Elevate: Americas

Begin your day by networking over a continental breakfast. This is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, make new connections, and discuss the sessions ahead. 

Connect with peers, meet exhibitors, and explore fresh ideas in the Exhibitor Showcase, a space designed to help you build relationships, discover new solutions, and make the most of your time at the conference. 

Network with peers and check out the Discover AACSB area to explore our products and services, including the Academy, technology and data, and additional resources to support your institution. Stop by to visit exhibitors and enjoy refreshments. 

Having qualified faculty is only part of the equation—business schools must also ensure faculty are deployed effectively and demonstrate excellence in teaching. This session brings Standards 3 and 7 together to explore how schools can take a more connected approach to faculty qualifications, sufficiency, deployment, and teaching effectiveness. Hear from schools piloting AACSB’s evolving teaching effectiveness guidance as they share how they are defining and measuring effective teaching, selecting meaningful evidence, and connecting these efforts to broader faculty management strategies. The discussion will also examine common challenges related to Standard 3 and offer practical approaches for building faculty systems that support both accreditation expectations and continuous improvement. 

Whether you're catching up with colleagues or taking a quiet moment to recharge, take your boxed lunch and enjoy it wherever you feel most comfortable.

Generative AI is reshaping how students learn, faculty teach, and researchers work, raising new questions about the value of a business degree. As AI transforms employer expectations and alternative learning pathways expand, how can business schools remain relevant and demonstrate their value? This session explores how AI is changing course design, assessment, critical thinking, faculty roles, and research practices. Through examples and discussion, examine where AI can enhance learning, where human judgment remains essential, and how schools can prepare graduates for the future while demonstrating value beyond traditional measures of salary and job placement.

Canadian business schools are navigating a distinct set of challenges—from shifting domestic and international enrollment patterns to funding pressures, changing student expectations, and an increasingly competitive higher education landscape. Designed as a small-group conversation specifically for leaders from Canadian business schools, this session creates space to candidly discuss the issues creating the greatest pressure at their institutions. There is no formal presentation or predetermined solution—the conversation will be shaped by participants. Come ready to share what’s keeping you up at night, compare experiences with Canadian peers, and brainstorm approaches to challenges you may be facing in common.

What challenges look different when viewed through the lens of business schools in Latin America and the Caribbean? Designed as a small-group conversation specifically for leaders from schools across the region, this session provides an informal space to discuss the issues most affecting their institutions—from enrollment and financial sustainability to faculty, student mobility, industry needs, and institutional change. Bring a challenge your school is working through, hear what peers across the region are experiencing, and use the group to exchange ideas and brainstorm possible approaches.

Network with peers and check out the Discover AACSB area to explore our products and services, including the Academy, technology and data, and additional resources to support your institution. Stop by to visit exhibitors and enjoy refreshments. 

Changing demographics, shifting student mobility, evolving expectations, and growing competition are reshaping enrollment across the Americas. Where students choose to study—and what they expect from their education—is changing, requiring business schools to rethink both domestic and international enrollment strategies. This session begins with a data-driven look at the forces shaping the enrollment landscape, from demographic and international mobility trends to changing student preferences and emerging markets. Business school leaders will then bring the data to life by sharing how these shifts are affecting their institutions, how they identified opportunities for growth, and the strategies they are using to attract new student populations and rebuild enrollment momentum. Attendees will leave with a broader understanding of where the market is heading and practical ideas for translating enrollment trends into action. 

Your school has programs, partnerships, research, and initiatives—but how do you demonstrate that they actually made a difference? Move beyond lists of activities and outputs to explore stronger evidence of impact across scholarship, teaching, engagement, and societal impact. Examine evolving expectations around societal impact, including greater flexibility, the five-year societal impact report, Table 9.1, and the consolidated Standard 9, while considering practical ways to tell a credible impact story.

When faculty teams are small, every new priority can create difficult trade-offs. Designed specifically for leaders from smaller and resource-constrained business schools, this small-group brainstorming session creates space to candidly discuss faculty capacity challenges and work through potential solutions with peers. Explore how other small schools are balancing teaching, research, service, faculty qualifications, and new institutional priorities while making the most of limited resources. Come prepared to share a challenge, brainstorm ideas, and learn from leaders navigating similar realities at their institutions.

How can a smaller business school keep pace with AI and emerging technology without the budget, staff, or infrastructure of a larger institution? Designed specifically for leaders from smaller and resource-constrained schools, this small-group brainstorming session provides an opportunity to compare challenges, exchange ideas, and problem-solve together. Discuss how peers are prioritizing technology investments, building faculty and staff capabilities, evaluating tools and vendors, and finding creative ways to innovate with limited resources. Bring a challenge your school is facing and leave with ideas from leaders who understand the realities of having to make big choices with a smaller budget. 

Network with peers and check out the Discover AACSB area to explore our products and services, including the Academy, technology and data, and additional resources to support your institution. Stop by to visit exhibitors and enjoy refreshments. 

New rules on student visa admission periods, travel restrictions, post-study work, and Canada's study permit caps are changing who can come, how long they can stay, and what careers await them after graduation. This session moves beyond the headlines to examine the real-world impact on international students, faculty, and scholars, and what business schools are doing in response: from advising and compliance to career services, program design, and new recruitment markets. Leaders from the US, Canada, and Latin America will share how policy shifts are playing out on their campuses. 

