AACSB announced new set of accreditation norms

AACSB International announced the new set of accreditation standards for the world’s top notch business schools. The main aim behind issuing these new norms is to increase the standard of business education, which will meet the growing challenges of the field. These standards will help the business schools to redefine the future of management education.

After more than two years of study and collaboration with the global management education community, AACSB’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation Quality (BRC) has critically examined the market requirements, re-considered definitions of excellence and role of accreditations and focus more on defining new standards that drive innovation in business schools and create and sustain values for students, employers and the communities they serve.

Colleges must go beyond quality and ensure that business schools also have an impact through both scholarly education and the creation of new knowledge. These business schools must develop special engagement between students, faculty members and business professionals. They should also focus on fostering meaningful interactions to create and share knowledge that is both scholarly and relevant to practice.

Joseph DiAnglo, chair of the AACSB Board of Directors and Dean of Erivan K Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University, said, "Business schools are at a time of unprecedented change. To remain current, leaders within the industry had to stand back and evaluate where management education needed to go. Throughout this process, we looked deeply at the marketplace to determine new routes to relevance, to ensure business schools are developing the type of leaders that society needs for the future. The changes will keep business schools at the heart of global commerce."

Designed to offer business schools the flexibility to innovate to meet the rapidly changing needs of the employer and student market-AACSB considered as highest authority for granting accreditation for excellent standards of education. Now, these new standards will provide a benchmark for excellence.

Richard E. Sorensen, chair of the BRC, and dean of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, said, "The new environment calls for schools to focus on their distinctive mission and value proposition. Students, employers, and society as a whole expect a great deal from business schools—especially when it comes to addressing the most challenging issues of the world. In this context of constant change, the new accreditation standards will not only validate quality management education and impactful research, but also help business schools provide the leadership, skills, and knowledge necessary to the communities they serve."