Woodbury University School of Business Earns AACSB Reaffirmation

Following a peer review visit by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in September 2023, the Woodbury University School of Business recently received formal confirmation of its reaffirmation for the next 5 years.

Since its inaugural accreditation in 2014, the School of Business has proudly renewed this prestigious performance measure twice.

The School of Business’ Dean, Dr. Joan Marques, who spearheaded the reporting process, expressed her gratitude to the team and the tireless performance efforts invested by all stakeholders. “I am well aware of the power of mutual respect and collaboration,” she stated. “Our faculty and staff team members have supported each other and our students in every possible way, and our advisory board has consistently assisted our small entity with stellar involvement and services that other schools normally pay high sums for.”

Looking back, Dean Marques said that the 2023 reaffirmation process was particularly taxing, as it entailed several novel components, including a report on how the school dealt with the Covid pandemic and the shift to a new set of standards developed by AACSB in recent years. Other critical performance factors involved responding to the recent challenges of California’s decreasing college-age student population—a trend that has been amplified by the pandemic and the emergence of social media as a means of establishing a fast-paced and lucrative career, as well as on-the-job training opportunities for upcoming workforce generations.

Being one of the smallest AACSB-accredited institutions in the world, the school is particularly proud of its collective performance in the areas of stellar faculty scholarship, student excellence, systematic assessment, and a number of additional criteria, such as the school’s practices regarding moral responsibility, its joined efforts on societal impact, its ongoing innovation and continuous improvement of programs in line with the changing demands of the contemporary world, and the support systems in place for students and faculty.

Dean Marques further commented, “The diverse population within our student body as well as our small faculty team were factors of high appeal to AACSB’s visiting team, along with our extraordinary approach to instilling the concept of business ethics through civic engagement. This was particularly underscored as a unique feature that we should continue to nurture.”

With a small team of 12 full-time participating faculty members representing at least seven countries, the School of Business proudly reported 101 high-quality intellectual contributions over the most recent 5-year cycle, earning high praise from the visiting team. In part, their feedback stated, “The school has a highly engaged and collegial faculty, who are deeply committed to serving the needs of their students.”

Through its report, interviews with various stakeholder groups, and the visiting team’s perceptions, Woodbury University’s School of Business made a strong impression with its ability to implement AACSB’s foundational themes of engagement, innovation, and impact. The reaffirmation team complimented our school on several of its initiatives, including:

• The annual Business Plan competition involving the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
• Our active and engaged Advisory Board with its unique rotating executive in residence program, which is still highlighted on the AACSB website as an outstanding practice
• Our alumni council with its focused responsibilities to engage students and alumni
• Our best practices sessions twice a year in conjunction with best practices sessions at the university

About the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

AACSB accreditation is not merely a measure of performance excellence for a school: It is a guarantee for students who graduate from an accredited institution that they have better perspectives on being hired by top global organizations that only recruit from AACSB-accredited schools. AACSB-accredited schools deliver educational programs that have passed rigorous standards for quality. In sum, AACSB-accredited schools have better programs, better faculty, better students with higher overall GPAs, more international students, and more employers that recruit from them. Alumni from AACSB accredited schools maintain an exceptional sense of pride about their school, and they are more prone to give back and keep in touch in order to assist upcoming student generations.

Last Updated February 16, 2024