On May 5, 2020, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International formally informed School of Economics and Management (SEM), Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) that the Initial Self Evaluation Report (iSER) submitted in February had been reviewed and accepted by AACSB International Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC). The acceptance of the report is a significant milestone in AACSB accreditation process of the school, marking the most important stage of plan implementation for SEM to enter the internationally-recognized first-class business schools.

In April 2017, the IAC formally approved accreditation application of SEM, and appointed Professor Qian Xiaojun, deputy dean of Schwarzman Scholars, as the mentor. Since then, SEM has entered AACSB accreditation process. Under the careful guidance of Professor Qian, SEM has carried out comprehensive self-assessment in line with the accreditation standards, actively built an overall curriculum benchmarking and teaching quality assurance system, and started the work of faculty qualification recognition.

In 2019, the SEM International Accreditation Center established a report writing group for the preparation and modification of iSER. Under the overall coordination of school leaders and participation and cooperation of faculty and staff, the report went through repeated discussions and more than ten revisions, and was eventually finalized and submitted under the guidance of Professor Qian.

Being AACSB accredited is not only an important strategic development goal of the school, but also the common aspiration of faculty, staff and students. According to the requirements, SEM need to submit the annual Progress Report within the year. With the joint efforts and selfless dedication of the whole school, the accreditation work will definitely keep having fruitful achievements!

Background information:

AACSB (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), AMBA (the Association of MBAs) and EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) are internationally recognized as the three major accreditation systems for business schools. The focus of these three accreditations varies, but the common purpose of accreditation is to ensure the continued, high-quality growth and progress of the program and the school as a whole.

SEM obtained AMBA accreditation for the first time in 2016, and was successfully re-accredited in 2019.