A year earlier than expected, a board of deans from business schools around the country has reaffirmed the accreditation of The Fogelman College of Business and Economics at The University of Memphis.
Business school deans from Vanderbilt, Purdue, Brigham Young, Southern Methodist and other universities have agreed that the college meets the standards of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the premier accrediting agency for business schools.
In February of 2000, the AACSB’s team, found problems with the Fogelman College and gave the college three years to fix them.
The problems included inadequate financial resources, too many off-campus classes taught by part-time faculty, lack of adequate equipment and technological resources, a helter-skelter method of determining faculty salaries and an ineffective administrative structure.
“The entire faculty became focused on accomplishing this reaffirmation task, and we corrected all problem areas. We did it in two years,” Dr. John Pepin, dean of the business college said, after the AACSB’s visit.
$10 to $20 have been added to the tuition of undergraduate and graduate business students. The surcharge is expected to generate approximately $689,500 by 2003.
State funding for the college has increased by 16 percent from 2003 to 1999, according to statistics.
Donations to the college have grown from $2.1 million in 2000 to $5.4 million in 2002.
The college has added 14 additional professors.
The school has new computers, new projectors, new furniture, multimedia computer technology and interactive video-conferencing, where, Pepin said, “The captains of the industry talk from their offices to the classroom students who have microphones and can interact with the professional.”
The school is utilizing distance learning through video-conferences between professors on the main campus and students at off-campus locations.
For 2003, faculty salaries will be raised 2 percent across the board and 3 percent for merit.
Several academic departments have been created within the college. This is different from previous years when professors were directly responsible to the dean.
In October, the Fogelman college requested that the AACSB send another team to the school to evaluate its progress. Composed of Dr. Mandell of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Dr. Singleton of the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, the team recommended a reaffirmation of accreditation. Reaffirmation is a process that occurs every 10 years.
The AASCB endorsed the team’s findings.
The AASCB report said, “The review strongly suggests that the ensuing dramatic improvements…are not cosmetic, but represent lasting structural and cultural changes that bode well for...continuous improvement and high quality in all their endeavors.”
The report also said, “If ever a case were to be made to reward a faculty for strategic planning and continuous improvement, the FCBE qualifies. They are a poster child for the AACSB’s leadership in establishing processes that fully engage all of a business school’s stakeholders.”
