Building Trust Through International Accreditation. A Case Study

Transcription

1 Building Trust Through International Accreditation A Case Study Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Rau and Nadja Legrum-Khaled (B.Sc.) Business School Pforzheim University Tiefenbronner Str Pforzheim karl-heinz.rau@hs-pforzheim.de Phone: Abstract Assuming that higher education is a credence product, the authors propose that quality assurance is a key element for building trust among prospective students and the companies that will become their future employers. With nearly 50 years of experience, Pforzheim University offers a broad range of bachelor and master degree programs in business. With reference to ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) requirements for internal quality assurance, this article describes how its Business School earned the highly regarded AACSB accreditation. It focuses on the conviction that such an accreditation strongly supports the institution s ability to achieve cultural change and earn trust. Content Introduction and Outcomes... 2 Higher Education as a Credence Service... 2 The Framework Given by European Standards and Guidelines for Internal Quality Assurance within Higher Education Institutions... 2 Quality Assurance at the Business School of Pforzheim University... 3 Preparing for International Accreditation by AACSB... 3 General Characterization of the AACSB Accreditation... 4 The Way to AACSB Accreditation and Experiences of Pforzheim University... 5 Conclusions... 7 Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 1

2 Introduction and Outcomes An institution of higher education has substantial responsibility for the development of young people. Business schools, in particular, have the mission to prepare students for successful professional careers. The prospective student is making an important investment in the future, and the selection of an institution and specific study program is a decision made under uncertainty. To reduce this uncertainty and increase trust, quality management and accreditation are appropriate tools. This article asserts that international accreditation by AACSB improves the quality of teaching, learning and research. Consequently, such accreditation has a strong impact on the confidence level of students. The reader will: have a basic understanding of higher education as a credence service; know key requirements for internal quality assurance; have a basic understanding of AACSB accreditation; and can share the experiences of a newly AACSB accredited institution. Higher Education as a Credence Service From a business perspective, a university is a service provider offering education as a product. For a student or parent, education is an investment; however, the student chooses to make this investment without precise knowledge of the total cost of and the return on the investment. The decision is made under uncertainty. To properly evaluate the quality of the educators and content of a specific study program, the student would have to already have attended a fair number of courses. Due to high switching cost, the barrier for market exit is high. When the complexity of a product or service is very high, the customer (or applicant, in this case) cannot adequately assess quality, yet the provider has very good knowledge of its product (information asymmetry); therefore, the product can be characterized as a credence product (Schimmel/Motley et al., 2010). The university must demonstrate quality, and a reliable indicator of quality is recognition by an independent and highly regarded external institution. Pforzheim University sought AACSB accreditation because it is a globally recognized hallmark of excellence and confirms the institution s dedication and commitment to continuous improvement. Before discussing the AACSB accreditation process, a brief overview of the European framework for quality assurance is necessary. The Framework Given by European Standards and Guidelines for Internal Quality Assurance within Higher Education Institutions The prerequisite for any external assessment is the existence of an internal quality assurance system. As a response to the mandate given by the Berlin communiqué of September 2003, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) published a set of standards and guidelines on quality assurance (ENQA, 2005). Additionally, a second focus on a peer review system for quality assurance agencies has also been developed. The standards and guidelines for internal quality assurance comprise the following aspects (ENQA, 2005): Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 2

3 Policy and procedures for quality assurance: Institutions should develop a policy and implement associated procedures for the assurance of quality. The strategy and policies should be explicit and come as a result of close cooperation with relevant stakeholders. A key requirement is that quality assurance is not only documented but becomes part of the living culture of the institution. Approval, monitoring and periodic review of programs: The confidence of students and companies in the quality of the study programs is dependent on the existence of a process for formal approval and periodic review. Assessment of students: In order to assess students, standardized and published criteria should be applied. Effectiveness is crucial because the results could have significant impact on the professional success of graduates. Furthermore, assessment results also provide valuable information about the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Quality assurance of teaching staff: For most students, the teaching staff is the most important resource in their learning process. The institution has to ensure that its educators are qualified in their disciplines and in didactics. Learning resources and student support: Institutions have to ensure that they provide adequate equipment, facilities and support for all of their study programs. Information systems: Relevant information must be available to manage an institution well. The information system should accommodate, at minimum, information about the course of study, graduation results, teaching and research resources, placement of graduates, and career development. Public information: Institutions in the Higher Education System serve the public and the majority of German institutions are state funded; therefore, the institution must publish relevant details about the study programs, qualification profile of graduates, learning goals, etc. Following is a discussion of how the Business School of Pforzheim University met these requirements. Quality Assurance at the Business School of Pforzheim University Preparing for International Accreditation by AACSB From its first graduate program in Business for engineers in 1974, the Business School has long-standing experience in graduate education. By 2001, all established master programs were structured according to the Bologna structure. In 2006/2007, all one-tier Diplom programs were converted to bachelor programs. Leveraging the existing quality philosophy, the institution revised its original programs based on welldefined program learning goals that prescribe the individual profile of each study program. In accordance with the requirements of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Pforzheim University successfully completed a national program accreditation for all bachelor and master programs. In addition to this mandatory accreditation, Pforzheim University decided to seek international accreditation. In 2002, the Supervisory Board recommended that the Business School aspire to international accreditation through AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). By 2006, the organizational structure was improved such that the Business School united all bachelor and master programs in Business under one roof, with the exception of Business Administration and Engineering (Industrial Engineering). Formal AACSB accreditation activities began in August Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 3

