Manor students graduating from the business and legal studies programs with the class of 2011 will now have an additional credential to add to their resumes with the recent receipt of accreditation status from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
Completing a two-year process, all programs from the Business Division at Manor College – Accounting; Business Administration and its concentrations in International Business, Management, and Marketing; Information Systems and Technology; and Paralegal Studies – received in April full accreditation, the official “stamp of approval” from ACBSP, demonstrating the highest standard of -- and commitment to -- excellence in business education.
For Manor students, the accreditation represents a validation that they are receiving a quality education, that there are strong measures in place to guarantee continued quality student learning and that they will have a competitive edge when entering the job market or pursuing their bachelor’s degree.
“Future schools or employers will attach greater value to the education our graduates received at Manor,” said Eleanor Shirley, director of the Business Administration program and its concentrations, who spearheaded the accreditation effort. “We know and they know that they are getting a quality education. They are learning what they are supposed to be learning.”
“Students can take pride in coming from an institution that cares enough about the quality of student learning that it takes the time and makes the effort to seek an accreditation that will ensure and confirm that,” said Diane Pevar, chair of the Business Division and director of Paralegal Studies, who worked closely with Shirley on procuring the accreditation.
In addition to ensuring the students’ competitiveness, Shirley wanted to make sure the College’s programs had an edge over business programs offered at other two and four-year institutions in what is a highly competitive region for academics.
“I wanted to prove the quality of our programs, beyond what might be considered acceptable for two-year programs,” Shirley said.
According to Shirley, the ACBSP standards for accreditation are the same for two-year programs as for four-year programs. “We have to meet the same level of excellence as a four-year program,” she explained. “There is no difference.”
After first being accepted as a member of ACBSP and then receiving official candidate status, Shirley had to submit a questionnaire prior to a preliminary site visit. When the site visit was waived due to the exceptional and comprehensive quality of the questionnaire, Shirley and Pevar moved directly into the self-study phase of the process, which required them to evaluate the quality and excellence of the programs and course offerings, the credentials of those administering and teaching the programs and the planning and assessment measures in place to ensure consistent quality and continued improvement.
“They are looking for programs with a vision, that aren’t content to just stand still,” Pevar said.
“They are looking for innovation,” Shirley concurred.
After submitting the self-study in January, 2011 and being commended on its thoroughness and clarity, the site visit was scheduled for March, which brought a three-person team – all educators and administrators for business schools or schools with business programs – to campus for three days to, as Pevar put it, “audit the claims we made in our self-study.” The site team met with full and part-time faculty, students and college administrators.
According to Shirley, the site team members were impressed by the credentials and commitment of the faculty, particularly the adjuncts, and how much they care about the students as people, not just as students.
The team was also impressed with the faculty’s mastery of planning and assessment, which Shirley said, “was
already in place.”
“We already had a framework for planning and assessment, developed by Dean Mydlowec, which made the process very manageable,” said Pevar. “We were way ahead of the game.”
“We already had the tools and the knowledge,” confirmed Shirley. “We’ve been well trained.”
“The comprehensive assessment of student learning outcomes for every course and degree program in the division ensures a sustainable improvement process,” said Sally Mydlowec, executive vice-president and dean of Academic Affairs, who installed the same course and program assessment process college wide.
“The attainment of ACBSP accreditation recognizes the superior credentials of the business and paralegal faculty, the excellence of the curricula and the vision of the Business Division programs through strategic planning of future goals,” Mydlowec continued.
With future goals in mind, Pevar sees achieving full accreditation status as more of a beginning than an end.
“We now have an opportunity to use the accreditation as a platform on which we can build an even stronger division and continue to revitalize our programs,” Pevar explained.
“Long before we sought accreditation, we have been an ever-moving, thriving set of programs,” she continued. “Accreditation holds us to a high standard that we have to maintain and gives us additional incentive to continue to excel.”