26 October 2008

TO:        AACSB International Accreditation Council and AACSB Member Institutions

FROM:  Jerry E. Trapnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Accreditation Officer

Re: Exposure draft of revised AACSB business accreditation standards

AACSB International accreditation strongly supports the principles of “overall high quality” and “continuous improvement.”  It is in this spirit and on behalf of the AACSB Accreditation Quality Committee that an exposure draft of the business accreditation standard is now available for your review. The exposure draft has been developed by the AACSB Accreditation Quality Committee (AQC) with input and recommendations from the Strategic Directions Committee which completed its work in August. The changes proposed in the document also respond to feedback from peer review teams, other accreditation committees, and business school and accounting program leaders.

The exposure draft is offered for your comment and input prior to the AQC meeting 10 January 2009.  At that meeting, AQC anticipates finalizing a draft of the standards document. The final draft will be forwarded to the AACSB Board of Directors for approval to be put before the Accreditation Council for final action at the 2009 business meeting at the AACSB International Conference and Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida (26–28 April 2009). The AACSB Accreditation Council must approve all changes in the bold print standards included in the document. AQC can change the interpretive materials supporting each standard and solicits your feedback on these proposed changes as reflected in the draft standards document.  

Your feedback, comment, recommendations, edits, etc. are solicited prior to the January meeting of AQC and should be received no later than 8 December 2008. Your input and feedback will be invaluable to the committee as it finalizes the document for the Board of Directors and the April vote.  Please send your electronic feedback to me at jerryt@aacsb.edu or accreditation@aacsb.edu. Written responses are also welcomed.

AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence for management and accounting education around the world. Maintaining relevant and up-to-date standards is essential to our continued success. It is in this spirit that we look forward to your input.

Standards Exposure Draft

Table 1 - Standards Changes

Table 2 - Interpretive Changes

Table 3 - De Minima Changes