Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59976
What AACSB should do and can do is become a thought leader for business education worldwide. The View from Virginia Tech Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University— known as Virginia Tech—was founded as a land-grant institution in 1872. Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, it is now the state's largest university, with 25,600 students enrolled in programs through colleges and the graduate school. While the school offered its first BBA in 1925, the school of business was not officially established until 1961. At that time, it boasted 28 faculty members and 823 students. In 1986, the college was named the Pamplin College of Business in recognition of a $20 mil- lion gift to the college. The money was given by Robert B. Pamplin, a 1933 graduate who became chairman and chief executive officer of Georgia-Pacific Corpor - ation, and his son, Robert B. Pamplin Jr., who also attended Virginia Tech and is president of the R.B. Pamplin Corporation. Today, the Pamplin College of Business offers majors in accounting and information systems, business infor- mation technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. Its on-campus enrollment is about 3,600 undergraduates and nearly 270 full-time graduate students in master's and Ph.D. programs. Additionally, the school serves part-time graduate students in Blacksburg, at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and via five distance learning sites across the state. The school offers students a chance to earn a dual degree—an MBA from Pamplin and a master's degree from one of its partner schools: Thunderbird University in Glendale, Arizona, and Institut National des Telecommunications in Evry, France. In addition, students have the chance to study global business during annual study abroad programs in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The college also offers a global business minor and a fall semester program at Virginia Tech's Center for European Studies and Architecture in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. The college is ranked in the nation's top 50 under- graduate business schools by U.S. News & World Report and among the top 100 MBA programs worldwide by Financial Times. The school is accredited by AACSB International. when working with the media. We're releasing reports that outline AACSB's positions on media rankings and the value proposition of management education. At the same time, we're putting more emphasis on our ongoing value of accreditation campaign. This includes the creation of a new visual identity symbolized by an updated accreditation seal that reinforces our long heritage and high standards. The seal features the new tagline: "Earned Excellence. The Best Business Schools in theWorld." Schools with accounting accreditation also can use the tagline "The Best Accounting Programs in the World." The Value of Accreditation campaign is being supported with both print and electronic materials; accredited schools can download the new seal fromwww.aacsb.edu. As students, parents, and other stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of AACSB accreditation, we expect to reach more members and strengthen our own brand. Improvements in Service In addition to promoting accreditation initiatives and assum- ing more thought leadership, the board and I will be devot- ing attention to providing better services formember schools. For instance, we want to streamline the planning process for conferences and seminars, develop strategies for corporate relationships, enhance our affinity group activities, and con- duct regular needs assessment for members. In another important move, we plan to enhance the value of the data system maintained by Knowledge Services. In the next year, members will be able to get the data they want on demand, identify andmanage comparison groupsmore effec- tively online, and manage a wide array of their own data in a secure online environment. We also plan improvements to our accreditation reports, and we are designing the firstmod- ule devoted to accounting accreditation. Looking Ahead As the association prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2006, we need to assess what strengths brought us this far and what strengths will carry us into the next century. It seems obvious that we must focus on what could and should be done, rather than choosing priorities simply based on what resources we have available. What AACSB should do and can do is become a thought leader for business education worldwide. What we should do and can do is improve our accreditation processes and pro- mote the value of accreditation across the globe. Therefore, we will allocate resources accordingly as we focus on these critical tasks going into the next year. s z BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 49