College of Business Administration extends its accreditation with AACSB International
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019
MANHATTAN — AACSB International, or AACSB, has extended accreditation for Kansas State University's College of Business Administration in both business and accounting.
For more than a century, AACSB accreditation has been synonymous with the highest standards in business education and has been earned by only 5 percent of the world's schools offering business degrees at the bachelor's degree level or higher. Less than 23 percent of those schools hold supplemental AACSB accreditation for their accounting programs.
"AACSB congratulates Kansas State University on extending its accreditation," said Stephanie M. Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. "The intense peer-review process confirms a school's continued focus on excellence in all areas, including teaching, research, curricula development and student learning. Kansas State University's dedication to delivering high-quality business education will create the next generation of great leaders."
Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal focus, engagement with an AACSB-assigned mentor and peer-reviewed evaluation. During this multiyear path, the college focuses on developing and implementing a plan to align with AACSB's accreditation standards. These standards require excellence in areas relating to strategic management and innovation; student, faculty and staff as active participants; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement.
To achieve accounting accreditation, an institution must first earn AACSB business accreditation. Then, in addition to developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the business accreditation quality standards, accounting accreditation requires the satisfaction of a supplemental set of standards specific to the discipline and profession of accounting. Once accreditation is achieved, each institution participates in a five-year continuous improvement peer review to maintain high quality and extend its accreditation.
"I am extremely proud of the work that has been done by our faculty and staff to extend our AACSB accreditation," said Kevin Gwinner, Edgerley family dean of the College of Business Administration. "The strategic planning initiative we have undergone in conjunction with the AACSB accreditation process ensures that we will continue to provide a clear path to success for our students, and reaffirms K-State's status as a world-class business education institution."
Through that accreditation and strategic planning process, the college has identified three themes to focus its efforts on over the next five years: reinventing student experiences, expanding external collaborations and strengthening the foundations for enterprise sustainability and growth.
Reinventing student experiences starts with a fundamental review and assessment of the classroom content the college delivers, along with the methods of delivery. The college will reallocate resources toward academic content and delivery methods that drive significant improvement in students' education and job preparation. This will include new interdisciplinary educational opportunities with other colleges, an emphasis on high-achieving students through a revamped honors student experience, the growth of internship experiences and a renewed emphasis on instilling a global mindset.
Expanding external collaborations will be achieved through building strong relationships with alumni and industry, providing research-based insights to impact business practice, and better communicating the college's capabilities and successes with key constituents. To this end, the college will support impactful faculty research and purposefully create opportunities for faculty, students and staff to have meaningful interactions with business executives.
Strengthening the foundations for enterprise sustainability and growth will focus on building a strong organizational culture. This includes improvements to new student recruitment, student retention, graduation rates and job placement; communicating the college's message utilizing new platforms and mechanisms; and securing sustaining financial resources.
"Congratulations to our College of Business Administration for this continued AACSB accreditation, recognizing through rigorous peer review our ongoing excellence in business education, external collaborations and organizational culture," said Charles Taber, provost and executive vice president of Kansas State University. "I would like to thank the faculty and staff in the College of Business Administration who work so hard to support student success and opportunity."
