AACSB extends Maine Business School accreditation

On January 28, AACSB International voted to extend accreditation for the Maine Business School through the 2023-24 academic year.

“It is exciting to see this extension of the gold-standard of business education accreditation,” says Faye Gilbert, dean of the Undergraduate School of Business and interim Provost.

AACSB Business Accreditation signals to the world that an institution has met the most rigorous standards of excellence in business education. Institutions that bear the AACSB-accredited mark demonstrate that they are committed to upholding—and advancing—the quality of their programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Maine Business School has been accredited by AACSB since 1974.

“The accreditation process does, in fact, ensure quality,” says J. Michael Weber, dean of the Graduate School of Business. “It’s a metric that communicates our standing as one of the top business programs across the globe.”

To extend accreditation, the Maine Business School underwent a Continuous Improvement Review (CIR) consisting of a written report detailing initiatives and successes and an on-campus visit by a peer review team of deans from three different institutions. In November 2019, the AACSB CIR team met with students, faculty, staff, and MBS advisory board members in Orono.

“AACSB Accreditation is a team sport,” says Gilbert. “Faculty, staff, alumni, advisory board members, and students continue to work to ensure that the business programs at the University of Maine are among the finest in the world.”