Established in 1916, AACSB is a global non-profit association connecting educators, students and business to achieve a common goal of creating the next generation of great leaders and foster engagement, accelerate innovation, and amplify impact in business education.
AACSB accreditation provides a framework of 15 international standards against which business schools around the world assess the quality of their educational services, ensuring that they have the resources, credentials, and commitment needed to provide students with a first-rate, future-focused business education.
It follows a four day visit by experienced deans and professors from accredited business schools to the University in early March (shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown) where they met with over a hundred colleagues from across the business school and university, including Sheffield Business School’s leadership team, academic and professional colleagues, students, alumni, industry partners and advisory board members.
During the visit the team measured the progress made in five years across 15 accreditation standards including quality standards, student support, graduate destinations, business and alumni engagement as well as international partnerships and research.
Eileen McAuliffe, Dean of Sheffield Business School, said: “Achieving AACSB accreditation is a sign to both students and staff that we are a high-quality business school that is committed to continually improving.
“It has taken us six years to get here and has seen us fundamentally rethink the School’s vision and mission, creating and implementing ambitious strategic plans aligned to the university’s Transforming Lives strategy, appointment of a senior advisory board and a wholly new approach to partnerships and business engagement.
“The business school is radically improved because of the accreditation journey and will allow us to attract the very best students and staff as we move forward.
“This is the beginning of a much longer journey, to further develop and embed the processes we have introduced as part of gaining AACSB accreditation so that we can provide the best learning experience for our students.”
The University joins more than 800 business schools worldwide which have achieved AACSB accreditation, including 35 within the UK.
Stephanie M. Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB said: “We congratulate Sheffield Hallam University and Dean Eileen McAuliffe on earning accreditation, and applaud the entire Sheffield Business School team—including the administration, faculty, staff, and students—for their roles in earning this respected honour.
“Sheffield Hallam University’s commitment to earning accreditation is a true reflection of their dedication—not only to their students, alumni network, and greater business community, but to the higher education industry as a whole.
“Today’s students are tomorrow’s business leaders, and the addition of the Sheffield Business School to the network of AACSB-accredited business schools will have a lasting positive impact for their institution, both locally and globally.”
