The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business has been named one of 57 institutions worldwide to have their business programs reaccredited this spring by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the premier worldwide accrediting agency of collegiate business schools and accounting programs.
AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education and has been earned by less than 5 percent of the world’s business schools. Achieving accreditation, and reaccreditation, is a process of rigorous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment.
“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB accreditation,” said Jerry Trapnell, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International, which is comprised of more than 1,100 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations. “Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculties and staffs make a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver high quality education to students.”
Elon was initially accredited in 2004. Since initial accreditation, the Love School of Business has established or completed the following:
• Moved into a new $10 million, 60,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility
• Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and professorship established in spring 2007 through a $1 million endowment gift
• Wesley R. Elingburg Professorship established in fall 2007 through a $1 million endowment gift
• Chandler Family Center for Professional Sales established in spring 2008 through a $500,000 endowment gift
• MBA program became top-ranked part-time program in North Carolina, ranked #2 in the South, and #12 in the nation (BusinessWeek, 2008)
• MBA program recognized as one of “The Best 290 Business Schools” (Princeton Review, 2008)
• Beta Alpha Psi student accounting organization recognized as “Superior Chapter” and “Most Improved Chapter” in 2008
• Entrepreneurship students won first place prize of $10,000 and audience favorite award at University of Evansville New Venture Creation Competition in 2008
• Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter recognized as a premier chapter for 2008
• Elon Business Fellows student investment team won first place in the RISE portfolio undergraduate equity blend class competition in 2006
“Achieving this important milestone required a team effort,” said Mary Gowan, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. “The support of Elon President Leo Lambert, Provost Gerry Francis, and the Love School of Business Board of Advisors allowed the faculty, staff and students to engage in the activities required to have a successful Maintenance of Accreditation review.
“We are pleased with the positive outcome and honored to be one of a minority of business schools in the world accredited by AACSB.”
Effective practices conducted by the Love School of Business also contributed to the reaccreditation decision.
Each year, the school welcomes 25 high-potential freshmen as Business Fellows, which form a cohort that work and study together over their time at Elon. Business Fellows take courses as a group, visit firms in New York City, engage in professional development activities and serve as mentors and role models to other students.
A requirement that all business students take part in a professional internship has provided another opportunity for the school to integrate theory with practice. And the MBA program provides two practica experiences for its students – one is an intensive, two-day simulation/case study “to experience a day in the life of a company,” while the other is an advanced scenario planning simulation that allows students to gain exposure to real-world demands.
Other effective practices cited by school leaders are an accounting “Meet and Greet” hosted by the Department of Accounting and Finance each fall. The event brings regional firms to campus to match up job and internship seekers with the university’s best accounting, finance and information systems students. And the Love School of Business is continuing to grow its new corporate partnership program, where firms receive more coordinated assistance from the school in the form of faculty consulting, student interns and executive education programs.
For more information on the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, click on the link to the right of this page.