AACSB INTERNATIONAL 

Introduction:

AACSB International is a not-for-profit corporation devoted to the promotion and improvement of higher education in business administration and accreditation. Established in 1916, AACSB is the premier accrediting agency for bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting. Its founding members included Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, New York University, Northwestern University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago and University of Illinois. 

Main Activities of AACSB International are as follows;
1. Accreditation of programs and Institutions.
2. Offers development programs for deans on Institution Building. 
3. Undertakes survey research on topics specific to the field of management education; 
4. Interfaces with the corporate community on a variety of projects and produces special
    reports on trends and issues within management education. 
5. Network with counterpart associations worldwide.

What does Accreditation mean: 

Accreditation is a process of voluntary, non-governmental review of educational institutions and programs. Through accreditation, business schools provide stakeholders with the assurance that they:

• Guide educational delivery by a carefully constructed mission.

• Select and support students to produce outstanding graduates .

• Deliver degree programs with qualified faculty .

• Structure learning through relevant curricula .

• Contribute to knowledge through research and scholarship.

AACSB Accreditation:

AACSB International accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review. AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in management education. More than 400 member institutions have been awarded accreditation from AACSB. Of these accredited institutions, more than 150 have also been awarded additional accreditation for their Accounting programs.

AACSB Accreditation Process 

The path of accreditation process is depicted in the diagram given below; 

The member must choose to initiate the review process through either the candidacy partnership program (Path 1) or the accreditation eligibility process (Path 2)

Candidacy Partnership (Path 1)

The Purpose of the Candidacy Partnership program is to establish stable, constructive, ongoing, and helpful partnerships between AACSB International an institutions working toward AACSB International accreditation. Institutions designated as recognized "candidates" have voluntarily committed to participate in a systematic program of quality enhancement and continuous improvement that makes AACSB International accreditation a more realistic and operational objective. "Candidacy" status signifies that the candidate institution is demonstrating reasonable progress toward the attainment of accreditation. However, candidacy standing does not indicate "accredited" status nor does it guarantee eventual accreditation. To assure that this voluntary assistance program is of high quality, policies and procedures have been developed that set forth the expectations and commitments for each partner. The dates for applications are January 31 and August 1.

Accreditation Eligibility Process (Path II):

If accreditation application review committee (AARC) finds after the evaluation that there is high probability of getting the accreditation directly, it may suggest for the second path. The dates for applications are January 31 and June 30.

Factors for Accreditation:

1. Quality of Education related factors
   
   Autonomy of the business Program

2. Purpose of the business program; Mission & Objectives

3. The faculty & their activities; Composition & Development

4. The Students Curriculum

5. Facilities & use of technology; Infrastructure Issues.

6. Evaluation of Program Offerings

7. The role of Intellectual output & intellectual contributions. 

8. It also reviews the context of B-Schools like demographic Diversity, Surrogate business Programs, multiple locations autonomy etc.

Accreditation Fees

• Effective for All Members in an Accreditation Process as of July 1, 2001

• Eligibility Fee1&2 (non-refundable and due with eligibility application $4,000

Application Fees: 

• Candidacy $3,500

• Initial Business or Initial Accounting Accreditation $11,000

• Initial Business and Initial Accounting Accreditation $17,000

• Reaffirmation of Accreditation for Business or Accounting $6,500

• Reaffirmation of Accreditation including initial accreditation for a new program level $8,500

• Reaffirmation of Accreditation for Business and Accounting $11,000

• Reaffirmation of Accreditation for business and Accounting, including initial accreditation for a new program level $14,000

• Reaffirmation of Accreditation for Business and Initial Accreditation for Accounting $14,000

Review Extension Fees:

1. Candidacy Annual Maintenance Fee3 $2,500

2. Deferral Review Fee (Initials only) $3,500

3. Continuing Review Annual Fee (Reaffirmation only) $3,500

4. Deposit for Team Travel Expenses (minimum) 4 $3,000

5. $3,500 applies toward either the Candidacy Application Fee or the Initial Accreditation application Fee, if the respective application is accepted within three months of the eligibility decision.

6. Not applicable to initial accounting accreditation for AACSB International accredited institutions.

7. Last $2,500 applies to initial accreditation application fee.

8. Deposit will be adjusted depending on expectations for the costs of site visit travel for the peer review team. Deposit will be held to cover travel expenses of the peer review team. Reconciliation of deposit balance will be determined after all team member expense reports are reimbursed through AACSB International. Reconciliation may result in refund or additional charge to school. All team member expenses are the responsibility of the host institution. 

