Curtin Sarawak joins the global elite with AACSB accreditation

Miri – 6 May 2016 – The Faculty of Business at Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), is proud to be counted among the world’s elite business institutions following accreditation of its parent Curtin Business School (CBS) at Curtin University by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

As part of Curtin University’s largest international campus offering identical business programmes and course delivery as the CBS, the Curtin Sarawak Faculty of Business underwent the same AACSB peer review for accreditation as Curtin’s other campuses in Perth and Singapore.

The AASCB is the leading international accreditation body for business schools and AACSB accreditation requires that all the campuses meet strict standards of academic quality, including mechanisms that guarantee assurance of learning and faculty sufficiency.

Assurance of learning refers to the quality of programmes and teaching. Faculty sufficiency is measured by the proportion of academics who are active researchers, evidenced by having doctoral qualifications and high quality publications.

At Curtin Sarawak, currently 67 per cent of academic staff in the Faculty of Business have a PhD and this is expected to rise to 74 per cent at the end of the year and 93 per cent by 2018.

In addition, as befits Curtin University’s ranking as the 26th most international university in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016, almost 50 per cent of publications by the Faculty of Business’ academics are with international co-authors.

On 14 April 2016, the AACSB formally approved the accreditation after the peer review team had visited all three campuses and interviewed staff, students and corporate partners.

Having met the AACSB’s strict standards of quality academic and professional excellence, the Faculty of Business of Curtin Sarawak can assure students and alumni that they will benefit from holding qualifications from an institution that is internationally accredited.

Curtin Sarawak is the first university in East Malaysia to attain AACSB accreditation. Only three Malaysian universities, all in West Malaysia, are currently AACSB accredited and two other foreign branch campuses, also in West Malaysia, are also part of AACSB accredited institutions. In the 10 ASEAN states, only 14 universities are AACSB accredited.

Professor Tony Travaglione, Pro Vice-Chancellor CBS, said AACSB accreditation is the global standard in quality for academic and professional excellence and only the top five per cent of business schools in the world are accredited.

“Graduates of AACSB schools are internationally recognised by top employers and can leverage this accreditation to gain entry to courses at other AACSB accredited schools,” Professor Travaglione said.

Curtin University is committed to providing courses that combine business knowledge and professional skill development to ensure graduates are highly trained and industry ready for rewarding careers all over the world. With around 70 business leaders who use their knowledge and experience to shape course content, CBS has one of the most extensive industry advisory group networks of any Australian business school.

Meanwhile, Professor Jonathan Winterton, Dean of the Curtin Sarawak Faculty of Business, said receiving the AACSB accreditation reinforces that Curtin Sarawak’s business students and alumni can be proud they are involved with one of the leading business education providers in the world.

“The accreditation is a credit to the staff at all the Curtin campuses who have worked on the lengthy accreditation process,” Professor Winterton said.

Having secured AACSB accreditation, work is underway to prepare for EQUIS accreditation, the other major international accreditation awarded by the European Foundation for Management Development.

Curtin students and alumni can be proud of being involved with one of the leading business education providers in the world.