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challenges and opportunities within management education and practice. GFME was recently formed as a part- nership between AACSB and the European Foundation for Manage- ment Education (efmd). I believe this partnership sends a powerful message that international cooperation is not just important; it has become an essen- tial reality. Through the GFME partnership, management educators will be able to draw on resources that will help them address issues in cross-border management education. affected by the doctoral shortage—and other professional groups have recognized that. AACSB's efforts have sparked interest among education and faculty leaders domestically and abroad. I urge AACSB members who have affiliations with other organizations to encourage these groups to take up the issue as well, as we seek long-term resolution of this problem. One organization that is working to alleviate the doctoral Doctoral Faculty One issue the new GFME partnership might address is the growing global shortage of doctorally qualified faculty. AACSB has taken a leadership role by forming a task force to seek solutions to this problem. The Doctoral Faculty Commission observed that a continued decline in the produc- tion of business Ph.D.s threatens the future of scholarship and research at a time when they are more important than ever. Regardless of our diverse missions and programs, we are all Doyle Williams U.S., every state has a State Board of Public Accountancy that sets educational standards for aspiring CPAs. These boards work together through the National State Boards of Accountancy, which in turn worked with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to produce the Uniform Accountancy Act in 1997. While state statutes are not always in harmony with the Uniform Accountancy Act, these cooperative efforts have led to a great deal of consisten- cy. AACSB accreditation is acknowledged in the UAA. Given recent accounting scandals in the U.S., it is more concert with a quality business pro- gram. For those programs to be consis- tent and effective, accreditation stan- dards for accounting and business should be coordinated and synchro- nized. AACSB is in the best position to achieve this outcome. The public has a strong interest in the practice of public accounting. In the shortage is the PhD Project. Founded nine years ago by Bernie Milano and the KPMG Foundation, it addresses the acute lack of minority Ph.D.s in business. The PhD Project has assisted hundreds of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans to earn their Ph.D. degrees. The PhD Project now enjoys the support of 18 foundations, corporations, and other organizations, including AACSB. Accent on Accounting Another key area where AACSB can have an immense impact is in accrediting accounting programs. At AACSB's International Conference and Annual Meeting in April, the membership adopted revised accounting accreditation stan- dards. Nonetheless, questions occasionally still arise about whether AACSB should accredit accounting programs. For me, the answer is a resounding "yes." I believe that account- ing accreditation is inevitable and that if AACSB doesn't set the standards, someone else will. I also believe the accounting profession is best served if accounting education is offered in important than ever for business schools to take a stance for strong accounting programs, including five-year programs. Acting under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Congress has created the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which will undoubtedly address the credentialing of CPAs who practice before it. The PCAOB will be studying educational standards as well. I predict that within the next ten years there will be the equivalent of a national CPA certificate for those auditing pub- licly held companies. Not only will strong, accredited account- ing programs help create consistent national standards that will contribute to the CPA certificate, such programs also will aid in the ongoing effort to create international accounting stan- dards. I believe that, within 20 years, an international certifi- cation program will be in place. Business schools need to be at the table when international standards are drafted. An accreditation program of information systems is also under way, led by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). A few IS programs in business schools have already achieved such accreditation. The inevitable ques- tion is whether or not AACSB will seek to accredit IS pro- grams in business or leave that task to ABET. AACSB's board of directors welcomes comments on this issue. Rankings—and the Alternative Another issue that many business schools wrestle with regular- ly is annual rankings of business schools produced by com- mercial publications. While these rankings have been beneficial in some respects, many well-documented ill effects also have BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 45