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Accreditation Fees & Costs – Oct 2021

By | Resource

Accreditation Costs

There are several facets to the costs of accreditation:
  1. Payments made to the relevant accreditation bodies and comprise a mix of membership fees, accreditation fees and other expenses etc.  These are relatively fixed and easy to estimate (see link below).
  2. Staffing and advisory costs to support accreditation.  These are harder to estimate, and depend on several factors. For example:
    • Will there be an accreditation team with sufficient time and experience to manage the full accreditation process?
    • Are there additional faculty allowances given to accreditation?
    • Will the School require some external input, to support the internal resources?
  3. Investment Costs:  These vary hugely from school to school and naturally depend on each School’s strategic priorities.  Of course, strategic investment costs are not always linked to accreditation: Some strategic decisions will be made regardless of accreditation plans.  Others may only be made as a consequence of accreditation.

QED has listed the costs and fees associated with each of the accreditation bodies (#1 above), valid as of 26 October 2021.  These can be viewed here.

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Accredinator Updates – Sept 2021

By | Accredinator, Resource

The Accredinator – Summary of Updates to Sept 2021

H2 Software has launched the following updates to Accredinator.

Activity Updating and Reporting
  • Tables have been updated to reflect any changes made in the updates to AACSB, EQUIS and EFMD Accredited (formerly EPAS) standards and guidance.
  • Additional AACSB Faculty Classification details are now embedded into faculty profiles – so that users can see exactly how each faculty member’s activities contribute towards classification (in line with each School’s faculty classification policy).
  • An ‘Activity Survey‘ has been added: Using this, the Accreditation Team can download each faculty member’s listed activities. The template lists existing activities and provides space for faculty members to add new activities.  The updated survey can then be re-imported back into The Accredinator.  This means that the Accreditation Team does not have to re-key the activity information: it is automatically incorporated from the updated Activity Survey.
  • For AACSB, the activity import (as mentioned above) will automatically update the faculty qualification status where relevant.
  • The new ‘Hub’ section of the software (see ‘Additional Reporting’ below) facilitates reporting of activities  – filtered by date range, activity type etc.
External Parties (Industry links etc)
  • The software now includes the ability to add “External Parties” (such as collaborative partners, industry partners etc) and to link activities (such as publications, faculty engagement etc) to these parties.
  • It is also possible to tag exchange partners (Student exchange partners).
  • Summary reports can be generated – filtered by date, external party and country/region.
  • A map of partners can be printed – providing a useful visual of partner locations around the world (filtered by student exchange or industry partners)
Additional Reporting
  • The Accredinator now contains a central hub – to facilitate useful reports that are non-accreditation specific (e.g. list of faculty in post; list of activities by type etc);
  • It is now possible to print CVs and fact sheets for faculty members (based on the information held within Accredinator). CVs are organised into A-Z folders – so they can be copied into the virtual base room by a single click!
  • Additional functionality is being added to make reporting more accessible for other accreditations (such as Athena Swan; Prime etc)

The Accredinator is a software application that helps business schools with accreditation requirements for AACSB, AMBA and EFMD.  You can learn more about The Accredinator (including booking a free demo) here.

Learn more here

Risk Management – Overview and Sample Template

By | Resource

Risk Management & Business School Accreditation

Pro-active management of risk has assumed a higher significance in recent years – including in the higher education sector.  More recently, both AACSB and EFMD require business schools seeking international accreditation to provide details about risk management and contingency planning.  Many schools are now seeking to prepare a formal, school-level risk register or risk management template.  There are many ways to approach this exercise. QED has provided a sample overview and template register that may be useful for those schools approaching this exercise for the first time.

QED’s overview and example approach is available in this downloadable PDF file.

(Please note, you may have to log in download this file)

 

For advice and further details, please contact the QED Accreditation Team at info@QEDaccreditation.com.

EQUIS: Updates to standards and guidance 2021

By | Resource

EQUIS Standards and Guidance: Updates 2021

EFMD revises the documentation supporting EQUIS periodically.  QED’s overview of the updates made as part of the 2021 publication, together with an assessment of the significance of the change can be found in this downloadable PDF file.

Whilst most changes are unlikely to be significant, there are a small number which should be considered by institutions within the accreditation process OR preparing for re-accreditation.

NB: This document represents QED’s interpretation of the EQUIS Updates.  We recommend that you view the updated document directly – which is available from EFMD’s website:

Currently, other documents remain as per previous updates

As above, QED’s summary of the updates across the key documents is available in this downloadable PDF file.

For advice and further details on any of the above, please contact the QED Accreditation Team at info@QEDaccreditation.com.

AACSB Business Accreditation Standards: Updates 2021

By | Resource

AACSB Business Accreditation Standards: Updates 2021

AACSB significantly updated its Business Accreditation Standards in 2020.  Over the past year, it has continued to consult and receive feedback on the new standards – from pilot schools, members and volunteers. It has now published its first set of amendments/updates (1 July 2021).

QED’s overview of the updates made as part of the 2021 publication, together with an assessment of the significance of the change can be found in this downloadable PDF file.

Whilst the vast majority of changes reflect clarification only,  there are a small number which could potentially impact schools.  Regardless, QED recommends that all schools within an AACSB accreditation process (whether initial or renewal) should review and ensure they have understood the changes and clarifications.

NB: QED’s material represents QED’s interpretation of the AACSB Updates.  We always recommend that you view the updated standards directly – which are available from AACSB’s website in the following formats:

As above, QED’s summary of the updates across the key documents is available in this downloadable PDF file.

For advice and further details on any of the above, please contact the QED Accreditation Team at info@QEDaccreditation.com.

Accredinator Update – Google Scholar Integration

By | Accredinator, Resource

The Accredinator – Integration with Google Scholar

One of the frequent questions that arises in Accredinator Demo Sessions is whether the software integrates with Google Scholar.  The answer – we’re delighted to say – is yes!

 

The Accredinator offers a seamless integration with Google Scholar.

Schools can import any faculty publications from Google Scholar through the easy-to-use interface.  The short video included provides a quick tour of this accessible integration feature.

This is particularly useful where:

  • schools have trouble accessing faculty publications from the central institutional repository; or
  • faculty records are incomplete at Institution level (but available through Google Scholar)

 

The Accredinator is a software application that helps business schools with accreditation requirements for AACSB, AMBA and EFMD.  You can learn more about The Accredinator (including booking a free demo) here.

Learn more here