Spring Break
URI business program gets thumbs up from AACSB
Hillary Brady
Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: News
03/11/09 - The University of Rhode Island's College of Business Administration has renewed its accreditation for its undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The college has received the accreditation, which is reviewed every five years, since 1972, making it the longest standing accredited business program in Rhode Island. The College of Business Administration was founded in 1923.
"One can view accreditation as the good housekeeping seal of approval," Mark Higgins, dean of the business program, said.
To receive this accolade, the college has to meet AACSB standards.
"Since we have both business and accounting accreditation, we have two people who come in and review the college of Business program and two people who review the accounting program," Higgins said.
To maintain its accreditation, half the faculty needs to have a terminal degree, meaning the highest in their respective field, as well as being actively engaged in research.
The professionally qualified faculty are required to have significant current work experience. These professors constitute the majority of the accounting department.
Their experiences include "being on the board of directors for a company or being regularly engaged in consulting," Higgins explained.
The accreditation is a rarity among business and accounting programs. Less than 15 percent of schools offering management education and less than 5 percent of those offering accounting programs have earned national accreditation.
There are also many other aspects of the college that make it a unique national program.
The college is one of two U.S. programs that has Chartered Financial Analyst designation and ASL designation.
"It means our program has gone through curriculum review and prepares students to sit for the CFA exam and graduates [qualify] for the ASL certificate," Higgins said.
The college has received the accreditation, which is reviewed every five years, since 1972, making it the longest standing accredited business program in Rhode Island. The College of Business Administration was founded in 1923.
"One can view accreditation as the good housekeeping seal of approval," Mark Higgins, dean of the business program, said.
To receive this accolade, the college has to meet AACSB standards.
"Since we have both business and accounting accreditation, we have two people who come in and review the college of Business program and two people who review the accounting program," Higgins said.
To maintain its accreditation, half the faculty needs to have a terminal degree, meaning the highest in their respective field, as well as being actively engaged in research.
The professionally qualified faculty are required to have significant current work experience. These professors constitute the majority of the accounting department.
Their experiences include "being on the board of directors for a company or being regularly engaged in consulting," Higgins explained.
The accreditation is a rarity among business and accounting programs. Less than 15 percent of schools offering management education and less than 5 percent of those offering accounting programs have earned national accreditation.
There are also many other aspects of the college that make it a unique national program.
The college is one of two U.S. programs that has Chartered Financial Analyst designation and ASL designation.
"It means our program has gone through curriculum review and prepares students to sit for the CFA exam and graduates [qualify] for the ASL certificate," Higgins said.
