Story by Paige Ernste
Photo by Luke Nankivell
In a student meeting on Monday, April 7, the College of Business and Public Administration announced the withdrawal of its accreditation from the professional accrediting organization, the Association to Advance College Schools of Business, due to its lack of compliance with a research productivity standard.
There are 21 standards of expectation for AACSB member schools.
“The CBPA excelled in 20 of the 21 AACSB standards of expectation, especially in those standards that relate directly to student outcomes and services,” said Dean Charles Edwards.
“During the most recent AACSB review, the CBPA was out of compliance with the standard related to the research and peer-reviewed academic journal productivity of our faculty,” Edwards said.
Over the past two years of accreditation review, the number of CBPA faculty who meet the standard for peer-reviewed publishing increased 25 percent.
Although there appears to be steady improvement, progress is still necessary.
In consultation with Drake University President David Maxwell and Provost Deneese Jones, CBPA faculty and staff made the decision to temporarily and voluntarily withdraw accreditation while CBPA faculty work to meet the research productivity standard.
CBPA staff and faculty want business students to know their degrees are not worth any less and that the concerns expressed by the accreditors have nothing to do with the quality of the college or any of the remaining 20 standards upon which accreditation is based.
“Withdrawal has no bearing on the quality of your student experience, nor does it reflect on the educational quality or program quality within the College of Business and Public Administration,” Edwards said. “Instead, withdrawal stems solely from AACSB concerns about an insufficient percentage of our faculty publishing at rates deemed appropriate by AACSB.”
The CBPA will reapply for AACSB accreditation in the spring of 2015, the earliest date allowed after a voluntary withdrawal.
The reapplication process can take two years.
“We are dedicated and have the full support of the university to ‘fast-tracking’ the application and reaccreditation process to achieve full AACSB accreditation,” Edwards said.
