The New Paltz School of Business is currently attempting to earn international certification from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
The AACSB visited New Paltz on Sept. 11 to Sept. 13. Three deans from other AACSB accredited business schools reviewed the school’s accomplishments of “past continuous improvement.”
“The mock team reviewed our academic programs and interviewed a large number of people from all areas of campus, students, business community and faculty to evaluate our readiness for the final accreditation visit,” said Hadi Salavitbar, dean of the School of Business.
According to Salavitabar, the mock visit went very well – better than the school expected.
“Our students were prepared,” Salavitbar said. “[They did] an excellent job in representing our school.”
Salavitabar believes that AACSB accreditation is prestigious and would bring recognition to the business program, as well as help recruit talented students and faculty. He said he feels that employers and graduate schools will look favorably upon students graduating from the school.
Director of Business Projects Danielle Semenchuk said the AACSB accreditation process is an intense seven-year process. A self-assessment and gap analysis were performed in the first two years and an Accreditation Plan was developed and approved by the AACSB. Three years were spent implementing the plan and closing the identified gaps. During this process, the school submitted a progress report every year to the AACSB. The school is currently in the last year of this process.
Student ambassadors for the School of Business visited each business class to inform students about the accreditation.
“Student input has been collected each semester through exit surveys. Student ambassadors helped the School inform their fellow students about AACSB accreditation and the team met with MBA and undergraduate students during the mock visit,” said Student Ambassador and fourth-year management major Eddie Monroy.
Fiona Lee, a fourth-year marketing major, worked with Semenchuk over the summer to create a promotional plan for the mock visit.
“The suggestions were taken upon consideration by Dean Salavidabar, which we then took charge in hiring qualified students as student ambassadors to speak with other students when school started,” Lee said. “We also prepared promotional materials to be distributed to students, faculty members, staff and the Business Advisory Council.”
According to AACSB, as of July 2011, only 633 schools around the world have this type of certification. Lee said the AACSB accreditation “allows us to reach out to more professionals who acknowledges schools that are AACSB accredited and obtain more opportunities in regards to graduate schools and the work force.”
Monroy said he believes garnering this recognition will greatly benefit students in the end.
“With this prestigious AACSB accreditation our Business School jumps up to the 2 percent of international schools with AACSB. It helps students get into graduate schools that require you to come from an AACSB school and employers look favorably to schools with this accreditation,” Monroy said. “The accreditation will only reinforce the top quality education we receive from this highly selective school.”