An emphasis on enhancing research and career services has led to improvements for the School of Business as it continues its accreditation process. George Washington Today sat down with Interim Dean D. Christopher Kayes to discuss accreditation and incoming Dean Linda Livingstone.
Q: Where does the school’s accreditation stand?
A: The body that accredits top business schools, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), sent a peer review site team here in February. The specifics of the review are largely confidential, but we are pleased to report that we maintained our accreditation. The peer review team had some questions we need to clarify, and we will be sending a team of reviewers an update in January. The team may or may not decide to schedule a visit based on our response to those questions. The review remains confidential throughout the process, although faculty members have continuous access to the peer review team report.
As a school of business that grants doctoral degrees, GWSB is held to one of the highest standards, especially regarding the research productivity of its faculty. My estimate is less than 1 percent of AACSB-accredited business schools around the world can claim to offer doctoral programs. It’s important to note that these are standards GWSB faculty members establish for themselves. AACSB then verifies that we have met the standards that we as a school have established.
We have been sending reports and updates to AACSB for each of the last five years as part of the normal accreditation continuous review process.
Q: In what ways has GWSB made strides in research? How does that factor into reaccreditation?
A: As far back as 2006, GWSB faculty members identified the importance of improving research, a goal that emerged as part of our strategic planning process. Over the last five years, we have made great improvements in research capacity and output. One of the most widely used measures of research productivity and ranking is the Financial Times. GWSB faculty members contributed more than 77 publications to the Financial Times' list of top-ranked journals between 2008 and 2013.
GWSB also has improved significantly in the UT Dallas ranking—considered the most rigorous approach to research rankings. GWSB was unranked, outside the top 100, in 2007. In 2012, we were ranked at No. 69. Our faculty members published 55 articles in UT Dallas-ranked journals from 2008 to 2013, a significant increase over the last time we were reviewed for reaccreditation.
Q: What role will incoming Dean Linda Livingstone play in the continuous accreditation review process?
A: First, it is important to note that AACSB is composed of volunteer deans from business schools around the world. Deans conduct all the peer site reviews and make recommendations for or against continued reaccreditation. Linda Livingstone, who takes over as GWSB dean Aug. 1, will assume the role of chair of the AACSB Board this summer. We are delighted because she brings a wealth of experience about running business schools. She has conducted multiple site visits of business schools and is a leader among deans. AACSB board members don’t review their own schools, of course. They recuse themselves and leave the room when their own school is discussed.
Q: What were some GWSB accomplishments this year?
A: The School of Business had an amazing year. Faculty came together to pass two new curricula: a new MBA curriculum and a new undergraduate curriculum. We also took the first step in revising our doctoral program by raising both student graduation standards and standards for faculty who teach doctoral students.
In addition, we improved our position in the Businessweek Bloomberg rankings for undergraduate programs, and our graduates are among the highest paid in the world, according to salary data derived from recent business school rankings. We attribute this success in career placement to our focused approach to student career services, which will be made even stronger by a recent gift from Board of Trustees member Mark Shenkman, M.B.A. ’67, who donated $2 million to the business school career center.