BEMIDJI, Minn. — The business and accounting programs in Bemidji State University’s College of Business, Technology and Communication have received specialized national and international accreditation from the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education. The accreditation was granted during the assembly’s 2009 annual conference, held in Louisville, Ky., and continues through June 30, 2015.

Bemidji State’s accounting program becomes just the third in the state of Minnesota to receive specialized national and international accreditation and the business program becomes just the sixth in Minnesota to be so recognized.

“It’s a great achievement and a great day for Bemidji State University students and alumni,” said Douglas Leif, professor and chair of the Department of Business Administration. “This is about them. The assembly is outcomes-driven and mission-driven, and not input driven. Just because you can show your inputs does not prove that your outputs are of quality; that’s the old paradigm. This is the new paradigm: ‘show us your inputs, but then measure your outputs.’ That’s why this is exciting – it measures our students and our alumni, our outputs. They are the beneficiaries.

“There was a lot of hard work by a lot of people over a period of years to receive accreditation,” Leif said. “It was all for our students, past, present and future.”

The assembly is a leader in outcomes-based assessment and accreditation, in which excellence in business education is evaluated based on an assessment of educational outcomes, rather than on prescriptive input standards. Because of the essential role that educational processes play in determining educational outcomes, the assembly has developed accreditation principles based on best practices in business education. These principles promote excellence through a benchmarking process that is helpful in determining why the business unit is, or is not, achieving its mission and broad-based goals and in interpreting the results of the outcomes assessment process.

Accredited programs have been examined by trained evaluators who ensure that the assembly’s standards are being met in eight key areas: outcomes assessment, strategic planning, curriculum, educational innovation, faculty, resources, internal and external relationships, and scholarly and professional activities.

Dr. Robert H. Roller, president of the assembly, said in a prepared statement, “Accreditation is recognition that the business programs of Bemidji State University demonstrate academic excellence and a commitment to continuous quality improvement. The International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education is especially interested in the assessment of student learning outcomes. The accreditation process is one means of making certain graduates are well-equipped to excel in the business world.”

For more information about Bemidji State’s business and accounting programs, please call (218) 755-2907 or visit the program on the Web at http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/.

About the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education
Based in the Kansas City metropolitan area, the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education is the premier business accrediting association for business programs in student-centered colleges and universities. Bemidji State University joins a growing list of over 225 IACBE member institutions throughout the world that support quality assurance in education.

For further information about the assembly, visit its Web site at: http://www.iacbe.org.