Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57872
"I entered the Crummer School with little prior work experience. In the five years since my graduation from the Early Advantage MBA program my career has quickly progressed, and I am now a finance director in a Fortune 500 company." Mykl Cheeseman '02MBA Director of Planning and Reporting Marriott Vacation Club International The ROLLINSMBA| delivering results Forbes recently ranked the Rollins MBA 37th nationally out of over 400 AACSB International accredited programs and in the top 20 of all private universities for its ability to provide outstanding return on investment. Mykl, like many of our accomplished alumni, is a testament to what you can do with the essential business skills delivered by a Rollins MBA. For 50 years, the Crummer School has earned its title as Florida's Most Prestigious MBA by bestowing upon students the skills to lead the nation's most successful companies with greater vision and integrity. To Learn More or to Attend an Upcoming Information Session crummer.rollins.edu | 800-866-2405 a yearly assignment. To achieve accreditation maturity, schools should follow these five actions: Involve all faculty in accreditation committees. While it seems like a good idea to load the accreditation team with associ- ate deans and department chairs, such a structure misses a chance for shared governance. A team comprising mostly faculty encourages a sense of ownership, safeguards against personnel turnover—and ensures that accreditation is part of the organizational structure. Such a committee also cre- ates liaisons to departments and dispels misconceptions about accreditation. Focus on what the school already does well. Don't assume that operations must be completely revamped if the school is to achieve accreditation. Look for existing key practices and map these to the accreditation standards. Areas that are not mature will become apparent and can be improved. Take advantage of technology. Instead of relying on informal e-mail communication, invest in a mechanism such as an electronic project library to store all data relevant to the ac- creditation process. Such a tool enables a school to build a searchable database of reports and correspondence and allows faculty and staff easy access to accreditation information. In addition, whenever it's practical, use Web-based automated processes and data collection to store information on curricu- lum changes, meeting minutes, and action items. Formalize training about accreditation. Design a professional training system to give all faculty and staff, including new hires, a consistent level of understanding about accredi- tation efforts. Focus on the goal, not the individual. Identify weaknesses in key practices, but don't focus on who was responsible for the weakness. Instead, develop action plans to improve the process—and if the first approach doesn't work, try another one. People will be more eager to embrace change if the goal is not punishment for something they've done wrong, but process improvement for the school. Higher Goals A school with a mature accreditation rating finds an AACSB accreditation visit is just that—a visit. There is no frenzy before the team arrives as staffers collect reports about achieving mission statements and establishing infrastruc- ture. The accreditation team simply shows up on a certain day, meets with the required groups, and looks at existing documents. If business school administrators allow the energy and focus that preceded the initial accreditation to dissipate, they'll only make the re-accreditation process that much more difficult. They need to lift their schools into the mindset of accreditation maturity, so that excellence becomes the baseline of school operations. n z Ruth Guthrie and Louise Soe are professors of computer information systems at California State Polytechnic University of Pomona. BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 47