For the business programs of an academic business unit to be considered for Candidacy Status by the IACBE, the academic business unit must follow the process summarized below:
The purpose of becoming a candidate for accreditation (also referred to as candidacy status) is to provide the academic business unit with an opportunity to prepare itself to be in compliance with the IACBE’s Accreditation Principles, to develop a comprehensive self-study, and to undergo a site visit conducted by a team of professional peer reviewers from the members of the IACBE.
In order for an academic business unit to be considered for candidacy status and for its business programs to be eligible for accreditation by the IACBE, the academic business unit must:
If two or more institutions have the same parent institution, organization, or entity, or if an institution is a branch campus or a separate educational or instructional site of another institution, and if the institutions maintain separate institutional names, then the academic business units in these institutions must maintain separate memberships with and undergo separate candidacy reviews by the IACBE.
The completed candidacy application and all supporting materials must be submitted to IACBE headquarters no fewer than 60 days prior to the candidacy visit. No explicit candidacy visit travel arrangements will be made and no candidacy visits will be conducted until the IACBE has received a complete set of candidacy materials.
The purposes of the candidacy visit are (i) to provide assistance to the academic business unit as it prepares to enter the candidacy phase of the accreditation process, (ii) to determine whether there are issues of concern pertaining to the resources, processes, business programs, or other aspects of the academic business unit’s operations that need to be addressed prior to beginning the self-study process, and (iii) to evaluate the readiness of the academic business unit to pursue IACBE accreditation.
If candidacy status is granted, it will cover a time period not to exceed five years. Under extenuating circumstances, a single extension of an academic business unit’s candidacy status may be requested upon written petition to the Board of Commissioners. In those cases in which an extension is granted, academic business units may be required to pay an extension fee and to undergo a mentoring visit in order to address the issues that led to the extension request.
A candidate for accreditation is not allowed to claim or imply accreditation by the IACBE until accreditation has been granted.
Once an academic business unit has been granted candidacy status by the Board of Commissioners, the institution may denote this status on its website, in its catalog and official publications, and in its advertising. However, the following form of notice and specific language must be used:
The [academic business unit] at [institution’s name] has been awarded the status of Candidate for Accreditation by the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) located at 11374 Strang Line Road in Lenexa, Kansas, USA. In granting candidacy status, the IACBE has determined that the business programs in the following degrees are eligible for accreditation:
