AACSB Logo. Photo Credit: aacsb.edu
SUNY Old Westbury’s (OW) School of Business became accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), according to the University.
AACSB is a nonprofit association that aims to foster leadership among the next generation of college students. The association wants “to transform business education globally for positive societal impact” by upholding values such as diversity, ethics, and social responsibility, as reported by its website.
The association describes itself as “the longest-standing, most recognized form of specialized accreditation that an institution and its business programs can earn.” The process to become accredited isn’t an easy one. Rather, the AACSB comprehensively and thoroughly examines each school working towards an accreditation. “Each accreditation standard assesses a school’s ability to perform in critical areas, such as teaching, research, curricula development, and student learning,” according to its website. Committees, mentors, and review teams are all involved. The involved parties must unanimously decide that the school has fulfilled the criteria and is meeting the standards of an AACSB-accredited school before it earns the honor, the website says.
After having its application of interest accepted, OW’s School of Business started the five-year, tedious accreditation process. “You need data, you need encouragement, [and] you need people to clean the building for the accreditation visit. Everybody is involved in the process in order to make this happen, and in the report, they comment on all of those things,” said Dr. Shalei Simms, the Acting Dean of the School of Business. She recognizes the importance of every team member who worked towards earning the accreditation.
There are six main features of what it means to be AACSB-accredited: Commitment, Connection, Relevance, Societal Impact, Quality, and Continuous Improvement. SUNY OW’s School of Business embraces these qualities. “I think AACSB does a very good job in making sure that schools uphold these principles,” Dr. Simms expressed. She explained how the School of Business actively focuses on social justice and having a positive societal impact. Additionally, the staff members of the School of Business have been continuously “very involved in assessing [the] curriculum, making sure that everything stayed up to date, [and] making changes as [they] saw fit” before and after earning the accreditation, Dr. Simms said. “We think about who we are as an institution. Focusing on diversity and all the benefits that come from being a diverse campus allowed us to really integrate that in the accreditation process.”
Looking forward, Dr. Simms wants to continue to cultivate a high-quality education within the School of Business. Focusing on the continual improvement of the school is important, she said, “because it makes sure that our current students are getting the quality education that they deserve, but also that we are constantly in the process of renewing and rejuvenating the curriculum to make sure that everyone going forward has that same benefit.”
Attending an AACSB-accredited school is an accomplishment in and of itself. “Less than 6 percent of business schools worldwide have obtained AACSB accreditation,” according to the AACSB website. Dr. Simms and the OW team that made this possible are extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished, and Dr. Simms said that she hopes students and alumni feel the same.
SUNY OW currently offers four undergraduate programs in the School of Business: Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Finance, and Bachelor of Science in Marketing. The school’s website also says that there are two combined five-year undergraduate/graduate programs – B.S./M.S. in Accounting and B.S./M.S.in Accounting/Taxation – in addition to three graduate offerings.
