CIR Accounting Application
The purpose of this application is to initiate the Continuous Improvement Review (CIR) process for accounting accreditation and to provide updates on alignment with AACSB Eligibility Procedures along with actions completed related to the accreditation standards issues noted in the correspondence from AACSB following the last CIR review and actions taken in response to continuous improvement and consultative feedback. The application is subdivided into five parts:
Part I Institution Information Part II Eligibility Procedures
Part III Continuous Improvement and Consultative Feedback Part IV Scope of Accreditation (Eligibility Criterion D)
Part V Review Schedule and Comparison Groups
CIR applications are due on July 1st, two years prior to the review year. Applications are reviewed by AACSB staff upon receipt for content and completeness. If responses or requests are not clearly aligned with the Eligibility Criteria or for other reasons that need further review, the application will be referred to the Accounting Accreditation Committee. More in-depth information regarding the Eligibility Criteria are in the Eligibility Procedures and Standards for Accounting Accreditation, which can be found at
http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards/2013-accounting/.
Please note: For institutions that hold both business and accounting accreditation, separate business and accounting CIR applications must be submitted by the July 1 deadline. Information found in the business application that also applies to the accounting application does not have to be repeated in the accounting application. In these cases, the accounting application should reference the business application.
Application Submission Information
Please submit this application and any accompanying documents via email to the Accounting Accreditation Committee Chair at AAC@aacsb.edu
Please note:
APPLICATION SUBMISSION INFORMATION
PART I – Institution Information
Name of Institution
Name of Business Unit Name of Accounting Unit
Mailing Address Campus Box or Mail Code
City (for schools with campuses in multiple cities, enter city that main campus resides in)
State/Provence/Region Postal Code Country
Telephone Number (include country/city code or area code)
Fax Number (include country/city code or area code)
E-Mail Address
Name/Title of Business Unit Head (Dean or equivalent)
Name/Title of Accounting Unit Head
Name/Title of Provost or equivalent
PART II – Eligibility Procedures
Provide an update on how the school aligns with the Eligibility Criteria. Examples should be provided for each criterion in order to demonstrate adherence to AACSB’s eligibility requirements
http://www.aacsb.edu/-/media/aacsb/docs/accreditation/standards/accountingstds_2013_update-3oct_final.ashx.
Criterion A - ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
The accounting academic unit must encourage and support ethical behavior by students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff.
Criterion B - COLLEGIATE ENVIRONMENT
The accounting academic unit maintains a collegiate environment in which students, faculty, administrators, professional staff, and practitioners interact and collaborate in support of learning, scholarship, and community engagement.
Criterion C - COMMITMENT TO CORPORATE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The accounting academic unit must demonstrate a commitment to address, engage, and respond to current and emerging corporate social responsibility issues (e.g., diversity, sustainable development, environmental sustainability, and globalization of economic activity across cultures) through its policies, procedures, curricula, research, and/or outreach activities.
Criterion E - OVERSIGHT, SUSTAINABILITY, AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
PART III – Continuous Improvement and Consultative Feedback
Describe the accounting academic unit's actions that have been taken and progress to date in responding to “concerns that must be addressed prior to or at the time of the next review” stated in the official
correspondence from the Board of Directors regarding the most recent AACSB accounting accreditation review. For each response please note the 2013 Standard(s) that corresponds to the addressed concern.
Standard Concern
Insert additional rows as needed
(Optional) The accounting academic unit has identified the below listed non-accreditation related topic(s) that it would like to receive consultative feedback on from the team.
Topic Additional Information
PART IV – S cope of Accreditation (Eligibility Criterion D)
Degree Programs in Accounting to be Included in Accreditation Review
Confirm all degree programs in accounting subjects at all levels and in all locations offered through the accounting academic unit within your institution that will be included in the scope of accreditation are listed in the Business School Questionnaire (BSQ) within DataDirect. Edits to the included programs list should be made via the BSQ. Please contact your AACSB Staff Liaison if the BSQ has been closed and/or programs are started after the reporting period for the BSQ.
