ACBSP Training Seminar Hyderabad (February 29-1st March 2012)

(from home page) which included ICBM-SBE which had witnessed the PRT visit during the Seminar days. The hectic activity alround was indicative of the excitement that surrounds accreditation process and how it brings together the entire stakeholders of the school together, be it the students, the faculty, the management and also the alumni. Two visits, one to ICBM-SBE and another to IBS-Hyderabad were part of the practical training component of the seminar. The participants could see at first hand as to how the processes actually work, they could go through the documentation and observe how the schools display their preparedness to get on to the global accreditation network.

The easy and friendly manner in which the Seminar was conducted by Vice president Accreditation of ACBSP, Diana Hallerud, and the additional help that came from the international mentors, Krystyna Krol, Academic Chair Business, IT Education of Higher Colleges of Technology of Fujairah UAE, Prof Satinder K Dhiman, Associate Dean of School of Business, Woodbury University, Burbank, USA and Dean Dr. Harpal S. Grewal, from Claflin University USA, Director of PSG Institute of Management India and Group Director of School of Communication and Management Scienes, Pramod P Thevannoor and A.Thothathri Raman, Chairman of SEAA Trust, New Delhi lent a helping hand to make the seminar flow smoothly. The Founder Director of ICBM-SBE. Dr S Zarar provided exemplary support hosting the conference. IBS-Hyderabad, one of India's largest B-schools, co-sponsored the event. SEAA Trust, coordinated the Semiar and provided logistic and intellectual support to the Training Seminar.

supported by:

PEREGRINE-SEAA COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE FOR B-SCHOOLS OF INDIA
A formal announcement was made at the Seminar about the SEAA- Peregrine Academic Services USA collaboration to offer the highly popular online programe assessment services of the company in India for the globally aspiring B-schools. The services are being launched at a critical time where a large number of Indian B-schools have taken to international accreditation path. The exams are also useful for schools to showcase the level of learning of their students even during the placements as a third party International-Indian endorsement of the intrinsic quality of the B-school. More details

AACSB-SEAA International Accreditation Conference, Bangalore called to mark the recognition of Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad as the first accredited school of AACSB in India on 31st January 2012 at Bangalore, concluded with the participants endorsing the need to proactively exchange information and knowledge to avoid reinventing the wheel. Assurance of Learning (AOL) and associated rubrics were the primary focus of the presentations and discussions which the participants felt would ensure that the schools are able to communicate their preparedness adequately to the visiting accreditation peer team and their mentors. Utmost collegiality and readiness to exchange knowledge marked the successful one day conference held in The Oberoi Bangalore.

The conference began with the short presentation on the state of art of International Accreditation in India by A.Thothathri Raman, Chairman of SEAA Trust, New Delhi. Mr Raman commented that international accreditation has been taken up by around 87 schools as of now and from around 3 schools that were in process in end of 2008 when SEAA was formed. The advocacy effort of SEAA had paid off. Before the current year is done, there would at least be 15 internationally accredited schools by any of the five accreditation bodies, AACSB International, EQUIS-EFMD, Association of MBAs, ACSBP and IACBE, he opined.

Mr Raman suggested that accredited schools should share their experience so that the schools taking up accreditation do have to reinvent the wheel.  Also the schools that are accredited should be celebrating its accreditation as an inspiration to others taking up the process. The faculty who are the key to the accreditation process should be involved fully in the process and they should be provided with all the support.  AACSB’s recognition of ISB Hyderabad had sent a clear cut message that the AACSB process is not long drawn as was being made out.  “While it was true that some schools were in the process for a long period of time, we hardly head that ISB was in process and  AACSB already has made the announcement that the school has been accredited by it” he said.  ISB could do it because of its strong preparedness and intellectual capital, he added. The delegates to the conference gave a standing ovation to ISB’s Arun Pereira, Head centre for Teaching, Learning and Case development, who represented the school at the conference for getting AACSB accreditation. Eileen Peacock who followed Mr Raman explained the various critical processes forming part of the AACSB standards numbering 21. “So, long as the mission is clearly stating the objective of the school, it would be easy for the school to achieve its accreditation” she says citing examples of schools have just one permanent faculty and schools that admit over 16,000 students.

“While the standards may be common, the experience  and the approach to interpreting the  standard and reporting  the state of preparedness of the school may be different”, she said.All activities of the school should be aligned to that of mission of the school which should be revisited at least once before freezing it before starting on the accreditation path, she added.

Arun Pereira of ISB gave a detailed presentation on the value of accreditation and Assurance of Learning which was a key aspect of accreditation. He explained the way the school sent about the job. Rubrics should be developed and there should champion teams to handle information and data relevant to accreditation process, he added.

R C Natarajan, Director of TA Pai Institute of Management (TAPMI) said that he had benefited personally and the college gained immensely from the AACSB accreditation process which he also hoped is coming to a conclusion. "We have gone through the process and found it extremely useful in growing our school. We hope that we would be accredited by AACSB soon enough", he said.

Dr R Nandagopal Director of PSG Institute of Management another school in the process emphasized that rubrics development cannot have a standard approach,. Each process can be inter presented differently.  He also re assured that any school which is reasonably strong in its faculty and student engagement process should be able to go for accreditation

A detailed book let incorporating the AACSB Standards, speaker profile, and the report of Blue Ribbon committee on globalisation of business schools by AACSB was presented to the delegates.