4 General Characterization of the AACSB Accreditation The following paragraphs describe characteristics of AACSB accreditation based on several AACSB documents that are all available on the AACSB website ( For the sake of simplicity the direct/indirect citations are not marked. AACSB International, founded in 1916, is an association of almost 1,200 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations in 78 countries. AACSB s mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation, thought leadership, and value-added services. AACSB accreditation is the mark of quality distinction most widely sought after by business schools less than 5% worldwide have earned the achievement. As the premier accreditation body for institutions offering undergraduate, master, and doctorate degrees in business, the association also conducts a wide array of conferences and seminar programs at locations throughout the world. AACSB's global headquarters is located in Tampa, Florida, USA and its Asia headquarters is located in Singapore. Accreditation focuses on the quality of education. Standards set demanding but realistic thresholds, challenge educators to pursue continuous improvement, and guide improvement in educational programs. Nevertheless, academic quality is created by individual faculty members in interaction with students and not by accreditation. Accreditation observes, recognizes, and sometimes motivates educational quality created within the institution. Due to the diversity of education systems and institutions, accreditation is based on the mission defined by the stakeholders of the individual institution; therefore, the standards typically relate to the mission. Accreditation focuses on evaluating compliance against the standards requirements and the defined mission. The accreditation standards are grouped in three categories (AACSB, 2011): Strategic Management. Participants. Assurance of learning. Strategic Management The institution has to articulate its mission as a guide to its view of the future, its planned evolution, and its infrastructure and strategic management of available resources. As already mentioned, the accreditation evaluation process is linked to the institution s mission. Each institution has to define its individual mission taking into account its specific environment. Strategic management standards verify that the institution focuses its resources and efforts toward a defined mission as embodied in a mission statement. That mission statement may be broad or narrow, general or precise, but however it is stated, it should assist the decision makers, implementers, students, and other constituencies of the institution to know the institution s goals. To satisfy the strategic management standards, the choices must be documented. Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 4

5 Participants A direct link exists between an applicant's mission, the characteristics of students served by the educational programs, the composition and qualifications of the faculty members providing the programs, and the overall quality of the school. Therefore, these standards focus on maintaining a mix of both student and faculty participants that achieve high quality in the activities that support the school s mission. Learning by students as they prepare for business, management, or academic careers is strongly dependent on the quality of instruction offered to them. Faculty members and administrators share responsibility for ensuring instructional quality through continuous improvement and innovation. As they implement this responsibility, faculty members, administrators, and staff continue their own learning. As participants in the learning enterprise, students also are responsible to take an active role in their learning experiences. Assurance of Learning Student learning is the central activity of higher education. Definition of learning expectations and assurance that graduates achieve learning expectations are key features of any academic program. The learning expectations derive from a balance of internal and external contributions to the definition of educational goals. Members of the business community, students, and faculty members each contribute valuable perspectives on the needs of graduates. Learning goals should be set and revised at a level that encourages continuous improvement in educational programs. A systematic process for assessment is necessary in order to analyze achievements and to identify the need for improvement. Based on open discussion, improvement activities must be defined and implemented. Indeed the strategic management, participant and assurance of learning concepts are linked because processes that assure continuous improvement obviously relate to an institution being ever more successful in achieving its mission and strategic management goals. In contrast with ENQA guidelines and the Bologna Declaration, the AACSB accreditation process at least partly addresses research and general institutional management. Research, intellectual contributions and their impact are important for faculty development and currency of teaching. Appointment policies for faculty members and strategic and financial planning are essential activities for ensuring and realizing continuous improvement. The Way to AACSB Accreditation and Experiences of Pforzheim University Accreditation is a multi-step, multi-year process. The time span depends on the readiness of the institution. Figure 1 shows the process for Pforzheim Business Figure 1: Timeline of Accreditation Process Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 5

