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EPAS

Jun 15
0

Updates from EFMD Conference 2022

By | Conference Update, Resource

Updates from EFMD Conference 2022

In June 2022, we attended EFMD’s Annual Conference in Prague.  The theme of the event was “What brought us here might not get us there” and it’s fair to say that the conference focused heavily on reminding us of the need to continually reflect and adapt in a constantly changing world.  We could have picked multiple points to share – but (as always) we’ve confined ourselves to just three broad areas:

Faculty Models – Connecting Research and Teaching
Patrick De Greve (Vlerick Business School) and Mark Smith (Stellenbosch Business School) presented an interesting session on employment models for faculty.  There was lots to ponder, but my key take aways were:

  • Strive to have ‘healthy’ faculty models that include aspects of each of research, teaching and service (in varying proportions, depending on misson, faculty interest etc).  Ensure there is a strong empathy and respect for each of the teaching and research activity.  One is not ‘superior’ to the other and one of the best ways to build this empathy and respect is to ensure that everyone participates in each activity to an appropriate extent.  (This may be challenging for schools that are developing very specific ‘research’ vs ‘teaching’ pathways).
  • Alternative faculty ’employment’ models are workable and can faciltate more flexible faculty management outside the normal.business school model – especially in the context of building industry links. Vlerick Business School’s ‘Partnership’ model uses an academic entrepreneurship framework to build a body of  ‘partner’ faculty with strong committment to the School, but who sit ‘outside’ of the School.
  • It is important to be able to say ‘goodbye’ to those faculty who don’t have a committment and ‘fit’ for the School’s strategy and vision.

Key Challenge: Do Business School faculty models fully serve their mission and strategic priorities?  If not, what type of model might work (do we need to think ‘outside of the box’)?  

Internationalisation
The challenge of  internationalisation within constantly changing geopolitical climates was a key theme of a session by Caron Beaton-Wells (Melbourne Business School) and Delphine Manceau (NEOMA).  In addition to advice around developing range and depth of partnerships; and using digitalisation to complement internationalisation activity; my key take-aways were:

  • Geopolitical instability is likely to remain a  disrupter internationally (the only constancy is change itself!).  This reinforces the need to build more versatile and resiliant models of internationalisation – but always keeping students “at the heart” of communities.
  • Be smart and strategic when building international relationships.  One tip was to use the public development plans of countries to build relevant initiatives in preferred (geographic) regions.  There are often opportunities for collaboration across areas of mutual benefit.
  • If not already in place, adapt curricula to prepare students to be leaders in a world where geopolitical challenges are a constant.

Key Challenge:  How are Business Schools placed to manage and adapt to geopolitical instability – both in terms of a) internationalisation activity and b) preparing students for a world of geopolitical instability.  Remember, EFMD provides a potential model to examine and reflect on internationalisation across the entire school: See EQUIS Standards 2022 (especially pages 73-74) and Annex 10 of the EFMD Programme Accreditation Process Manual Annexes.

EFMD Updates
The EFMD team presented an update on each of the key accreditations.  Most of these are covered within the most recent QED summaries of updates to each of EQUIS and EFMD Accredited (Available on the QED website for download).   The following additional points are also relevant:

  • Face-to-face peer review visits are expected to be resumed in 2023 (both EQUIS and EFMD Programme Accreditation).
  • Within EQUIS, the guidance for ERS is sometimes ‘suggestive’ in tone (e.g. “A school could.do x, y, z...”.  As Schools become more mature in the integration of ERS principles across all activities, it is anticipated that the guidance will become more ‘expectant’ (e.g. “A school should do x, y, z..“).  This is not unexpected, but continues to signal EFMD’s committment to supporting schools to develop quality ERS strategies and frameworks.
  • EFMD Accredited are about to launch three free webinars (open to all EFMD Accredited Schools).  Invites will be sent directly to the Schools and these will focus on each of internationalisation; Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs); and ERS.

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

 

 

 

 

Feb 22
0

EFMD Programme Accreditation: Updates 2022

By | Resource

EFMD Programme Accreditation: Updates 2022

EFMD revises the documentation supporting EFMD Programme Accreditation periodically and updates are usually provided in the first third of each calendar year.  QED’s overview of the updates made as part of the 2022 publication, together with an assessment of the significance of the change can be found in this downloadable PDF file.

The 2022 updates are notable as they mark an extensive review, designed to provide “easier orientation” for viewers, as well as reflecting relevant developments and trends.  These trends are summarised within this document.

Overall, QED’s view is that the revised documents do not carry significant changes from an accreditation viewpoint.  They are easier to follow and reference, plus the increased emphasis perceived in previous updates is continued here – with specific identification of two key areas (digitalisation and research) as areas of focus. These two ‘areas of focus’ are in addition to the normal transversal themes of Internationalisation, ERS and Connections with Practice.

It should be noted that the updates and developments include several changes to the format and content of the EFMD Programme Accreditation Datasheet.

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

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.

Oct 26
0

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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Sep 13
0
QED Accredinator combined logos

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.

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Apr 04
4

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.

May 13
0

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