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The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has announced that UTS has earned international accreditation for its Business Faculty.
Founded in 1916, AACSB International is the premier global accrediting body for schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. 
"AACSB warmly congratulates the University of Technology, Sydney and Dean Rob Lynch for earning the highest achievement in business school accreditation," said John J. Fernandes, President and CEO of AACSB International.
"We also commend the Faculty's staff for their dedication and commitment to continuous improvement that played an important role in helping their institution earn initial accreditation."
The newest accreditations raise to 540 the number of institutions that have earned specialised AACSB accreditation for their business schools. They become part of an elite group that makes up less than 10 per cent of the world's business schools that have achieved business and/or accounting accreditation from AACSB International.
To earn AACSB accreditation, a business school must undergo meticulous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment – a process that can take from three to seven years. During this period, schools develop and implement a plan to help meet the 21 AACSB standards that require a highly qualified faculty, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement and keeping curricula responsive to the needs of business. Accounting accreditation further requires the satisfaction of an additional set of 15 standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of accounting.
"It takes a great deal of self evaluation and determination to earn AACSB accreditation," said Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. "Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans and staff make a commitment to ongoing improvement that ensures that they will deliver a high-quality education to students."
UTS Dean of Business Professor Rob Lynch said staff of the UTS Business Faculty were to be commended and should enjoy the achievement, knowing that their high-quality work in teaching, research, administration and community service had allowed the Faculty to achieve this success.
"In 2007 we will be doing further work to embed the 21 AACSB standards into the everyday practice of the Faculty to ensure we maintain accreditation and this important new status for the faculty," Professor Lynch said.
"This successful accreditation outcome follows on from recent outstanding success in gaining ARC grants (2006), in being ranked in the top six business/economics faculties for the DEST Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (2007) and being ranked number eight among Australian Business and Law disciplines in the recent Melbourne University Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Rankings (2006)." | 
