Note: This site is an archive

This website describes the progress toward accreditation of the College of Business; the accreditation was awarded by AACSB International on April 24, 2003.

This site, as an archive, remains unchanged. Data presented here is accurate for the time period described, but, because of the time that has passed since accreditation, the narrative information describing operations at the College may no longer be accurate.

Subsequent to April 2003, a new site has been established, which contains information and data relevant to the post-accreditation period. AACSB International refers to this as maintenance of accreditation.

visit the Maintenance of Accreditation site

We are Accredited!

Other News:

New Accreditation Standards Approved

The premier international organization for business schools awarded accreditation to the Florida Gulf Coast University College of Business today.

This certification by AACSB International places FGCU in an elite group. Of the approximately 2,000 business schools in the United States, only 25% have achieved this recognition.

In announcing FGCU's certification, AACSB International commended the College of Business for its pervasive, contagious entrepreneurial spirit and community partnerships. The College's Center for Leadership & Innovation was especially recognized for playing an outstanding role in developing partnerships with the regional business community. The College of Business was also noted as having an exemplary accreditation database system.

Dean Richard Pegnetter and Associate Dean Hudson Rogers accepted the accreditation award on behalf of the College at the AACSB International's Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Here's a short history of the events leading to this accomplishment:

The first step in the AACSB International accreditation process is Candidacy, indicating a voluntarily committment to participate in a systematic program of quality enhancement and continuous improvement.

The College's Accreditation Plan was submitted in March 1999; the plan was accepted and the College admitted to Candidacy in April 1999. During the ensuing three and one-half year period, the College pursued a rigorous program of establishing and enhancing processes of continuous improvement in the delivery of our programs. The culmination of the Candidacy process was Accreditation Review, which included a Self-Evaluation Report (submitted in June 2002), and a Peer Review, including a campus visit by the Peer Review Team in November 2002.

Subsequent to the visit, the Peer Review Team submitted their report to the Business Accreditation Committee (BAC) of AACSB International, upon whose recommendation accreditation was officially awarded.

Links:

• Archived Candidacy Documents
  
• The Peer Review Team: Members
  
• The Peer Review Team: Campus Visit Agenda

AACSB International has formed a Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) to do a thorough review of Accreditation Standards and procedures and to propose changes appropriate for global quality leadership in the next decade.

The BRC issued a draft Standards Document dated 10 March 2003 and it was subsequently approved by the Accreditation Council at the AACSB International Conference and Annual Meeting April 24 - 26, 2003. Coincidentally, this is the same meeting at which the College's Accreditation was awarded.

view Standards Document 

We at the college have reviewed the new standards, and we have every confidence that we will meet them. We are also preparing to comply with the reporting requirements of the standards.

Colors on the Site:
The site has a color scheme to help clarify the type of document being viewed. Like all rules, this one has exceptions, but in general:

* Documentation linked from outside of this site will appear on other background colors, usually white.

Academic Year data:
In many cases, charts and tables portraying data by academic year are presented on this site. Because the University opened at the beginning of the Fall semester in 1997, most such charts and tables are based on an academic year defined as Fall-Spring-Summer.

The exception to this rule is in the area of Faculty Development, Research and Intellectual Contributions. The Fall-Spring-Summer Academic Year was used until 1999-2000, when it was changed to Fall-Spring (August to April) for a transition year. Subsequent years are defined as Summer-Fall-Spring (May to April). The change was made to align reporting periods with faculty evaluation and development timetables. Charts of such data have explanatory notes regarding the transition.