ACBSP IMPACT

This post was written by ACBSP President and CEO, Jeffrey Alderman, for our community of corporate members.

ACBSP Tackling Legislative Advocacy as Higher Ed Faces Continuing Criticism

Those who read my column in the Summer 2016 issue of ACBSP Update [PDF] might remember that its primary focus was about the increasing momentum of government to deprivatize higher education. I referenced a report from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which is a federal panel that advises the U.S. Department of Education. To paraphrase the report’s findings by Inside Higher Ed, “the panel seeks to develop a more systematic approach to considering student achievement and other outcome and performance metrics for agencies that come before it.”

My column was regrettably prophetic when, last September, a bill named “The Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2016” was introduced in the Senate just prior to recessing for the election cycle.

Certainly, any bill that contains the phrasing “reform” and “accountability” is not a good thing.

Led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and co-sponsored by senators Dick Durban (D-IL) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), S. 3380 would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and is a cavalcade of possible mandates on higher education.

While this bill is squarely aimed at institutional accreditors, such an encroachment to accreditation would surely trickle down to programmatic accreditation and ACBSP.

For more information, please visit https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/3380.

In response to this, the ACBSP Board of Directors approved the establishment of a formal standing committee named the Legislative Advisory Committee. This committee will work to create a legislative agenda and seek to work closely with CHEA, institutional accreditors, and our member schools to create a voice for ACBSP in this critical endeavor.

Corporate members who are interested in working on this important endeavor are invited to send an email of interest to the President/CEO at jalderman@acbsp.org.

Business Education Week Reimagined in 2017 — Introducing the BEW Blog

Each Friday morning since September 2003, ACBSP institutional and corporate members have received an email with a link to download Business Education Week, a membership benefit exclusively for ACBSP members. Articles cover trending topics in business education and higher ed, updates from the ACBSP home office, announcements of upcoming events and deadlines, and members in the news.

This past January, Business Education Week transitioned to a blog format, which allows us to include more information each week and provides easy access with links to the full articles. Readers may bookmark articles of interest, provide comments, forward to a colleague, or share on social media. This new format encourages greater engagement among our members. We invite you to be part of the discussion.

ACBSP Unveils Redesigned Website

We are constantly looking for ways to improve the look and functionality of acbsp.org. A redesign took place in 2017 that brought a clean, contemporary look to the home page, drawing attention to benefits and information our members and prospective members search for most often. One of the most visible improvements is a new bar across the bottom of the home page that continually scrolls our corporate member logos. The scroll will pause as a visitor hovers over a logo, and will direct them to the corporate member website with a simple click. Rollout of the redesign will continue through the year with a new Career Center, ACBSP store, and custom page templates used throughout the site. There were more than 15,000 visitors to acbsp.org in March, and over 200,000 visited in all of 2016.

Exhibitor and Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available for ACBSP Conference 2017

This year’s ACBSP Annual Conference will be held June 24-27, at the beautiful Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, CA. The theme of the conference is “Preparing Students for Career Success.” Now, more than ever, business schools must demonstrate ways in which they are evolving to meet the needs of students and preparing them for a competitive global economy. We received a record number of proposals to our call for presentations, so this has traditionally led to increased attendance. As a corporate member, you receive a significant discount for exhibitor space and we are happy to work with you to create a custom package. Click here for more information or to reserve exhibitor space.

#ACBSP4Change: Give Back to our Conference Host City and Make a Difference in the Lives of Southern California Students

Take part in the 2017 #ACBSP4Change campaign to benefit the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) P21 Partnership for 21st Century Learning/Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics (STEAM). Click here to donate today.