For Latest Information you can visit: www.aacsb.edu/accreditation

Contact Details:
600 Emerson Road, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO, 
63141-6762, U.S.A. 
Telephone: 314-872-8481; 
Fax: 314-872-8495. 
Web site http://www.aacsb.edu

EUROPEAN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM (EQUIS)

Introduction:

EQUIS is an international system of strategic audit and accreditation designed by European Foundation for Management development (EFMD) for the assessment of institutions in widely different national contexts. Launched in 1997, the reach of EQUIS is not limited to Europe. 

EQUIS has been designed through a process of close co-operation between existing national accreditation bodies in the filed of management education assembled in an association called EQUAL - the European Quality Link and supported by the European Commission. The criteria and the procedures of this European accreditation system were defined through EQUAL which today acts as a think tank for issues arising for international accreditation and quality evaluation. It also contributes to the monitoring of the system and provides qualified assessors for the audit teams.
A broad international body of academics and professionals supports EQUIS. Deans of reputed academic institutions, human resource directors of major corporations, heads of national professional associations, consultants, and assessment experts form the pool from which the international peer review teams are drawn.
As of June 2002, 55 Business Schools have been accredited by EQUIS. Many others are in the various stages leading to accreditation. 

Objectives:

• EQUIS offers quality assurance and accreditation services in the interest of quality improvement

• EQUIS promotes mutual learning, convergence upon good practice, benchmarking, and mutual recognition.

• EQUIS assesses institutions (defined as a Faculty or a School within a University or a free-standing School with a dedicated teaching staff offering programmes in management education).

• EQUIS assesses all the activities of the institution, including degree programmes at all levels, non-degree programmes in the field of executive education, research and community outreach.

Parameters for Accreditation:

To achieve EQUIS accreditation, Schools must be able to demonstrate that they satisfy quality criteria in three equally important areas:

1. National standing

• Mission 

• Governance

• Strategy & Scope

• Faculty

• Students & Student Services

• Personal Development 

• Programmes

• Research

• Resources

2. International Dimensions
3. Networking with Corporate world

Accreditation Process:

The EQUIS accreditation process is composed of several distinct stages. The different stages are:

• Preliminary Inquiry

• Formal Application

• Eligibility

• Self-Assessment

• International Peer Review

• Awarding Body Decision

• Guided Development (optional)

Fee:

1. For Initial Accreditation:

Initial Payment: 6.000 €: Due 30 days after the Application Data Sheet has been approved by the EQUIS office for presentation to the EQUIS Committee for Eligibility.

Main Payment: 10.000 €: Due 30 days after the Self-Assessment Report is sent to the EQUIS office.

   2.    Final Payment

If full accreditation: 10.000 €

If conditional accreditation: 6.000 €

If non-accreditation: 0 €

   3. The accredited schools have 2 options regarding the final payment.

Option 1: The above amount can be paid in annual instalments of 2.000 Euro, each year not later than 30 days after the date on which the Awarding Body conferred the EQUIS label.

Option 2: The above amount can be paid at once no later than 30 days after the date on which the Awarding Body conferred the EQUIS label. Annual instalments are not further required.

   4. For Resubmission of Application for Self Assessment and PR:

Institutions under Guided Development: Fee waived 

Institutions under alternative paths to Guided Development: 3.000 €

* To be paid at least 30 days before the meeting of the EQUIS Committee on which the application will be examined.

   5. For Guided Development:

Registration fee: 2.000 € (To be paid once when applying for Guided Development)

Advisory Service Fee: 1.500 € per day (To be paid 30 days before the visit.)

* A school that enters the Guided Development programme will be charged a minimum of one day's service fee per year.

Other:

Strategic Advice for non-eligible institutions:

• 1.500 € per day for members of efmd.

• 2.000 € per day for non members of efmd.

* To be paid 30 days before the visit.

Strategic Advice on site during Self-Assessment:

• 1.500 € per day after the first day.

* Travel, lodging and other direct expenses are to be paid by the institution.

Contact Details:

European Foundation for Management Development (efmd)
Rue Gachard 88
B- 1050 Brussels
Ph: +32 2 629 08 10; Fax: +32 2 629 08 11
Website:http://www.efmd.be 
DIAGRAM OF THE PROCESS



NATIONAL BOARD OF ACCREDITATION (NBA)

Introduction:

NBA of AICTE has the statutory responsibility of accrediting all MBA/PGDM programs, approved by AICTE. NBA accreditation is a process of quality assurance through which a program is critically appraised at regular intervals to ensure that the academic objectives of the program are seriously pursued and effectively implemented with the available resources and that the institution concerned has demonstrated capability to ensure continued effectiveness of the program over the period of accreditation given. By June 2003, NBA has accredited 32 programs in management.

