- In order to maintain the institutional accreditation, the college programs are reviewed every few years by the Directorate of Higher Education Reviews DHR (previously known as Higher Education Review Unit HERU) which is part of the National Authority for Qualifications and Quality Assurance of Education and Training (QQA). Theses reviews are crucial in order to be able to grant degrees and to be considered legitimate in Bahrain. The BSc program in Business Management (in 2009) and the MBA program (in 2011) went through a HERU review and were awarded ‘Full Confidence’ – the highest rank available. In 2010, the UoB went through an Institutional review and received ‘Full Confidence’ as well.
In December 2014, the following programs will be reviewed by the DHR:
- B.Sc. in Accounting
- B.Sc. in Banking and Finance
- B.Sc. in Business Management
- B.Sc. in Marketing
- Master of Business Administration
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While maintaining the institutional accreditation, the College of Business like most business colleges is taking accreditation a step further and seeking a specialized (professional) accreditation for each of its programs. This requires specialized reviews that are going to be done by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), a non-governmental, private agency. AACSB’s standards are used as the basis to evaluate business schools’ missions, operations, faculty qualifications and contributions, programs, and other critical areas.
AACSB accreditation ensures students, parents and employers that the college is providing a top-quality education. Additionally, AACSB accreditation provides many benefits to the faculty and staff at its accredited colleges by attracting higher quality students, providing greater research opportunities, and allowing for global recognition.
AACSB Accreditation is a long process that ranges from 7 to 10 years. It includes eligibility application, appointment of a Mentor to resolve eligibility issue and standards deficiencies, submission and acceptance of Standards Alignment Plan (SAP) report, SAP implementation progress reports and a pre-visit self- evaluation report.
Professor Jorge Haddock was appointed as the College of Business mentor. Prior to his current appointment as the Dean of the School of Management at George Mason University, Professor Haddock served as Dean of the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond and was the Associate Dean and Professor of Management Science and Information Technology in the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
The College’s SAP report was submitted and accepted in June 2012. The first progress report was also accepted in July 2013 by the AACSB International Accreditation Committee. The second progress report will be reviewed on August 2014. Following the acceptance of the second progress report, the College will submit its pre-visit self- evaluation report next academic year.