Lavin Conference Keynote Speaker Discusses New Standards for Business Schools to Make a Positive Societal ImpactPage Title
Lavin Conference Keynote Speaker Discusses New Standards for Business Schools to “Make a Positive Societal Impact”
In 2020, the annual California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference was titled “Re-imagining the Discipline of Entrepreneurship” due to the fact that the conference was “re-imagined” when it moved from a live event to an online format due to the restrictive requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic within a one-month window of time.
The 2021 California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference, hosted by the https://lavincenter.sdsu.edu/within the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University, was an online experience again this year. The 2021 conference, held April 14 – 16, was dubbed “Reinventing Entrepreneurship Education and Research.” “It’s time to roll up our sleeves and take action,” said Alex DeNoble, executive director of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center. “The real message is that it’s time to bring new ideas to fruition.”
Caryn Beck-Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer, AACSB, presents at the 2021 CEEC.
DeNoble made the remarks prior to the conference’s opening keynote session, which featured Caryn Beck-Dudley, president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Beck-Dudley’s presentation, “AACSB’s Business Accreditation Standards are a Force for Good in Society,” gave an overview of the organization’s updated accreditation standards and how those standards meshed with entrepreneurship education. The interim Thomas and Evelyn Page Dean of the Fowler College of Business, Bruce Reinig, moderated the session.
AACSB is the accreditation organization that sets the educational quality standards for business schools on a global basis. Accredited since 1959, the Fowler College of Business is among the first two business schools in the California State University system to have earned AACSB accreditation.
The organization upgraded its accreditation standards in 2020. “We embarked on a journey to re-think the business accreditation standards two years ago,” said Beck-Dudley. “There was an air of excitement around what could be possible and how, collectively, business schools could make a considerable impact on some of the world’s most pressing issues.”
Beck-Dudley illustrated the “five key areas where business schools could be drivers of change,” designed to make a positive societal impact and are now part of the AACSB’s accreditation requirements. Those five key areas are:
- Catalysts for innovation
- Hubs of lifelong learning
- Enablers of global prosperity
- Leaders on leadership
- Co-creators of knowledge
“AACSB has become more focused on societal impact and entrepreneurial education plays
a significant role in this,” said Beck-Dudley. “There are ways a business school can
have an impact on entrepreneurial education through thought leadership, cross-functional
collaborations and intellectual collaborations.”
Beck-Dudley wrapped up her presentation by telling the audience about the importance of initiating an interdisciplinary entrepreneurial minor across university campuses for non-business school students saying, “everybody benefits from entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving.”*
*SDSU established an interdisciplinary entrepreneurial minor in 2013
