The BuffBusiness eNewsletter No. 1 October 2008

Welcome to the first edition of the BuffBusiness eNewsletter! In this and future editions we'll keep you informed about all the major happenings in the College of Business. We are quite settled into our temporary digs in the Old Fine Arts Building, but at the same time anxiously awaiting our return to the renovated facilities in the Classroom Center. By this time next year all of our students will likely be enjoying the very latest in high-tech classroom gadgetry.

In this issue you will read about our effort to attain accreditation by AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. While the process may seem long, we are actually well on our way. During the summer we made significant progress on our application, including the development of an assessment platform that will allow us to regularly monitor and improve our courses and programs.

You'll also get to meet our six new faculty. We are thrilled to welcome such a diverse group of qualified professors to our College, hailing from major universities all over the US. Their teaching and research skills are welcome additions, greatly increasing our breadth of teaching interests and research topics. Please join us in welcoming them to WTAMU.

Finally, you will read about several other things going on. There are lots of little changes that, added up, reflect our spirit of change in the COB. And if you'd like to correspond with us, feel free to email us.

Q&A with the Dean

Topic: AACSB Accreditation for the College of Business

by Dr. Neil Terry

Question 1. Could you please give a brief overview on what AACSB accreditation is?
AACSB stands for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, and accreditation by the association is entrance into the "Golden Tier" of Business Schools. It provides business schools that have achieved AACSB accreditation with an elite standing in Higher Education. Accreditation is a process of voluntary, non-governmental review of the educational institution that is seeking accreditation by the association. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive review of 20 fundamental quality standards.

Question 2. Could you give a brief overview of the accreditation steps and where WT is in the process?
Achieving AACSB is a long and difficult process. The basic steps for an institution to achieve AACSB accreditation are as follows: (1) Become a member of AACSB; (2) Learn the 20 quality standards; (3) Assess current standing and future needs in order to meet the AACSB standards; (4) Prepare an intensive pre-application document to determine eligibility; (5) If eligibility requirements are met, a mentor is assigned to the institution to review the program and to offer advice on how to meet accreditation requirements; (6) Apply for accreditation and create an accreditation plan; (7) Participate in an extensive peer review process for three to five years as part of a final review for AACSB accreditation. We are currently working on step 6.

Question 3. When will WT be accredited?
The process normally takes five to seven years from start to finish. We started the process in the fall of 2007 and appear to be on a five-year track.

Questions 4. How will WT benefit?
WT is moving toward being a first choice University. Achieving AACSB accreditation is an external stamp of quality verifying that we are an elite University. The achievement should help the University reach national recognition in outlets such as the rankings published by U.S. News and World Reports. AACSB accreditation will give the College of Business distinction as being in the top 10% of all business programs in the world.

Question 5. How will AACSB efforts affect students?
Students will be part of the AACSB process. I am in the process of establishing a student advisory board in order to gain immediate feedback from students throughout the accreditation process. In addition, students and faculty members are accountable for program learning outcomes via a national business exam. Part of our commitment as an aspirant for AACSB accreditation is to show that our faculty effectively teaches and our students learn core business concepts. This requires explicit learning objectives in courses, higher standards for graduation, and decent scores on standardized exams like the Business Major Field ETS exam.

Question 6. How does AACSB accreditation affect me if I graduate before our program formally earns it?
The AACSB accreditation is a quality standard and reputation builder for our program. All present, future, and past graduates of our business program can claim they graduated from an AACSB accredited school once we earn accreditation. Current students that will graduate before the AACSB journey is complete are extremely important as they demonstrate our foundation of quality and absorb the needed changes to our programs.

Question 7. How will AACSB efforts affect the faculty?
AACSB standards require that faculty have quality credentials and maintain their human capital currency via continuous research. Most AACSB aspirants have a problem meeting the faculty credentials and research standards required but WT is fortunate to have high quality faculty that are actively engaged in research. Most of our faculty members already meet AACSB standards, which gives us a realistic opportunity to expedite the accreditation process.

Question 8. What will this mean for the future of WT?
The future of WT is very bright and the College of Business is happy to be a contributor in the effort towards national recognition. Elite accreditation and achieving national ranking is an important source of pride to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, employers, and other stakeholders. I believe our stakeholders deserve to be associated with the highest level of quality and this is an initiative that we will achieve together.