System of Independent Accreditation

The independent accreditation system of UAMDBE is designed to supplement State Accreditation of business and management education and complies with existing legislation of Ukraine in this area. This independent set of standards and accreditation processes are oriented towards recognized international standards and accreditation procedures and are designed to assist educational institutions in strategic planning, assessing quality of programs, and measuring progress. Effectively using these tools and processes can be viewed as a preliminary stage for Ukrainian programs wishing to earn international accreditation.

As a result of a series of national conferences devoted to development of business and management education in Ukraine, the educational community established a strategic goal to develop and improve education and training programs that meet internationally recognized quality levels. Achievement of this goal will requires the creation of an independent accreditation system that incorporates guidance tools, measures, and processes similar to those commonly used internationally.

The State licensing system in Ukraine has improved during the last several years. Organization of activities and criteria and quality indicators for the training process have been updated and made more flexible, providing educational leaders more of the freedoms necessary to adapt programs able to operate in a market economy and respond to market needs. State accreditation provides guidance for allocation of state resources and guarantees the necessary educational minimum, protecting the society from schools lacking basic qualification.

UAMDBE facilitated the creation of this independent accreditation system to measure performance of institutions in their delivery of business management education and training programs as they progress towards achieving internationally recognized standards. Contributing to the system’s development were Ukrainian and international leaders of education, business and government brought together through a series of seminars, workshops and conferences organized with assistance of the Consortium for the Enhancement of Ukrainian Management Education (CEUME). Much of the activity was possible due to assistance and funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The resulting accreditation system provides guidance in improving the Ukrainian system of business and management education beyond State requirements as it strives to achieve superior quality levels recognized by the international academic and business communities.

The «System of accreditation of Ukrainian Association for Management Development and Business Education» consists introduction to possibility of independent accreditation for Ukrainian educational institutions, describing procedures and consider tasks for self-evaluation for business and management programs. Following chapters are considered:

1. Mission and institutional development.
2. Faculty composition and development.
3. Curriculum content and evaluation.
4. Resources for educational process.
5. Students.
6. Researches, development and innovations.
7. Cooperation with business.
8. International cooperation.

The «System of accreditation of Ukrainian Association for Management Development and Business Education» focus on achieving greater quality of educational activities related to business and management education. It includes recognized criteria and common indicators of quality performance adapted from respected international systems.

In all widely recognized international independent accreditation systems (CEEMAN, AACSB, EFMD) goals are defined by professional communities in accordance with contemporary and future business needs. Institutions providing services to satisfy these needs must, as a general rule, also satisfy basic accreditation, licensing, and standards established and operated by a state body. Independent accreditation systems provide practical guidance in developing institutions and programs, quality measures to assess progress of institutions, and standards to compare programs nationally and internationally. These independent processes provide development assistance and important performance information to leaders of the institutions, students, business and other interested stakeholders.

Independent assessment is conducted with the utilization of both practical and academic indicators. Among the most important indicators for measuring quality of educational institutions and programs are:

• Graduates’ material wealth (income) growth indicator; career development; growth of companies employed by graduates; level of demand by business for graduates of the programs
• Indicators of globalization of school/programs and activities and international recognition of these programs and activities
• Indicators of academic qualification (scientific degrees) and faculty’s mobility (research, publications, consulting)
• Indicators of conforming of curricula and programs with changing practices and up-to-date business needs

Standards set demanding, but realistic thresholds; challenge schools to pursue continuous improvement; and provide guidelines for improvement in educational programs. Included are guidelines for educational institutions on how to prepare students to create new companies, contribute to existing organizations and the larger society, and to grow personally and professionally throughout their careers. The system contributes to establishing the international dialogue necessary for Ukrainian programs to be recognized and valued as a system of quality business and management education programs.

Programs in business and management education and the accreditation process must focus not only on the present, but also on the preparation for the future. Thus, a broad range of institution activities and processes play an important role in accreditation along with the necessary review of inputs and assessment of outputs. Measures assess current performance and achievements and contain indicators of institutional potential and other specialized areas. Evaluation is based on conformity of activity and process outcomes with the defined institutional mission.

Indicators of the institution’s achievements embrace the mechanism of student selection, monitoring of educational progress, volume and structure of learning responsibility; formation of professional culture of young professionals, linkages with employers, other graduates, and continuation of education. Evaluation of institutional potential anticipates positive dynamics of resource growth, necessary for mission fulfillment. It defines resources required to ensure future achievement of goals and estimates the probability of their attainment.

The accreditation process includes measures of comparison to common reference points of quality and performance in business and management education. Participating institutions are compared to current norms of programs in Ukraine, the rate of their progress in improving against the norms, and their progress towards achieving internationally recognized quality. The process identifies areas of achievement and guide necessary actions for continued improvement. To earn accreditation, a school must satisfy the standards set forth in this document. However, certain standards or portions of standards apply differentially, depending on the various missions and objectives of different schools.

The primary relationship in the accreditation process is between the accreditation body (initially the UAMDBE) and the institution to be reviewed. The accreditation process includes completion of an institutional Self-Assessment Report, a review of the Expert Team, and a Report by the accreditation committee.

On June, 9 2004 seminar “UAMDBE: strategic planning for introduction an independent system of accreditation” was conducted in Kyiv. More than 20 participants from UAMDBE members institutions, Council members and special UAMDBE committee were participated. Instructor was Wiktor Askanas, Dean University of Warmia and Mazuri in Olzhtyn, member of CEEMAN Board of directors in 1999, member of accreditation commissions of EFMD and EQUIS in 2001.

Seminar participants received knowledge about purpose for Introducing an independent system of accreditation processes in Ukraine and role of UAMDBE during phases of acceptance. Also were considered topics related to strategic planning to launch a new system and elements of 3 year strategy. UAMDBE standards were reviewed as tool in:
1) developing Strategic Plans and Action Plans
2) creating faculty strategy: composition, identifying new members, recruiting, training,
motivating, evaluating, compensating 3) evaluating quality of content
4) measuring quality of delivery and planning for its improvement
5) planning for improvement of resources and facilities
6) identifying and marketing to student groups
7) introducing the process of research innovations and ranking
8) working with business
9) planning for internationalization of programs and developing international partnerships
Also were discussed next steps and UAMDBE actions with BMEU assistance.

  Criteria and accreditation conditions of UAMDBE (MS Word 94,5 Kb)

 Quality_standards (MS Word 296 Kb)