B'luru institute among 6 probables from India for int'l accreditation

At least six more Business and Management institutes in India are expected to get accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an international body based in USA, in the next 18 months.

Amy Memon, manager of accreditation services for Asia-Pacific, told a press conference on Wednesday that of the 18 institutes in the country which have applied for accreditation, at least six are expected to qualify in the coming 12 to 18 months.

AACSB was established in 1916 with Columbia University, Harvard University, and Yale University among its founding members. About 800 institutes across the world have received AACSB accreditation so far.

The six institutes in the list from India are Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C), Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Institute of Management Technology (Ghaziabad), T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal, XLRI (Jamshedpur) and the Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM), Bengaluru. IFIM is the latest to receive the accreditation in February this year.

Amy said the accreditation process focuses on faculty rather than infrastructure. "There is an emphasis on faculty being up-to-date with industry trends. We do assess infrastructure, but not in terms of how many libraries or books are there, but how the facilities are enabling learning," she said.

IFIM took 53 months to complete the accreditation process, Githa Heggde, director of IFIM, said. Based on input from AACSB, they encouraged faculty to engage in research and attend international conferences.

A total of 48 B-schools in India are members of AACSB, Amy said. Of these, 18 have applied for accreditation.   Accreditation is not necessary to become a member.

"On an average, schools take three to four years to complete the process. The maximum time they can take is seven years," Amy said.