The Second On-site Visit to SFB by AACSB International Accreditation Mentor Successfully Concluded

Published:2023-07-17 Publisher:SFB SHNU

On July 14th 2023, Professor Remen Chun-Wei Lin, Official Mentor of AACSB International Accreditation, Provost of Asia University, and Former Dean of the College of Management at Asia University, visited SFB to conduct the second on-site visit as per requirements by AACSB International Accreditation. During this visit, 7 meeting sessions were held at Xuhui Campus of SHNU. SFB leadership, including Mr. Huijun ZHU (Secretary of CPC SFB Committee), Prof. Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB) and other leadership members, as well as SFB faculty and staff members engaged in the process pursuing AACSB International Accreditation attended these sessions, discussing about SFB’s latest progress and difficulties in composing its Initial Self-Evaluation Report (iSER).


(Pic.1 Group Photo of SFB Leadership, Mentor of AACSB International Accreditation,

and SFB Faculty and Staff Members)


9:00 a.m. on July 14th, the first meeting session was held in Conference Room 203, Block D, Building of SFB, during which Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin (Official Mentor of AACSB International Accreditation), Mr. Huijun ZHU (Secretary of CPC SFB Committee), Prof. Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB), Assoc. Prof. Xiufang GONG (Deputy Secretary of CPC SFB Committee), Assoc. Prof. Yun ZHOU (Deputy Secretary of CPC SFB Committee, Associate Dean of SFB), Prof. Zhouwei WANG (Associate Dean of SFB), Prof. Hongjun ZHAO (Associate Dean of SFB), Assoc. Prof. Yawei YAO (Associate Dean of SFB), Mr. Xiong SHI (Administrative Director of SFB), and SFB faculty and staff members engaged in the process pursuing AACSB International Accreditation participated. During all these 7 meeting sessions, participants mainly communicated in English, and the materials (including slide decks, the first draft of iSER and all other documents) had been produced in English, in simulation of future official visits by AACSB International Accreditation Peer-review Team.


In the first session, on behalf of SFB, Prof. Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB) presented to Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin (Mentor of AACSB International Accreditation) regarding iSER section “Strategic Planning”. Prof. Jianghui LIU's presentation consisted of six major parts, including: 1) SFB aligns with requirements by AACSB International Accreditation concerning “Strategic Planning”; 2) SFB’s nine strategic initiatives to realize the school mission; 3) innovation, the core element of SFB’s development; 4) SFB's “dual-cycle” model continuously drives its development; 5) SFB’s commitment (including active responses to the UNSDGs) to producing positive societal impact; and 6) financial resources needed by SFB to realize its mission.


(Pic.2 Professor Jianghui LIU, Dean of SFB presenting in English)


In the second session, Prof. Zhouwei WANG (Associate Dean of SFB) presented to Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin regarding iSER Section C “Faculty Qualifications/Sufficiency Criteria” and SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 3 “Faculty and Professional Staff Resources”. Prof. Zhouwei WANG explained SFB's participating and supporting faculty ratios, as well as the school’s SA, PA, SP, and IP ratios as calculated in the first draft of iSER. After carefully listening to Prof. Zhouwei WANG's presentation, Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin indicated that Section C and responses to Standard 3 in iSER are crucial to the success of SFB’s iSER, which should be given primary importance and needed further improvement. Prof. Lin provided valuable insights regarding SFB's faculty qualifications and sufficiency criteria, as well as the deployment of SFB faculty and professional staff resources with reference to the latest AACSB Business Accreditation Standards and Interpretive Guidance released by AACSB International this month.


In the third session, Professor Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB) presented to Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin concerning SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 2 “Physical, Virtual, and Financial Resources” in five parts: 1) SFB aligns with AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 2 “Physical, Virtual, and Financial Resources”; 2) SFB's physical resources, upgrading of facilities, and relevant investments; 3) SFB's virtual resources; 4) SFB’s financial resources, financial risks and mitigating actions; and 5) SFB’s strategic initiatives and expected source of funds for the next accreditation cycle. Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin attentively listened to Professor Jianghui LIU's presentation, and gave detailed guidance on key points for composing this part of report, the recommended method presenting SFB's virtual resources, and highlights of SFB’s financial resources which should be better demonstrated.


