Business schools will have more freedom to determine who teachesand to decide what academic goals students are required to achieveunder new accreditation standards approved Friday.
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business metApril 25 to revise its accreditation standards in an effort tobetter meet the needs of today's business students, said Milton R.Blood, director of accreditation.
Instead of requiring the number of full-time professors withdoctorates a business school must have, the new standards requireschools to prove 75 percent of the program is taught by "facultymembers who actively participate" in its students' education. Apart-time instructor who advises students outside of the class andserves on committees would qualify as an "actively participating"faculty member, while an adjunct who simply teaches a class andleaves would not.
Proponents of the changes say the new faculty requirements willmake it easier for schools with shrinking budgets, like TheUniversity of Memphis, to hire faculty without doctorate degreeswithout the risk of losing their accreditation.
Blood said even though the new standards give business schoolsmore flexibility in hiring, the new standards are actually tougherthan the old ones.
Business schools will now have to set their owngoal-accomplishing curriculum and then create ways of measuringwhether they have succeeded in those goals, according to the newaccreditation standards.
"The new standards leave it up to each institution to decidewhat those goals should be and how they should be measured," Bloodsaid.
Relinquishing the control of the curriculum to each school,AACSB officials said, allows each program to be tailored to theneeds to of the community it serves and the mission of theschool.
Blood said the new faculty requirements, coupled with the new"goal setting" requirement, lets each school uniquely structure itsprogram around emerging technology and new schools of thought thatchange the way corporations conduct business.
"What is expected of corporations from the government changeswith each administration and technology changes at such a fastpace," Blood said. "Business schools need the flexibility to designprograms that adequately prepare students for what they will facein professional settings, even when those settings change with theseasons."
Also under new accreditation standards, business schools will bereviewed every five years instead of every 10 years. The processwill involve less time and paperwork making the accreditationprocess take less time and go more smoothly, AACSB officialssaid.
Accreditation is a process of voluntary, non-governmental reviewof educational institutions and programs. Schools that are notaccredited attract fewer students and less government funding.