Degree Programs in Accounting Previously Excluded in Accreditation Review:
Confirm all degree programs in accounting that have been previously excluded from review are listed in the BSQ as excluded. If a program is not listed in the BSQ, and should be added to the exclusions for your institution, add to Table A.1 and check #8. Please note: previously excluded programs do not require completion of the Exclusion Request Form.
Table A.1 – New Degree Programs in Accounting to be Excluded in Accreditation Review:
List new degree programs in accounting for which you intend to seek exclusion from accreditation review. Indicate all criteria for exclusion which apply to each requested program. A “Request for Program
Exclusion” form must be submitted for each requested program and included with this application. Schools must provide exclusion requests only for new degrees, degrees whose name have changed, or substantive changes in previously excluded degrees that have occurred since the last review.
The “Request for Program Exclusion” form is provided in Appendix A. An excerpt on program exclusions from Criterion D is provided in Appendix B.
Table A.1 New Degree Programs to be Excluded from Review:
Please complete the table below. A Program Exclusion Request Form (Appendix A) must be completed for each of the below – not including previously excluded programs. Schools must provide exclusion requests only for new degrees, degrees whose name have changed, or substantive changes in previously excluded degrees that have occurred since the last review.
Degree Title1 EmphasisMajor 1 EmphasisSub 1
Department/
11List each program by the degree which is offered including majors and/or concentrations.
2 2Regardless of what colleges, schools, departments, or divisions collaborate to deliver or administer the degree, please indicate
the administrative unit which confers the diploma (i.e. College of Business, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).
PART V: Review Schedule and Comparison Groups
Review Schedule
We request a Peer Review Team visit in:
Visit year (July 1 – June 30) Rank (in order of preference) July 1 – December 1
January 15 – March 31 April 1 – June 30
Specific visit dates will be requested after the first of the year along with team member nominations.
Comparison Groups
*Schools may use DataDirect to assist in the selection of peer and aspirant schools. For more information, click here: http://www.aacsb.edu/knowledge/data/datadirect/help.
Comparable Peers - A minimum of six comparable peers are necessary to supply the comparable peers statistical data report sent to the school and team prior to your visit if requested.
Competitive Group - Schools listed here do not count towards the minimum of six comparable peers or minimum of three aspirant schools.
SIGNATURES
The Head of the Accounting Academic Unit and the institution’s administration have reviewed this information. The institution’s administration confirms that the information in this document is trustworthy and accurate.
☐By checking this box, I certify the above is true.
Name of Head of Accounting Academic Unit
Name of Head of Business School (Dean or equivalent)
APPENDIX A
Program Exclusion Request
A separate copy of this form is required for each degree program for which exclusion from the AACSB International accreditation review is requested. Please complete every required section of the form (marked with an *), and as many of the optional sections that apply.
* Name of Institution:
* Name and Title of Person Completing Form:
* Full Title and Descriptive Information for Program for which Exclusion is being requested
(include the percentage of business content in the degree program):
Bases for exclusion:
Provide a brief, clear description of how the program satisfies the required and all other relevant
categories. Descriptions of the category expectations are discussed in Eligibility Procedure Criterion D of the Eligibility Procedures and Standards for Accounting Accreditation.
1.* Independence (Demonstration of limited or no participation in, and a high level of independence relative to, the development, delivery, and oversight of programs requested for exclusion) -
2.* Program Distinctiveness (Demonstration of program distinctiveness such that students, faculty, and employers clearly distinguish such programs from those degree programs identified for inclusion in the accreditation review process) –
3.* Operational Control (Demonstration of a lack of operational control relative to program design, faculty hiring, development and promotion, student selection and services, curriculum design, and degree conferral) –
4.Subject to non-business accreditation (Degree programs subject to accreditation by other non-business accreditation organizations) –
5.Specialized field (Specialized degree programs that are not marketed in conjunction with the business program under AACSB review) –
6.Separate location (Degrees offered on a separate or independent campus) –
APPENDIX B
Criterion D - ACCREDITATION SCOPE AND AACSB MEMBERSHIP
Basis for Judgment
The accounting academic unit is agreed upon through AACSB processes and meets the spirit and intent of the conditions and expectations as outlined in these eligibility criteria. The accounting academic unit seeking AACSB accounting accreditation must be approved well in advance (normally two years or more) of the onsite visit of the accreditation peer review team. If the accounting academic unit seeking AACSB accounting accreditation is part of or affiliated with an entity or business academic unit that holds AACSB business accreditation or is seeking business accreditation, the relationship of the accounting academic unit to the entity or business academic unit must be clear.
