The College of Charleston’s School of Business has maintained its business and accounting accreditations by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The School of Business is part of an elite group that makes up less than five percent (570 institutions) of the world’s business schools to have earned business accreditation. In addition, only 170 institutions maintain an additional specialized AACSB accreditation for their accounting programs.
The AACSB International accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in management education. To maintain accreditation a business program must undergo a rigorous internal review every five years, at which the program must demonstrate its continued commitment to the 21 quality standards relating to faculty qualification, strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement and achievement of learning goals in degree programs.
To realize accounting accreditation, an institution must first earn or maintain AACSB International business accreditation. In addition to developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the 21 business quality standards, accounting accreditation requires the satisfaction of an additional set of 15 standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of accounting.
“It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn and maintain dual accreditation,” said Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty and staff must make a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality accounting education to students.”
Based on the Board’s review, its final report cited four best practices as “innovative and of interest to other management educators.” These four best practices include:
- Work with professional organizations in Charleston region and throughout the state. In addition, the School of Business has eight faculty members who hold the NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional credential.
- Hospitality and Tourism Management’s relationship with the Charleston tourism industry. Each student in the program is required to hold an internship before graduation. The report also cited the School’s Office of Tourism Analysis’ collaboration with the Charleston Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.
- Ongoing summer research funding for faculty members.
- Beginning Year Orientations for undergraduate accounting majors and MS Accountancy students.
“The credit goes to our committed faculty and staff for their excellent work in rigorous business education,” says Dr. Alan Shao, dean of the School of Business. “The review team gave us particularly high marks on our faculty, leadership and high quality continuous improvement in management education. With our dual accreditation, we are ready for growth in our undergraduate and graduate programs.”
About the School of Business
College of Charleston’s School of Business offers five undergraduate programs, a master’s in accountancy and an honors program. Approximately 1650 undergraduate and graduate students attend from as far away as China, Germany and Brazil. The faculty has research expertise in areas such as financial investment, bankruptcy, global logistics and environmental economics to business intelligence, hospitality and tourism and sustainable business practices. Visit sb.cofc.edu to learn more.
About AACSB International
AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), founded in 1916, is a membership association of almost 1,200 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations in 74 countries and territories. AACSB’s mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership. AACSB accreditation is the mark of quality distinction most widely sought after by business schools — less than 5% worldwide have earned the achievement. As the premier membership and accreditation body for institutions offering undergraduate, master’s and doctorate degrees in business and accounting, the association also conducts a wide array of conferences and seminar programs at locations throughout the world. AACSB’s global headquarters is located in Tampa, Florida, USA and its Asia headquarters is located in Singapore.
