Photo by Kimberly Kintz Connie Milbourne (standing), associate professor of marketing at IU Northwest, brings the experience of the real world into her classroom. She comes equipped with a decade of background in advertising and marketing and said she enjoys teaching at IU Northwest because students are highly motivated to learn and to acquire skills that will help them land a job after graduation. Photo by Kimberly Kintz Hundreds of students from the IU Northwest School of Business and Economics lined up to eat pizza, get a free T-shirt and socialize with friends and professors at a recent reception celebrating the school’s AACSB accreditation. Accreditation means that the business programs at IU Northwest satisfied the highest quality standards related to strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students in the educational process, and achievement of learning goals in degree programs.

At a student reception held in February, hundreds of business majors turned out to celebrate the school’s success. A senior majoring in business administration, Mary Louise Rieger, said she was proud of her school’s accomplishment.

“It’s always been good, offering a quality education. This is an extra perk. A bonus to the experience,” Rieger said.

Classmate Vicki Sease, a junior majoring in finance, agrees. “My program has already provided the opportunities I need to pursue my dream, but now I feel like I have even more resources at my fingertips,” Sease said.

Accreditation means that the business programs at IU Northwest satisfied the highest quality standards related to strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students in the educational process, and achievement of learning goals in degree programs.

Only 15 percent of the business schools worldwide hold this accreditation. During the accreditation process, the School of Business and Economics was visited and evaluated by business school deans who brought detailed knowledge of management education and its application to the accreditation standards.

“AACSB International accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in management education. Earning this accreditation for our graduate MBA and undergraduate business programs is the most significant accomplishment of the school this past year. This accomplishment signifies the outstanding quality of our faculty, staff and students,” said Anna Rominger, campus dean of the School of Business and Economics.

“This premier accreditation enables the school to retain and recruit talented and qualified faculty, to offer high performing students the opportunity to be selected for Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honor society, and to provide business students with the knowledge, skills and tools that equip them for success in the business, government and not-for-profit workplaces,” she said.

With the accreditation, the School of Business and Economics assures its stakeholders that it:

• Manages its resources to achieve a vibrant and relevant mission.

• Advances business and management knowledge through faculty research.

• Provides high-caliber teaching of quality and current curricula.

• Cultivates meaningful interactions between students and a faculty qualified by graduate degrees and research in their discipline.

• Produces graduates who have achieved specific learning goals.

“This is truly a landmark event for the School of Business and Economics. Accreditation by AACSB International symbolizes our commitment to providing the highest quality business education for IUN students through a continuous improvement environment that merits the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide,” said Chancellor Bruce Bergland. “We are extremely pleased to receive such prestigious recognition.”