College of Business achieves major
re-accreditation
By : Michael Gibb
The hard work paid off. The College of Business (CB) has achieved a five-year AACSB re-accreditation, which is a significant contribution to its international profile.
CB remains ranked among a highly select group of top business schools worldwide. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which has over 1,700 member organisations and more than 870 accredited business schools, has been maintaining the highest possible standards of excellence among business schools since 1916 through rigorous criteria and standards set for its peer reviews and consultations.
“The AACSB exercise provides us with an excellent opportunity to benchmark with international standards,” says Professor Yan Houmin, Acting Dean of CB and Chair Professor of Management Sciences.
Professor Yan Houmin“The accreditation facilitates us in lining up student exchange agreements, programme collaborations and other academic exchange activities with prestigious AACSB-accredited institutions around the world,” he adds.
CB’s approach to internationalisation received particular commendation in the AACSB review. More than 60% of CB undergraduates have been involved in education abroad activities, notably exchange and summer programmes. In addition to preparing them to be globally engaged citizens, the overseas service-learning initiatives promote the need to be socially aware citizens. Numerous global study trips are available for CB’s executive and postgraduate learning partners, too.
CB first gained AACSB accreditation in 2005. For the new re-accreditation exercise, an AACSB peer review team obtained deeper insights and perspectives on CB’s performance and achievements over the last five years through a series of interviews with all CB’s stakeholders, including management, faculty and staff, students, alumni, employers and advisory board members.
“Re-accreditation is important for CB and CityU because it assures that we have attained internationally recognised standards.”
“Our success is driven by our timely curriculum updates and new programmes, which ensure our offerings remain relevant and meet societal needs.”“It is indicative to CB’s corporate and industry partners as well as prospective employers that our graduates are well prepared, while prospective students and parents can better appreciate the quality education delivered in our business school,” says Dr Mary Pang Yuet-ngor, Associate Dean (Internationalisation) of the College.
Essentially, while AACSB periodically updates its accreditation standards, the fundamental criteria used for the assessment of outcomes in CB’s latest two re-accreditation exercises, in 2014 and 2019, have remained unchanged.
That said, the underpinning principles for AACSB accreditation are “Innovation, Impact and Engagement”, requiring CB to innovate and improve. CB’s vision, mission and strategic plan is one of the most critical areas to be reviewed.
“With the continuous development and progress that the College has made over the past five years, CB has updated its vision and strategic goals, signalling a transition from a relatively young business school that sought affirmation of its status and a more reputational orientation to an established business school that identifies and pursues its strategic research and teaching mission with assurance,” Dr Pang adds.
The results of these efforts have placed CB among the world’s top 50 business schools due to its high-quality innovative research outputs.
“Our success is driven by our timely curriculum updates and new programmes, which ensure our offerings remain relevant and meet societal needs,” Professor Yan says.
Examples include re-structuring the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) curriculum to facilitate students taking double majors; the launch of the Executive Master of Business Administration with a public-private partnership concentration in collaboration with Tsinghua University, and a new Master of Science in Accounting and Finance with AI and Fintech Applications in collaboration with the Beijing National Accounting Institute.
The response from students has been positive. Tim Chung Tok-tin, BBA in Global Business Systems Management (Year 4) says the re-accreditation is a big plus for students.
“Being an accredited institution means more exchange opportunities with other institutions around the globe,” he says.
Josephine Keung Wang-wai, BBA in Finance (Year 2), singled out her international experience, saying she was honoured to have the opportunity to participate in the Young Scholars Programme’s study project to Seoul in May 2019.
“The study tour not only broadened my horizons through site visits, but also enriched my knowledge and understanding of the operational processes of top business corporations. I built a strong bond with my group mates from different countries and backgrounds,” she says.
Professor Yan says he is very grateful to the AACSB for visiting CityU. “We’d like to thank the AACSB peer review team for all their hard work. The team visited when the social climate was tense and we are particularly grateful for their constructive comments and generous sharing of their experiences,” he says.
