Review: AACSB Global Accreditation Conference

Well, it has been a while since I have posted. I still contend that this is a good way to take notes and keep them in mind in my duties as now, associate dean, hopefully benefiting others as well. This is the Global Accreditation Conference put on by AACSB. It is hosted in beautiful San Antonio Texas, one of my favorite cities. The River Walk is really cool. Of course, there is the Alamo, great TexMex, and so many other things to do. But, this is a working trip and we're here to learn as much as we can to help us in our accreditation journey. We're nearing the final stages and want to make sure we have all of our bases covered. My first stop was of courses the plenary session and while I think the speaker was pretty good, it was not really what I was here to see and learn about. My first "real" session was over the dreaded Assurance of Learning issue:

(A1) Exploring AoL:

First Speaker:

• Assurance of Learning can meaningfully complement other quality assurance processes
• How to setup a smart, meaningful and tailored approach towards direct and indirect measurements
• How to reduce AoL red-tape when facing large numbers of degree programs and students
• How to leverage most from AoL measurements and truly foster continuous improvement

Standards 8: Systematic, improve, demonstrate are the three key "action words" from Standard 8

How does AoL contribute to all the other things that we do to add value to our programs?

Mision:

• Knowledge, research, skills

Take data from course evaluations, pass rates/grade curves, test item analysis, program committee meeting, board of examiners, assessment plans, national student surveys, and employer surveys as input into AoL and interpret that data to inform changes to programs/courses

Direct Measurements:

• Fixed: Bachelor's' and masters theses
• Flexible: Courses where we thing something can be improved

Indirect Measurements

• QA Reports: quality officers
• In-Course data
• Surveys
• Student evaluations

Formulating Improvements

• Students as partners
• Triangulation o data sources

Closing the Loop

• "Wow, this looks a lot like action research"

NOTE: Consider tweaking course evaluations to include AoL objectives and requesting student responses as to how effectively they have learned those objectives.

They use PeerCeptiv as a peer feedback tool to improve student writing. They were able to show that peer feedback is invaluable. They also demonstrated that peer feedback was more closely aligned with feedback from experienced instructors relative to inexperienced instructors. We can use this information to think about ways to work peer evaluation into our courses.

Something else we could potentially do is to include students to evaluate AoL data. Perhaps the student advisory board? This could be interesting.

Second Speaker:

They streamlined their SLOs from 14 to 4

Prior, they were assessment exhausted

Problems:

• Assessment = Importance
• Skill
• Discipline
• Collection every semester was vital
• Student performance = Instructional Ability

Missing the mark:

• Trying to do too much
• No standardized Professes
• Data collection
• Rubrics

No communications tools

action opportunities

???

• See slide before Task 1

Task 1: Outcomes and Map

• They limited their SLOs to 5
• Streamlined assessment map
• Educated faculty at college meeting

Results: 

• Greater focus on outcomes
• More holistic measurement of outcomes

Task 2: Rubrics

• Cross-discipline development
• Committee Oversight
• Core faculty input

Results:

• Better interpretation of performance
• Stronger faculty buy-in

Task 3: Data Collection Process:

• Single Excel File
• Course Map
• Rubrics
• Data Collection Tool
• Assessment Cycle

Results:

• Clear Expectations
• Consistent Data Input
• Easier Analysis

Task 4: Results Dashboard

• Developed Comparative Dashboard (See Example Dashboard in slides)
• Shared with all faculty after each analysis cycle

Results:

• Better visibility of performance
• Faculty visualize opportunities

Taks 5: Articulated Review Process:

• Assessment Policy
• Evaluate SLOs and tools on rotating basis
• When SLO os <70% for 2 semesters:
• Data collection occurs every semester
• When SLO is >90% for 4 semesters:
• Committee re-evaluates tool
• Consider replacing SLO

Continuous Improvement Actions

• Implemented Changes
• Rubrics and Maps
• 3 courses instead of 5 for problem solving
• Assignments
• Writing instead of oral assignment for communication
• Measurement
• Weighted Teamwork rubric components

Future Work:

• Faculty better understand assessment process
• Still Needed
• Cross-core outcome improvement initiatives
• Myth busing

Key Takeaways

• Develop a holistic process
• Make process CLEAR for faculty (and tell them over and over again)
• Communicate results OFTEN
• Celebrate successes

(B1) Alternative Instructional Models & Implications for Accreditation

First Speaker:

Learning and Teaching Principles:

• Reflective Process
• Industry Connected, research informed, internationally focused, committed to excellence
• Collegially Designed, contextually delivered, continually improved
• Discipline Specific Skills, critical thinking, communications, teamwork, soci-cultural and ethical skills
• AoL closing the look to ensure the link between skills, curricula, and stakeholder needs is continually reviewed and aligned

What should fully online transformation look like? This is good content, or at least, broad aspects that should be considered as one creates online courses/programs.

