YSU College of Business among elite accredited

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration is among less than 5 percent of the world’s business schools.

The school has been reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The accreditation shows the teaching and research accomplishments of faculty, the partnerships the college has with the community and the opportunities available to students, said Dean Betty Jo Licata.

“AACSB-accredited schools are in 38 countries — 480 of those are in the United States and 16 in Ohio,” she said.

Accreditation allows WCBA to offer students participation in Beta Gamma Sigma, an international business honor society, and Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary organization for financial information students and professionals.

Matthew Pollock of Lowellville, president of the honorary organization at YSU, will graduate in May with a degree in accounting. He’s already working at the John Zidian Co.

He attributes his securing a job to the opportunities available to him as a student WCBA.

College is about more than sitting in class — companies “want to see that you’re involved,” Pollock said.

The doors of WCBA faculty are always open and alumni also are helpful to current students, he said.

To maintain accreditation, business schools go through an internal review every five years when the program must show its adherence to 21 quality standards.

“AACSB accreditation is an external validation of program excellence and the outstanding education that students received in the Williamson College of Business Administration,” said Ikram Khawaja, YSU provost and vice president for academic affairs.

WCBA started the fall semester in a new $34.3 building on Rayen Avenue at Phelps Street.

“It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn and maintain AACSB accreditation,” Jerry Trapnell, vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International, said in a news release.

“Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty and staff must make a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure continued delivery of high-quality education to students.”