Faculty of Business Economics obtains prestigious international accreditation AACSB
After several site visits by an external jury and an extensive evaluation over several years, UHasselt's Faculty of Business Economics receives the prestigious AACSB quality label from the American Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. It assesses colleges offering business education worldwide and awards this highly-regarded quality label to institutions that excel in their economic education and research. "Quite an honour for our faculty as only 6 per cent of academic management programmes worldwide have this label," says Dean Prof dr. Piet Pauwels.
To comply with the AACSB label, business training courses are evaluated on 15 very strict quality standards worldwide. Here, an external international jury looks at the quality of teaching and research and the internal processes and strategies used by the course to achieve its mission and vision. To do so, the jury goes through extensive self-assessment reports and engages in dialogue with faculty, staff and administration as well as students, alumni and the buying field during site visits.
"In 2019, we started the process to achieve this quality label," says Dean Piet Pauwels. "It has become a long and intensive process, in which we could fortunately count on the tireless efforts of many people within our faculty, the central administration and stakeholders such as our alumni and people from the industry. We are therefore incredibly proud of this result. A quality label like AACSB is given to few business schools or faculties. This accreditation confirms our quality and puts our faculty even more on the international map."
Excellence
"AACSB recognises institutions that demonstrate a focus on excellence in all areas. Both in terms of teaching, research, curriculum development and student learning," said Stephanie M. Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB. "We congratulate Hasselt University and Dean Piet Pauwels on achieving the accreditation and commend the entire team - including the administration, faculty, staff and students - for their role in achieving this respected distinction."
Big ambitions
In its report, the three-member, international AACSB jury - all deans of previously accredited faculties - stated that it was impressed by the great ambitions of the faculty of Business Economics at Hasselt University and by the strong commitment that was and still is there to improve even further. "Throughout its history, the programme has always had a clear and unambiguous mission in mind. In the early years by focusing on the scientific expansion of research, then by focusing on further growth of the programme and finally to play its civic role to the full, with the faculty seeking to strengthen the ecosystem in the region and far beyond. "In each case, the programme succeeded," the jury report reads.
In addition, the jury also praised the way the faculty manages to turn its still limited scale into a real strategic advantage. "There is a close contact between the faculty and its students, and this was very much appreciated by the students themselves as well as by alumni and stakeholders. This is certainly a fact that the programme should maintain in the coming years," the jury report states.
New goals
"Having obtained this quality label, we are now fully committed to our next objective: wider and deeper internationalisation," says Dean Piet Pauwels. "The AACSB label opens doors for even closer collaborations with other business economics programmes worldwide, both in terms of research and student exchange projects. In addition, this accreditation will also convince even more international students to choose a programme at our faculty."
About AACSB International
Established in 1916, AACSB International (AACSB) is the world’s largest business
education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next
generation of great leaders. With members in over 100 countries and territories, AACSB
fosters engagement, accelerates innovation, and amplifies impact in business
education. Learn how AACSB and business schools from around the world are leading
boldly in business education at aacsb.edu.