• Social
• Connected
• Flexible
• Personalized
• Interactive
• Service

"Micro-masters": Certificate of 5 courses, MOOCs that serve as a standalone certificate but can be used towards their full master's degree. These courses can be taken at a fraction of the cost of their regular classes. Sounds similar to the TOOC offered by Dr. Baker in Education as a recruiting tool.

Work Integrated Learning (Experiential Learning):

• Fieldwork:
• Includes study tours and site visits as well as internships
• Industry-based projects and research activities
• Service learning
• Simulation and virtual learning
• Co-curricular work experience placements

Second Speaker:

• Increasing demand for soft skills
• Diminishing emphasis on specialist knowledge (likely to be obsolete or irrelevant for divergent professional tracks
• Awareness of the complexity of the world. Need for professionals which can integrate different views

Emergence of interdisciplinary and integrative approaches paying special attention to humanistic considerations.

• Many courses are still conceived and delivered as closed (disciplinary) compartments
• There are courses intentionally designed for integrating knowledge and skills into complex tasks.

AoL says this works...but is it enough?

• Increase interdisciplinary approaches
• For example, add systems analysis and design concepts into my networking class to help introduce/reinforce what is going on in that class.
• Increase courses that are organized as a problem/project based learning principles/methods

(C3) Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Challenges and Opportunities

Isabelle J. Fagnot & Sara Isabel Marin Zapata

Continuous Improvement:

• Sustainable
• Improvement of services, processes, products
• Agile
• Side by side with daily business practices

• Identify>Plan>Execute>(See slides)

• Accreditation as a strategic lever for change and growth
• Embedding accreditations organizationally and strategically
• Using accreditation framework in long-term development strategy

Communicate Often, Dispel Rumors, Empowering Action, involving People in the Process

Strategi Management, Assurance of Learning, Faculty

(D1) Innovative Curricula

Business partners are invited to develop and deliver a portion of the business administration curriculum

• Core (knowledge)
• Mini Courses (skills - 2 hour courses - i.e. How to talk Stocks, The 24/7 Professional, Organizational Agility, DIgital Advertising, Data Visualization
• Guided Experiences (Ability - i.e. Atkins Investment Group, Rines Angel Investor Group, ...)

Go to employers and ask what they want to identify relevant curriculum.

The Essentials of Strategic Planning Workshop:

Document EVERYTHING. Make sure we're taking notes and communicating regularly/consistently with faculty.

Utilize both internal and external stakeholder input.

Should be considered a "living" document

Time Frame:

• Short-Term: <= 5 years
• Long-Term: 5-10 years
• Annual assessment of progress is essential

Strategy is:

• deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value
• Strategic competition between b-schools tries to entice students selectively into programs
• It is also about innovation, creativity, and a commitment to systematically remake the business school enterprise

Start by defining your own competitive advantage:

• I saw the slide and immediately thought of a SWOT analyses/Porter's Five Forces/PEST, etc

Other Key Strategic Factors:

• Leadership
• Branding
• People
• Geography
• Markets

Typical Components of a Basic Strategic Plan:

• Mission: Distinctive; build in innovation, impact, and engagement; be published; guide decisions; derived from stakeholders; reviewed and revised; appropriate to higher education; consistent with institutions mission; include intellectual contributions; specify students/geography served
• Vision: Does it describe what your organization does rather that WHY it does what it does?; Is it inspirational?; Can it be remembered easily?; Is it achievable in the next ten years? BHAG: Big Harry, Audacious Goal
• Core Values: A business school's essential and enduring tenets; a small set of general guiding principles; not to be confused with specific cultural or operating practices; not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency
• Goals: Goals are higher level what you want to accomplish; objectives break down the goals into smaller pieces; tactics break objectives down even further into action items (and who is going to do it); goals should be SMART
• Objectives: 
• Tactics: Provide the How to details; are short term (one year is common); are measurable; often change from year to year, while goals and objectives typically to not change from year to year; make sure you identify a responsible party

Goal>Objective>Tactic 

Create a Strategic Plan Dashboard, something similar to what we already have. Add more detail to it though to include people responsible, time frames, metrics, etc