Relax and enjoy the company of your colleagues. This reception is the perfect opportunity to unwind and continue the day’s discussions in a more informal setting. Event is sponsored by Knauss School of Business at University of San Diego.

Begin your day by networking over a continental breakfast. This is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, make new connections, and discuss the sessions ahead. 

Connect with peers, meet exhibitors, and explore fresh ideas in the Exhibitor Showcase, a space designed to help you build relationships, discover new solutions, and make the most of your time at the conference. 

Bring your questions for AACSB’s accreditation experts. This highly interactive, unscripted session gives attendees the opportunity to ask about the accreditation topics that matter most to them—from interpreting the standards and preparing for a peer review visit to policies, committees, challenging scenarios, and everything in between. With no formal presentation or predetermined agenda, the conversation will be shaped entirely by your questions. Come ready to ask, learn from your peers’ questions, and gain greater

Strategic Planning in an Era of Uncertainty: Balancing Growth, Risk, and Financial Sustainability 

As business schools navigate financial pressures, shifting enrollment trends, and evolving market demands, strategic planning requires balancing ambitious goals with financial realities and emerging risks. How can institutions anticipate challenges, make informed decisions, and position themselves for long-term success? This session explores practical approaches to integrating risk management and financial sustainability into strategic planning. Through real-world examples, attendees will examine how schools are identifying and mitigating risks, making strategic trade-offs, diversifying revenue, prioritizing investments, and building agile, resilient strategies that advance their missions.

Network with peers and check out the Discover AACSB area to explore our products and services, including the Academy, technology and data, and additional resources to support your institution. Stop by to visit exhibitors and enjoy refreshments. 

The strongest industry partnerships go far beyond occasional meetings and guest speakers. This session explores how business schools can build deeper, sustained relationships with employers that create value on both sides. Hear how schools are engaging industry partners across curriculum development, experiential learning, faculty engagement, applied research, and talent development—and explore practical ways to turn individual connections into strategic partnerships that strengthen student outcomes, institutional relevance, and employer engagement. 

Education no longer ends at graduation. As careers evolve faster and professionals return repeatedly to build new skills, business schools have an opportunity to become lifelong learning partners. This session explores how schools are expanding beyond traditional degree programs through shorter learning experiences, stackable credentials, flexible delivery models, and employer-sponsored education. Hear how institutions are designing offerings that meet learners at different stages of their careers while creating new opportunities for engagement, innovation, and sustainable growth. 

Whether you're catching up with colleagues or taking a quiet moment to recharge, take your boxed lunch and enjoy it wherever you feel most comfortable.

Research impact can extend far beyond traditional academic metrics. But how can business schools identify, capture, and communicate the broader influence of their scholarship? Explore emerging approaches to research impact and consider evidence ranging from academic influence to changes in business practice, policy, communities, and society. Participants will leave with new ways to think about what counts as impact—and how their schools might demonstrate it.

Many institutions have experimented with AI. The next challenge is moving from isolated pilots to coordinated transformation. Explore a structured approach for building AI capability across departments, units, and campuses, including how to assess readiness, develop skills, engage faculty and staff, establish priorities, and turn experimentation into sustainable institutional change. Participants will consider where their own institutions sit on the journey from individual adoption to organization-wide capability. 

Your school is pursuing AACSB accreditation—but is everything in place to make the case? In this interactive, team-based challenge, participants will work against the clock to solve realistic scenarios and puzzles inspired by the 2026 AACSB Global Standards for Business Education. Teams will navigate key elements of the initial accreditation journey, connecting mission and strategy with faculty, curriculum, assurance of learning, resources, engagement, and impact to uncover what’s missing and determine their next move. Along the way, identify common pitfalls, explore how the standards connect, and gain practical ideas for engaging faculty and building a stronger accreditation process. Can your team put all the pieces together before time runs out?

Put your continuous improvement knowledge to the test in this interactive, team-based challenge. Working against the clock, participants will tackle realistic scenarios and puzzles inspired by the 2026 AACSB Global Standards for Business Education. To successfully “escape,” teams will need to connect the dots across strategic priorities, resource allocation, faculty sufficiency, assurance of learning, societal impact, and other elements of the continuous improvement review. Along the way, uncover common gaps, strengthen your understanding of how the standards work together, and discover practical ways to engage your own faculty and accreditation team in CIR preparation. Come ready to collaborate, problem-solve, and see whether your team has what it takes to escape!

Network with peers and check out the Discover AACSB area to explore our products and services, including the Academy, technology and data, and additional resources to support your institution. Stop by to visit exhibitors and enjoy refreshments. 

Collecting AoL data is only the beginning. The real value comes from understanding what the evidence tells you—and what you do next. Explore effective uses of direct and indirect measures, strategies for translating findings into meaningful improvements, and practical approaches to closing the loop. Using the updated Table 5.1 as a guide, participants will examine how schools can build an AoL process that supports continuous improvement rather than simply documenting it.

Conference closing comments will offer a brief opportunity to reflect on key themes, insights, and takeaways that emerged throughout the event.