classroom. A real key here is the interaction between students and faculty and the interaction between faculty to create a coherent approach. This cannot be done by a small group. It requires the vast majority of the faculty to be involved.

Keys: Assurance of Learning Providing evidence that students are learning what you say they are learning Direct vs indirect measures Closing the loop This is the area that probably gives schools the greatest challenge. Direct vs indirect – measuring the learning outcome itself vs asking someone how well they learned it. Both are acceptable but you must have direct measures. Writing Initiative

Our Essential 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. Talk about how we measure the first one. We were coming up short. Tell them how we are closing the loop. Absolute level of student performance does not matter as much as direction – closing the loop.

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.

Key: Impact Mission alignment Academic Instructional Practice/community Student Success I am calling this a key as it is one of three pillars and new

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