Within the approved accounting academic unit applying for AACSB accounting accreditation, the programmatic scope of accreditation (e.g., degree programs and other programmatic activities to be included in the AACSB review process and subject to alignment with accreditation standards) is agreed upon through AACSB processes and meets the spirit and intent of the conditions and expectations outlined in these eligibility criteria. Program inclusions and exclusions are approved well in advance (normally two years) of the onsite visit of the accreditation peer review team. The accounting academic unit applying for accreditation agrees to use the AACSB accreditation
brand and related statements about accreditation in its electronic and printed communications in accordance with AACSB policies and guidelines.
Guidance for Documentation
Describe the accounting academic unit’s relationship to the entity or business academic unit of which it is part, or describe its affiliation with a separate business academic unit that is seeking or holds AACSB business accreditation. Provide an organizational chart. Provide evidence that the accounting academic unit is predominantly focused on accounting education, research, and outreach.
An accounting academic unit may also be considered a business academic unit (see the AACSB Business Accreditation Standards) for accreditation purposes. In such cases, the accounting academic unit must seek business accreditation and may also seek separate accounting
accreditation. Other organizational structures for accounting academic units will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Describe the accounting degree programs that the accounting academic unit is submitting for the accreditation review and identify any non-accounting degree programs that the unit offers. MBA programs that offer an accounting minor with up to four accounting classes that are not intended to prepare graduates for professional examinations licenses, or designations in accounting are not included in an AACSB accounting accreditation review. Such programs must be reviewed within the business accreditation review.
List all degree programs in accounting offered elsewhere in the institution, including the academic unit responsible for delivering them.
If the institution has multiple academic units that deliver accounting degree programs and one or more seeks AACSB accounting accreditation, each academic unit seeking accounting
accreditation must demonstrate that their activities are clearly distinguished internally and externally from the activities of the rest of the institution, particularly the activities of other academic units that offer accounting degree programs that are not seeking AACSB accounting accreditation.
AACSB International must ensure that its brand is applied strictly and only to the agreed-upon entity applying for accreditation and the programs and programmatic activities included within the scope of its review. For that reason, the applicant must document its agreement and alignment with the following guidelines regarding the use of the AACSB International accreditation brand and related statements about accreditation.
In the case where the entity applying for business and accounting accreditation is a single business academic unit within an institution, the AACSB accreditation brand applies only to the single business academic unit and all business and management degree and accounting programs it is responsible for delivering. The AACSB accreditation brand cannot apply to the institution or to other (non-business) academic units or the accounting degree programs they offer.
Applications for accreditation must be supported by the chief executive officer of the accounting academic unit, the chief executive officer of the business school applicant, and the chief
academic officer of the institution regardless of the accreditation entity seeking AACSB accreditation. In all cases, the institution, business academic units, and accounting academic units agree to comply with AACSB policies that recognize entities that hold AACSB accounting accreditation. Applicants must clearly distinguish the programs they submit to the accounting accreditation review from other business academic units, accounting academic units, and other (non-business) academic units at their institutions that deliver accounting degree programs that do not hold AACSB accounting accreditation.
For all AACSB-accredited entities, the list of degree programs included in the scope of
accreditation review must be maintained continuously at AACSB. If the accounting academic unit that holds AACSB accounting accreditation introduces new programs, it may indicate that those programs are AACSB-accredited until the next maintenance of accounting accreditation review. It may not indicate that new accounting degree programs delivered by other
(nonbusiness/accounting) academic units are accredited prior to the next review.
Hereafter, the term accounting academic unit refers to the unit that is under review for initial accounting accreditation or maintenance of AACSB accounting accreditation.
