The College of Business (COB) proudly received a full extension of the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation in November 2022 - a distinction shared by just 6% of business schools across the world. AACSB accreditation matters to COB as it opens a doorway to being recognized worldwide by top employers and other universities, diversifying the student body, hiring and retaining the best researchers and professors and improving the quality of business programs offered.
Maintaining this accreditation requires that COB be assessed by a visiting Peer Review Team (PRT) on a five-year cycle, on nine different standards. These nine AACSB 2020 standards broadly fall under the heads of Strategic Management and Innovation, Learner Success and Thought Leadership, Engagement and Learner Impact.
One of the standards pertaining to learner success (Standard 5) is called Assurance of Learning (AoL). Meeting the AoL standard involves demonstrating that COB uses well-documented assurance of learning (AoL) processes that include direct and indirect measures for ensuring the quality of all degree programs offered at the school. The goal of adopting AoL processes is making continuous curricular and process improvements a habit.
Assurance of Learning is planned, managed, and executed by faculty with the support of staff and administrators. AoL involves assessment of COB programs to demonstrate that it is delivering on learning goals associated with each program. COB currently has 7 programs that are within the scope of AoL assessment for AACSB accreditation – 3 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs. Undergraduate programs are in business administration (which has three variants – Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration - BAAD, Bachelor of Arts in Business and Applied Sciences - BAAS and Bachelor of Arts in Manufacturing Management - BAAM); in Economics (Bachelor of Arts in Economics - B.A. Econ) and in accounting (Bachelor of Science in Accounting - B.S. Acctg). Graduate programs are in business administration (M.B.A.) which is offered in face to face and online format along with a 5-Year MBA admission track designed for motivated and hard-working undergraduate students who want to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration degree in 5 years. Other graduate level programs are in human resource management (Master of Science in Human Resource Management – M.S. HRM), in business analytics (Mater of Science in Business Analytics – M.S. B.A.) and in accounting (Master of Science in Accounting – M.S. Acctg.).
Each program arrives at program competency goals (PCGs) through an inclusive process of shared governance involving all faculty teaching in the programs, program coordinators, and supported by chairs and deans. PCGs are developed appropriate to the level of rigor associated with the program – graduate programs have more stringent PCGs relative to undergraduate programs. PCGs are measured through objectives, and an effort is made to attain align COB’s mission to PCGs and PCGs to course and module level objectives. Program objectives are assessed twice in a loop over a five-year cycle. An initial assessment identifies competency gaps, relevant faculty identify and implement interventions, after which a second assessment is done to determine the extent to which competency gaps have been closed. The assessment cycle differs by nature of required interventions.
For instance, PCGs for the undergraduate program in business administration include functional business knowledge, effective business communications, ethics and values and global business issues. The PCG of functional business knowledge in the Business Administration (BSAD) and Business and Applied Science (BAAS) programs, is measured using a standardized exam (CompXM). This exam is administered to students in the capstone MGMT- 4900 course. The exam measures the extent of students’ knowledge across all business functions. This serves as the initial assessment or first loop. Faculty review the data obtained from the exam, determine competency gaps, and design and implement interventions. In a subsequent semester, performance of students on the standardized exam is evaluated once again determine the extent to which the identified gaps have been closed. This second assessment closes the loop.
Another example is the graduate level human resources management program (M.S.HRM). PCGs for this program include human resource expertise, values driven leadership, effective communication, and global and cultural acumen. The PCG of human resource expertise is assessed in the capstone course MGMT 8910 - Integrative Human Resource Management Strategies. Students are assigned an HR Homework Assignment that involves writing a 300-word essay type proposal for improving the integration of HR Functions at an organization described in a case study. Student responses or course artifacts are collected and assessed by HR faculty using a MS HRM human resource expertise rubric. The rubric assesses student responses on a 4-point scale on multiple dimensions that align with PCG related objectives. For instance, dimensions on the human resource expertise rubric include: applying HR knowledge from a strategic perspective; forming multi-faceted solutions by considering a broad range of constituents; analyzing data using information technology resources to gather information about HR decisions; analyzing data using information technology resources to develop HR solutions and analyzing data using information technology resources to evaluate HR decisions. A performance target is set that at least 80% of learners will perform at level 3 or above on the rubric. An initial assessment is used to identify competency gaps. If present, gaps are addressed through an intervention in the subsequent semester. This is followed by a second assessment that close the loop. If ever a performance target is met, then, in the spirit of continuous improvement, the old PCG or objective is replaced by a newer one for the next 5 year cycle of assessment.