Melbourne Business School achieves global EQUIS quality accreditation status
Jun, 2006
Melbourne Business School has full EQUIS accreditation, the global quality assurance scheme of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).
Dean and Director of Melbourne Business School, Professor John Seybolt, said EQUIS quality endorsement confirmed Melbourne Business School's status as a premium business school within the international management education arena.
Accreditation follows a demanding review conducted by an international EQUIS assessment team comprised of EFMD members, senior academics from the world’s leading business schools, and corporate executives.
The intensive review process included a site visit by the assessment team to Melbourne Business School and its campuses in April 2006, preceded by a year-long self-assessment process and report on the status of virtually all the school’s operations, structures and processes.
“Endorsement by this leading European body, through a process of rigorous international peer review, independently acknowledges the quality benchmarks that we set in all aspects of our award and executive education programs,” Professor Seybolt said.
Full EQUIS accreditation requires demonstrated high standards of quality in all aspects of degree and non-degree teaching, research, curriculum and customer/student service, as well as its level of engagement and impact within the corporate and wider community.
In particular, EQUIS looks for a high degree of internationalisation as well as local and national prominence. In its overall assessment of Melbourne Business School, EQUIS noted that “Melbourne Business School is an excellent school in very many ways, with many new developments over the last few years…we are convinced that the coming five years will provide many occasions to Melbourne Business School to excel even further.”
The report, which commented on virtually all operations of the school, had many highlights. Among the features of the school that it cited was the following:
“Melbourne Business School's overall customer orientation, the calibre and extent of their corporate links at all levels and the amazing input obtained from practitioners continuously in many ways and circumstances is simply outstanding. This is the obvious consequence of its ownership structure by a majority of business companies and the participation of prominent business persons in the Board.”
Since EFMD’s creation of the EQUIS process seven years ago, it has awarded EQUIS accreditation to approximately 90 schools worldwide. Other leading business schools to achieve EQUIS accreditation include INSEAD and London Business School.
Professor Seybolt said EQUIS accreditation distinguished Melbourne Business School within the global management education marketplace as a premier institution delivering the highest standards of quality.
“This accreditation signals loudly to prospective international students seeking a global education experience that Melbourne Business School is up there among the world’s finest institutions,” he said.
“For our graduate alumni and executive education participants, EQUIS accreditation adds to the international status and recognition of their degree and non degree programs.”
About EQUIS and EFMD
The European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is an international system of quality assessment and accreditation.
Developed and administered by efmd members, its main objective is to raise the standard of management education worldwide.
EFMD is an international membership organisation, based in Brussels, Belgium, with more than 500 member organisations drawn from academia, business, the public service and consultancies across 65 countries.
EFMD provides a unique forum for information, research, networking and debate on innovation and best practice in management development.
For further information on EFMD and EQUIS visit http://www.efmd.org