URI business program gets thumbs up from AACSB

03/11/09 - The University of Rhode Island's College of Business Administration has renewed its accreditation for its undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The college has received the accreditation, which is reviewed every five years, since 1972, making it the longest standing accredited business program in Rhode Island. The College of Business Administration was founded in 1923.

"One can view accreditation as the good housekeeping seal of approval," Mark Higgins, dean of the business program, said.

To receive this accolade, the college has to meet AACSB standards.

"Since we have both business and accounting accreditation, we have two people who come in and review the college of Business program and two people who review the accounting program," Higgins said.

To maintain its accreditation, half the faculty needs to have a terminal degree, meaning the highest in their respective field, as well as being actively engaged in research.

The professionally qualified faculty are required to have significant current work experience. These professors constitute the majority of the accounting department.

Their experiences include "being on the board of directors for a company or being regularly engaged in consulting," Higgins explained.

The accreditation is a rarity among business and accounting programs. Less than 15 percent of schools offering management education and less than 5 percent of those offering accounting programs have earned national accreditation.

There are also many other aspects of the college that make it a unique national program.

The college is one of two U.S. programs that has Chartered Financial Analyst designation and ASL designation.

"It means our program has gone through curriculum review and prepares students to sit for the CFA exam and graduates [qualify] for the ASL certificate," Higgins said.

The finance program is one of the few in the country that partners with the Charter Financial Analyst Institute. The supply chain management program is one of 22 in the country that offers certification by the American Society for Transportation and Logistics.

The business program's URI 101 program also specifies that junior and senior business students mentor incoming freshmen.

"Peer-to-peer training is unique and has been very successful," Higgins said.

Students also have the benefit of using the Career Vault and Career Passport programs.

The Career Vault is an online database that all students can access and tell them all aspects of a career.

It gives students, primarily first semester freshmen, career insights about their prospective jobs, information about what degrees to pursue and advice about potential internships.

The Career Passport program, piloted last year, is a one-credit course to provide upperclassmen with skills to seek employment after graduation.

Students create a resume and cover letter, and read a variety of career-oriented books for assignments. They also have to complete a number of optional programs, like attending a career fair or etiquette dinner. When these assignments are completed, the students receive a "stamp" on their online "passport." The students can then discuss their opinions on these assignments in interactive online group discussions.

"Students who come to URI have the benefit of being at a well respected, highly thought of business school," Higgins said. "As one recruiter refers to the URI [program], it's a 'sleeping giant.'