During 26-28 May 2019, at the invitation of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Yanhai Zhao, Assistant Dean, Rui Wu, International Accreditation Coordinator of School of Management, Lanzhou University (LUSM) attended 2019 AACSB Annual Accreditation Conference (Asia Pacific) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Picture 1 All delegates

The Conference is rich in content with three major themes and six parallel topics, brought together over 200 participants from more than 60 business higher education institutions of over 20 countries and territories to discuss hot issues related to international accreditation, such as impact of the fourth industrial revolution on education quality, best practices for iSER, benchmark with the accreditation standards, AOL system and data analysis. During the three-day conference, delegates also shared their ideas with others through thematic presentation and group discussion on “Learning by Doing”, “Curriculum System” and “iSER writing”.

Picture 2 On-the-spot scene

Since initiated international accreditation in 2012, holding the guideline of “promote the development by the accreditation”, LUSM has committed to building a mission-based system of school governance and quality assurance. By doing so to constantly strengthen the innovation and impact of LUSM in teaching, scientific research and social services. During the conference, delegates from LUSM also participated in the symposiums on "Education Plan" and "Intellectual Contribution Measurement". They communicated with the liaisons and officials of AACSB about the preparation of initial accreditation and the characteristics of LUSM in the reform of the pilot school.

Picture 3 Delegates from LUSM with the facilitator of parallel sessions

During the conference, the delegates also met and exchanged with facilitators and participants from University of Queensland, University of Malaya, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Tianjin University, Shanghai International Studies University and Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance on the progress made by LUSM in iSER writing, pilot school reforming and the assurance of teaching quality.

Picture 4 Delegates from LUSM

Through the conference, the delegates have learned about the best practice of advanced business schools. In the meantime, deepened the mutual trust with AACSB and peer business schools home and abroad. The successful completion of this visit has played a positive role in propelling peer review and on-site assessment in the future and in promoting the next steps for school’s international accreditation work.