(2014). AACSB International’s 2013 Accreditation Standards: Implications for Faculty and Deans, . 7(2), 86-107.

Abstract

Higher education, particularly collegiate management and business education, has undergone significant changes since AACSB International’s last major revision of accreditation standards in 2003. These changes include incorporating the impact of global financial crises, increasing globalization, integrating new teaching technologies, and the emergence of large for-profit competitors. Recently, AACSB’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation Quality (BRC) developed a new set of standards to address the role of collegiate business schools in the turbulent environment of the 21st Century. Adopted by AACSB accredited members on April 8, 2013, the new standards place emphasis on (1) innovation, (2) impact, and (3) engagement, while retaining the 2003 standards’ focus on (4) quality, (5) assurance of learning (AOL), and (6) accreditation processes (Bisoux, 2013). Given the prominence of AACSB in management education policy and practice, this paper presents a discussion of how these “new” standards differ from the previous accreditation standards and implications for business faculty and deans. The study is concluded by offering suggestions for future research on the new standards.