6 School. This process became a huge learning, development and change process for the institution and it is very important to involve all stakeholders during the process. With this in mind, it s fair to say that the accreditation journey is its own reward. Importantly, the process is characterized by consultative elements. The mentor and the chair of the peer review team are helpful supporters, from eligibility through development of the self-evaluation report. Furthermore, seminars and conferences offered by AACSB, where there is an exchange of experiences between peers, support the learning process. Independent of the 21 AACSB standards, the Business School of Pforzheim University developed a strategic framework to structure the complexity of the process and identify areas of activities (see fig. 2). Figure 2: Strategic areas of activities This framework focused the discussions but also outlined interdependencies. It helped to define and emphasize strategies and activities for selected areas. To systemize the continuous improvement activities in different areas, a closed-loop system for quality assurance and development was used (see fig. 3). The orange box represents the diverse processes within the institution, e.g., the admission process for new students (see student lifecycle in fig. 2), the teaching and learning processes during the semester (see learning and teaching in fig. 2), processes in research and production of intellectual contributions (see research in fig. 2), etc. The blue box symbolizes the data collection activities related to specific processes, e.g., application, admission, and acceptance figures, average grades as a result of admission or the outcome assessment data, course evaluations, or average grades of the exams as measurements to evaluate teaching and learning processes. The yellow box represents analysis performed primarily by faculty members and administrators with the participation of students. If analysis indicates a need for improvement/change in the green phase, adequate activities must be defined and Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 6

7 implemented. This is the starting point for collecting data again in order to assess the effectiveness of the implemented activities. Figure 3: Closed-loop system of QA/QD (Rau/Legrum-Khaled, 2010) The following statements summarize the experiences at Pforzheim during the process of initial AACSB accreditation: It was a challenging and risky adventure. There were multiple opportunities to reflect on what the institution was doing. Everyone learned a lot, throughout the institution. The accreditation process produced positive change, which is still ongoing. The standards and accreditation requirements provide a rich framework for managing the business school. The results form a strong foundation for further development of the institution. Conclusions The Business School of Pforzheim University voluntarily chose to seek international accreditation. This decision itself demonstrates dedication to quality and a commitment to continuous improvement. The distinguished hallmark of excellence in management education, i.e., AACSB accreditation, convinces prospective students, parents and companies that they can expect quality education. But the commitment to continuous improvement is directly related to the need for self-criticism. Like a Michelin chef, the institution must always ask itself what else can be done to improve. In this context, the following topics are food for thought: Why is national accreditation not sufficient? What are the stumbling blocks in the AACSB accreditation process? Does international accreditation pay off? Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 7

8 What are the most important success factors? The authors look forward to an inspiring discussion. Bibliography AACSB (2011): Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation. Revised January 31, 2011, Tampa ( 7/25/2011). AACSB (2009): A Self-Assessment Primer for PreAccreditation. ( 7/25/2011). ENQA (2005): Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Helsinki Rau, K.-H. and Legrum-Khaled, N. (2010): A Framework for Quality Assurance at the Business Unit of Pforzheim University. Paper Presentation at the Fifth European Quality Assurance Forum in Lyon, Nov , 2010, 10 p. Schimmel K.; Motley, D.; Racic, S.; Marco, G. and Eschenfelder, M. (2010): The importance of university web pages in selecting a higher education institution. In: Research in Higher Education Journal, Vol. 9, Oct. 2010, 16 p. ( 7/25/2011). Author s Bio: Dr. Karl-Heinz Rau is a full Professor for MIS at the Business School of Pforzheim University, Germany since Before his time in academia, he worked for IBM Germany in business planning and strategy consulting. He earned his doctoral degree from Tuebingen University. Dr. Rau has published three books and contributed more than 30 articles to journals and books on information systems, management accounting, and quality management. Currently he serves as an associate dean at the Business School of Pforzheim University. Nadja Legrum-Khaled is Head of Quality Management at the Business School of Pforzheim University, Germany since She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Information Engineering and Management at Karlsruhe University/Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with a focus on Organization Management and Theories, as well as Internet contract law. Rau/Legrum-Khaled 2012 SAM International Business Conference 8