In February 2021, the SBA of ZUEL officially passed International Accreditation of BGA (Gold Status), becoming the fourth institute to receive AMBA&BGA joint accreditation and the first AMBA institution to pass the BGA accreditation (Gold Status) independently.
From December 14th to 16th,2020, a BGA international accreditation panel by Professor Philippe McLaughlin, former Dean of Kedge Business School, Professor Sioned Robinson, Associate Dean of Business School of London Metropolitan University, Professor Wang Zhongming from the School of Management of Zhejiang University (ZJU), Director of ZJU’s Global Entrepreneurship Research Center GERC and Joy, Head of AMBA & BGA Accreditation, conducted a comprehensive online assessment of the SBA and collected opinions from stakeholders like faculty, alumni, employers and students. President Yang Canming and Vice President Yao Li of ZUEL had an online discussion with the panel. The leadership of the SBA, the major managers of the sample majors Marketing (Undergraduate) and Business Management (Postgraduate), faculty and staff participated in the online visit.
During the online meeting, Yang Canming, President of ZUEL, introduced ZUEL to the panel of experts. He pointed out that ZUEL attaches great importance to internationalization. Since receiving AMBA accreditation in 2011, ZUEL has been improving its international reputation, deepening its understanding of internationalization and enhancing schooling level with international first-class standards. ZUEL has incorporated international accreditation work, such as BGA accreditation, into the 14th Five-Year Plan and strongly supports SBA’s plan to promote the internationalization of disciplines. In addition, ZUEL pays excellent attention to the education philosophy of responsible management and integrates it into all the work to cultivate responsible talents for society. Throughout 72 years of development, ZUEL has continuously improved its schooling capacity and received a good reputation, especially in major national development strategies and the development of local economy. Students from ZUEL are dedicated to society. The alumni, faculty, staff and students of ZUEL performed excellently during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through the 14th Five-Year Plan, ZUEL will highlight the characteristics of deep integration of finance and politics and contribute to the sustainable development of the national and local economy and society.
The improvement opinions put forward by the experts of AMBA during the 3rd accreditation in 2019 provided clear ways to improve the teaching quality of MBA education, brought profound effect on postgraduate education, and served as a leading role in enhancing the overall internationalization level and deepening international exchanges and cooperation.
Professor Qian Xuefeng, Dean of the SBA, reported on action plans around responsible management education in the past three years. The SBA has established the mission of “taking responsibility”, and integrated responsible management into the teaching, research and faculty development process, as well as the measures to promote internalization and capacity building. The panel raised questions on Qian’s report and BGA self-assessment reports. Then the leadership and faculty responded to these questions.
The panel spoke highly of the the SBA’s work, praised the strong advantages and fruitful achievements of ZUEL in the integration of economics, law and management, as well as the characteristics of schooling, discipline construction, teaching quality and innovative initiatives of the faculty and talents, and made constructive suggestions for the continuous development.
Since joining the BGA membership in May 2019, the SBA has widely participated in the exchange and cooperation. It formulated a detailed accreditation plan based on BAD accreditation standards, and viewed BGA accreditation(Gold Status) as the cornerstone of the whole accreditation. The world was hit by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. Under the circumstances, the SBA overcame many difficulties to prepare for BGA accreditation(Gold Status) as planned. During the period, Wuhan has experienced lockdown, the lift of lockdown and the new normal of the epidemic prevention and control, which brought unprecedented new challenges to the SBA. In response to these challenges, the SBA still prepared for BGA accreditation(Gold Status) in a science-based, comprehensive, and targeted manner under the help of the BGA association, the BGA capacity building team, leadership of ZUEL, all departments, and all faculty and staff of the SBA. Thanks to the strenuous efforts of all faculty and staff, the SBA has successfully finished BGA Accreditation Application and Validation Report(Sliver Status), and collected materials and written reports of accreditation(Gold Status), showing the the SBA’s responsibility, courage and tenacity and the pursuit of excellence of all faculty and staff. During the process, the SBA has opened a new chapter in cultivating of talents for responsible management. Guided by the UN Global Compact and the Principles of Responsible Management Education(PRME), the SBA is assuming and will continue to assume its responsibilities of talents cultivation, intellectual contribution and social services in terms of culture building, teaching, research, student activities and social services. The SBA will exert influence for the sustainable development of the society, economy and environment.
The SBA joined the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in 2020, laying a solid foundation for EQUIS accreditation. It has passed the single-unit accreditation application of AACSB, submitted the AACSB qualification report on time, and advanced the progress of the accreditation of the three top business schools as scheduled. In the first accreditation committee (IAC) meeting of AACSB just held on February 18, 2021, the SBA’s accreditation report successfully passed review, marking a significant step towards the first AACSB accreditation.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the SBA will be committed to the vision of building a first-class business school integrating economics, law, and management, taking a firm hold in south-central China and facing the world, and the strategy of pursuing internal trends, embracing local practice, promoting school’s advantage, and delivering responsible management. It will attach great importance to international accreditation, follow business practice and internationalization trends in the context of the new technology revolution, take problem-oriented measures, and modernize the SBA’s system and capacity for governance. In addition, it will continue to impart knowledge and instill moral values in students, and stay true to creating business knowledge, contributing business wisdom, and cultivating business elites. It will keep holding the belief that knowledge and practice bring you truth, honesty and integrity take you far. The SBA will improve faculty construction for the internalization, broaden the international academic exchange platform, and promote the quality of international talent training in a comprehensive manner so as to build faculty and talent centers and innovation hubs, build a first-class business school in south-central China, and become a new model of high-quality internationalization strategy.