(Pic.3 & 4: SFB Leadership presenting to Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin,

Official Mentor of AACSB International Accreditation on first draft of iSER)


The fourth session began at 13:30. During this session, Assoc. Prof. Yawei YAO (Associate Dean of SFB) presented to Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin regarding SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 4 “Curriculum”, Standard 5 “Assurance of Learning”, Standard 6 “Learner Progression” and Standard 7 “Teaching Effectiveness and Impact” in the first draft of iSER. Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin closely listened to Assoc. Prof. Yawei YAO’s presentation, and pointed out that responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standards 4~7 are key to SFB’s iSER and should be further refined. Prof. Lin contributed point-by-point suggestions concerning SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standards 4~7 with reference to the latest AACSB Business Accreditation Standards and Interpretive Guidance.


In the fifth session, Prof. Zhouwei WANG (Associate Dean of SFB) presented to Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin with respect to SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 8 “Impact of Scholarship”. After listening to Prof. Zhouwei WANG's presentation, Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin provided insightful perspectives and guidance on some of the key areas in iSER, including Intellectual Contribution portfolio, weightage of various types of Intellectual Contributions, etc. from the standpoint of AACSB Peer-review Team and with his personal experience as an official mentor of AACSB.


In the sixth session, Prof. Hongjun ZHAO (Associate Dean of SFB) presented to Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin with respect to SFB's responses to AACSB Business Accreditation Standard 9 “Engagement and Societal Impact”. Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin listened with all attention to Prof. Hongjun ZHAO’s presentation, and commented that SFB actively responded to UNSDGs and has done a lot of work regarding "quality education" and "sustainable cities and communities", which can be presented via video clips, “before and after” photos and other multimedia forms, with a view to present SFB's contributions and achievements in a more intuitive manner.


(Pic.5 & 6: Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin carefully listened to SFB leadership's presentations,

and provided professional suggestions and insights)


After listening to SFB leadership's presentations, Prof. Chun-Wei R. Lin provided insightful counsels to each of the presenters, and complimented the progress SFB has made in composing iSER and SFB's efforts to all-English presentations. In addition, Prof. Lin proposed valuable suggestions regarding SFB's iSER with reference to the latest AACSB Business Accreditation Standards and Interpretive Guidance released by AACSB International this month, discussed about revision of the first draft of iSER and revision schedule, and confirmed SFB tactics to optimize and improve key sections of iSER (e.g. faculty qualifications/sufficiency criteria, learner success, societal impact, etc.). In response to Prof. Lin's counsels and advice, Mr. Huijun ZHU (Secretary of CPC SFB Committee) and Prof. Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB) expressed heartfelt gratitude, and revealed firm resolution to make solid improvements to iSER in key areas as pointed out by Prof. Lin, by benchmarking the latest AACSB Business Accreditation Standards and Interpretive Guidance released by AACSB International, and to put on a final sprint in SFB's iSER writing, with the aim of submitting iSER at the end of this year.


(Pic.7: accompanied by Mr. Huijun ZHU, Prof. Jianghui LIU and other members of SFB leadership and staff, the Mentor reviewing design sketch of SFB's facilities renovation and upgrading)


After meeting sessions, accompanied by Mr. Huijun ZHU (Secretary of CPC SFB Committee), Prof. Jianghui LIU (Dean of SFB) and other members of SFB leadership and staff, Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin visited SFB's facilities, investigated the progress of the on-going renovation to the Building of SFB, and reviewed design sketch of this renovation. Professor Chun-Wei R. Lin complimented SFB's efforts to meet AACSB International Accreditation standards in both hardware and software, and expressed great expectation for the final results.


(Contribution: SFB International Affairs Department)


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