AIM, EQUIS & AACSB

Take note of this post's title because that may the last time those three will appear together.

The news of AIM losing the European Foundation for Management Development (EMFD) EQUIS accreditation and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International accreditation almost simultaneously has reached the media. A Business story from the Manila Standard Today entitled "Short of AIM" discloses that AIM lost the EQUIS and let the AACSB accreditations in the wake of events critical to the school.

From the article:

According to the grapevine, AIM no longer sought to renew the American accreditation and allowed it to lapse this year after having been informed of the European setback.

The loss of the industry accreditation comes not only as AIM celebrates its 40th anniversary but also at a time when many of its board of trustees, including chairman Jose Cuisia Jr. and vice chairman Armin Luistro, are leading protest actions against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over, ironically, governance issues.

According to the grapevine, the European accreditation agency expressed surprise and recoil that two tenured professors of what arguably is one of region’s better business schools could be suspended for a year without pay for having organized what in effect is an academic union. (read the full article)

Being a student from this institution, I would like to participate in the dialogues AIM President Francis Estrada to know the basic stuff-- what part/s of the EQUIS accreditation process did AIM did not comply with, why did AIM voluntarily let the AACSB accreditation lapse and what should we students, incoming students and alumni expect from these turn of events.

It's rather ironic that this news comes out after the high everyone got from the 40th year anniversary. AIM has long held the distinction of being the only business school in Asia to have these two business school accreditations-- it was only quite recently that other institutions replicated the feat. So what's next for The Harvard of The East?

Comments

Anonymous said…
As a recent admit, this is a very serious issue for me .What should i take from this news ? Could change my decision to join .

Vayu
rajdeep said…
I is kinda devastating to hear this..
i am an indian and takin huge risks and loans to join AIM over many other schools i hav got admits from..
i know this will not affect the pedagogy, but credentils loss is obviously a concern..
I want to help the school in marketing the brand of the school.. to a wider and better student pool,,

plzz post more info about the steps AIM is taking to counter the loss and is there any initiative taken to get the accreditions back..

I speak on behalf of all the incoming students.. plzzz keep us informed and provide positive and inspiring news :P
Anonymous said…
What else? the school is screwed! from the president, associate dean, all the way to the professors!.. They are politician minded not educators, they tell you what you want to hear then kill you along the way by not delivering what they say in actions. Isn't that what is happening in school now? they tell you that you are fine, the next day you are out?. they tell you they can't change what is in the handbook that is why they cannot let you continue in the mba program, but the next week they change the units of courses in the handbook? everything is contradictory.. All this I heard from a primary source.. They try to milk the students then kick them out without the degree..
Anonymous said…
I hope the blogger will not filter truth..
Unknown said…
@ Vayu: I wouldn't blame you if you went to another school, but the thing is, I am also still in the process of getting the details myself.

@ Rajdeep: Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep the blogosphere informed of any updates.

@ Anonymous 1: I don't know of any changes in the handbook changes. Will investigate though.

@ Anonymous 2: I'm really not in the business of "truth filtering" :P
abingobongo said…
For everyone out there who decided to go to AIM with the express intention of graduating with a "Equis" or "AACSB" seal on the diploma, it seems as though you are here for credential purposes only. It makes it more interesting because I believe that it is education that should be more paramount in the choice of the school.

I think rajdeep is correct in his thrust of image improvement. It makes no sense to bash a school you are in. i guess that's why some people chose to remain anonymous.

furthermore, i hope that further comments would be based on more than mere speculation because gossip and rumormongering are as damaging to the school as the alleged politicking that was mentioned by anonymous.

And yes, I am a student of this school, and yes, i also care as much about these accreditations. And while the allegations may prove true, I also believe that our time and efforts should be spent on either studying (for the current students) or doing something about the problem (in whatever capacity we may have). It is not sufficient to be talking if actions will not follow the talk. And I believe that the blogger has already stated his intent to get to the bottom of the problem, via the official sources.
Unknown said…
@ognib:

Good points, but I also see the sources of apprehension from the other people who left comments.

At this point, there has yet to be an official statement to the general public-- this misinformation I think fuels the concerns of people.