Objectives: 

• To assist all stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, educational institutions, professional societies, potential employers, Government agencies, etc) in identifying those institutions and their specific programmes which meet ht current norms and standards as well as other quality indicators specified by AICTE.

• To provide guidelines for desirable up gradation of existing programmes and for development of new programmes.

• To encourage the maintenance of a standard of excellence and to stimulate the process of continual improvement in technical education in the country.

Parameters for Accreditation:

NBA considers following parameters for accreditation;

1. Organizational / Infrastructure Performance Indices- Mission, Goals & Organisation,   Financial & Physical Resources & its utilization.

2. Academic Performance Indices - Human Resources- Faculty Staff & Supporting Staff, Human Resources- Students, Teaching Learning Processes, Supplementary Processes

3. Industry Interaction Indices -  Research & development, Industry-Institution Interaction 

Accreditation procedure: 

The steps involved in the accreditation are:

• Submission (by the Institution) of the information and data according to the
  proforma provided by the NBA.

• Selection of visiting team and Chairman by NBA.

• Providing the Visiting Team with the information furnished in the proforma.

• Critical study (by the visiting team) of the information furnished by the NBA.

• Furnishing additional information sought by the visiting team (through correspondence)

• Visit to the institution (laboratory, libraries, workshops and other infrastructure) as per schedule.

• Discussions with the Management, Principal, Deans etc enumerating the programmes strength and weaknesses.

• At this stage the Institution may decide to withdraw the Programme/ Programmes from consideration for Accreditation.

• Discussions among the members of the visiting team for finalization of the report

• Submission of the report by the Chairman of the visiting team to the sectoral committee.

• Consideration of the report of the visiting team by the sectoral committee and forwarding of the report with its observations to the NBA.

• Consideration of the visiting team report and the sectoral committee observations by the NBA.

• Decision of the NBA on the assignment of grade.

• Reporting the decision of NBA to AICTE.

• Issue of separate certificates assigning the appropriate grade to each programme in the institution.

• Entry into the Director (to be published annually) of the names of the Programme, the Accreditation grade and the date of issue of certificate.

• NBA, like all international accreditation bodies and agencies no longer gives grade; it is either accredited or not accredited. 

• The normal period of Accreditation shall be 5 years. The Board may however accredit a programme for a shorter period if the overall criteria are satisfied while some weaknesses have been noticed in some critical areas.

Fee:
The fee for NBA accreditation is between INR 100000 to INR 200000, depends on the number of programs one institution offers.

Contact Details: 

Member secretary
National Board of Accreditation (NBA)
AICTE, I.G.Sports Complex, I.P.Estate
New Delhi 110002
Telefax: 011-23379009/ 3379027/ 3379030



NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC)

Introduction:

The continuing concern for quality of higher education has projected the need for evaluation of performance of universities and colleges. This has led to the establishment of NAAC with a prime agenda to assess and accredit institutions of higher education. Headquartered at Bangalore, NAAC was established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1994. It is an autonomous organisation, registered as a society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960. 

Objectives: 

The main activities of NAAC are as follows;

• Arrange for the assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or units thereof or specific academic programmes or projects.

• To help and encourage the institutions in developing their own procedures, techniques and modalities for self-evaluation, and

• Ensure an optimized use of resources and achievements of the identified goals of institutions of higher learning.

Assessment and Accreditation Process:

The most important steps in the process of assessment leading to accreditation are:

• Preparation of self-study report by the institution.

• Validation of the above by a peer team visit and 

• Final decision of the NAAC based on the report of the team.

NAAC Assessment Parameters:

For assessment of the institutions or their units NAAC focuses on the following parameters:

• Institutional goals and objectives

• Curriculum design and review

• Teaching, learning and assessment

• Research and publications

• Consultancy and extension activities

• Organisation and governance

• Infrastructure facilities

• Support services

• Student feedback and counseling and

• Generation and management of financial resources.

Fees and other expenses:

The General Council of NAAC has fixed the accreditation fees for the public institutions, which is in the range of INR 100000 to 200000. The institutions, eligible for assessment and accreditation are to bear the following expenses of the peer team besides the assessment and accreditation fees.

• Travel

• Board and lodging

• Internal transport

• Daily allowance as per the rules of the host institution

Contact details:

National Assessment and Accreditation Council
Post Box No. 1075, Rajajinagar
Bangalore 560010
Ph:91-080-23384045/ 23384048/ 23384049
Fax:91-080-23384047
Email: root@naac.ernet.in