Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111663
recognize that there is a proliferation of learning models, and the standards must say, ���You have to demonstrate that whatever model you choose delivers quality.������ Although distance education does not have a separate standard, its importance did inspire a change in wording in the standards, explains 34 March/April 2013 BizEd Reid. In its early drafts, under the eligibility criteria, the BRC referred to the educational environment as a ���collegiate setting.��� In the most recent version, that phrase has been changed to ���collegiate environment,��� says Reid. ���Some people interpret the term ���collegiate setting��� as referring to a traditional bricks-and-mortar campus,��� says Reid. ���We made the subtle change in wording because we want to refer to the engagement that exists between faculty and faculty, and faculty and students, in a high-quality learning environment, regardless of the delivery model.��� ���Tell Your Story��� If members approve the adoption of the 15 proposed standards, schools can expect AACSB to roll them out over the next three years. Schools scheduled for peer review team visits in the 2013���2014, 2014���2015, or 2015���2016 academic years can choose to do so under either the current or new standards. The new standards would apply to all schools scheduled for peer review team visits beginning with the 2016��� 2017 academic year. In the years that follow, the association also plans to prepare case studies on how different schools successfully demonstrated their activities in the three areas so integral to the new standards: innovation, impact, and engagement. ���Five years from now, schools will be able to talk about what has worked when it comes to creating impact or measuring quality,��� says Reid. He adds that as these exam- ples become available, AACSB will distill them into white papers and incorporate them into peer review training sessions. But while Reid emphasizes the need to provide schools with models that work, he doesn���t want schools to view those models as set approaches���as boxes to ���check off��� on their way to accreditation. ���Many deans want black-and-white answers in a world that has become increasingly ���lled with gray areas,��� says Reid. ���With these standards, we���re trying to foster innovation. If the standards are too prescriptive and too quantitatively driven, we will only create barriers to innovation. There are different missions and models, which schools can choose to execute in different ways. We don���t want to impose a set of metrics across all schools.��� Throughout these conversations, BRC members have urged educators to view the proposed standards as an opportunity to ���tell their school���s story.��� Regardless of whether it���s through curriculum, centers of research, community outreach, or interactions with corporations or government, ���we all have to be better at telling our story about what impact we���re having,��� says George Krull. A panelist at the September conference, he works for audit, tax, and advisory ���rm Grant Thornton. He asks, ���What difference would it make if your school didn���t exist?��� In the end, the BRC hopes these standards will not only simplify the accreditation process, but also give schools the ���exibility they need to take risks, embrace innovation, and seek out more opportunities to have a real impact on the practice of business. SI R I STAFFOR D/G ETTY I MAG ES 14 online delivery models. Moreover, any standard that focused on the technologies and delivery models in use today could be obsolete a few years from now. For that reason, the BRC chose to focus on whether the educational model that a school chooses for a particular course���regardless of method���is effective to achieve its goals. This issue is covered by several standards, including proposed Standard 12: Teaching Effectiveness. It���s also covered by standards that focus on alignment with mission, faculty quali���cations, faculty preparation, student-faculty interaction, curricular management, curricular content, and other areas. ���Teaching effectiveness is going to be an important part of the process,��� says Rice of WPI. ���We must