I'm still in the process of finding information that's helpful to everyone.
Anonymous said…
please keep us posted on any developments on this issue. thank you

- an incoming student
Nishant Kashyap said…
Hi,

Have been reading this blog very regularly and some of the posts are indeed very good. Its interesting to read the comments on this post and to how students are worried about the loss of accreditions - being an MBA myself and having worked in the industry across the Globe - let me share few things with you.

No employer (say someone like Amex, Citi, Dell, Lehman, BCG, McKinsey) is bothered about the accreditions seals - all they wanna know is
- your pedigree (which gets determined by your B-school credentials which in turn is based on how your alumni are doing)
- your work experience
- your academic performance - (not only CGPA but also the kind of projects that you did)
- and the kind of person you come across in the interview (where a B-school can never help you)

So as you can see there is only one factor which is a function our B-school and there too accreditions do not play a role - so chill guys.

When selecting a B-school, ideally look at following things -

- How companies percieve the campus and the kind of companies visting the campus
- How are the alumni doing in their careers and how good is the alumni network
- The kind of people the school attracts (is the school focussed on a specific profile of ppl? or is it a diverse set of ppl) and the culture of the school (what kind of opportunity does the school provide to help you develop as a well rounded professional over and above the course)
- B-school Brand ( if it lacks recognicition - pls do not join). This in turn is drive by other factors such as alumni network, faculty etc. etc.

So as you can see accreditions do not matter - pls keep one thing in mind - if the recruiter is not convinced about the school - he would not hire you no matter what accreditions stamps are you carrying on your degree.

Nishant
Anonymous said…
M really at loss of words coz it does matter to Indian students who spend a huge sum of money to get their degree.. It might affect us in a long run.. Will have to rethink about joining the school..
Anonymous said…
There was only one differentiating +ve thing about AIM as compared to Top MBA institutes of India and these were those two accreditions which AIM had and IIMS/ ISB did not so far. The placement is hopeless, the brand name is debilitating, the campus is not compared to the that of Indian Institutes and the quality of students (Read-Indian students)is not so much to be talked about. Point to be noted here that only those who do not get IIMs, XL, ISB, Glakes, MDI, SPJ, FMS, IIFT and even some 2nd rung B schools such as XIM, IMT, join AIM. Hope the loss of these accreditions will save many Indian students career/ life.
Nishant Kashyap said…
:) Dear Anonymous, if you think so many things are bad with AIM - then you just should not go to this school - no point bitching so much and still being keen on the school - the things that you have pointed out (and if they are true) will not change without or with accreditions
rajdeep said…
The standing of the insti is not at all questionable.
@anonymous
I am defering many top indian institutes to join AIM, like spjimr,mica,spjain(dubai) etc.. and didn even consider to apply to gr8lakes..
many of my friends are leaving ISB to join AIM... so student quality cannot be questioned.. and NO we are not applyin becos we didn make it anywhr.. probably it was ur own case... so plz do not generalise..

plzz don settle your personal biases wid the school here and that too being "anonymous"..
ur views wud really count if you come out clean and enlighten us about ur credentials.. nothin personal wid u bro..
nikhiltheone said…
Well frankly speaking I was not even knowing about these accerediations before this news but this does not mean I have not done enough research before deciding to join. I have discussed with people who have experience of more than 20 years in industry and are at very high posts. Interestingly many of them are my relatives so I can be assured they are saying truth.

I have taken their help while choosing my Engineering college which as expected happened to be the best.

I am coming here for education and I am sure I will get the best here.

Now regarding these accerediations we as future students will do all necessary steps to regain it back.

Please let us know if we can help in any way.
STN said…
@Anon
Be happy with your bullshitting.
Whether you join or not its your wish but pls at least don't mention Glakes in the list.( neither has a campus nor any iota of alumni).Do your research before listing them. Let me tell you :I work for a top investment banking firm and here in India they have just 4 schools in their A grade and glakes and spjain does not fall in grade B ( top 15 ).
Anonymous said…
What is the school doing about the loss of accreditions.
From the comments above, it seems like the accreditions will not change much about the way industry thinks about the the school, then why are people concerned?

@stn: thanks for your comments. Could you plz tell us what do top companies like your i-bank think about AIM. Agreed that Glakes is no where a comparison, but can you tell us in which list would AIM feature.

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