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UWI seeks international accreditation in Business and Management

For Release Upon Receipt - September 4, 2013

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad & Tobago – The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine has signalled its intention to pursue international accreditation of its business and management programmes.  On August 26, Professor Clement Sankat, Campus Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor of The UWI St. Augustine signed the University’s joint application on behalf of its Department of Management Studies and the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (Lok Jack GSB) to pursue accreditation from AACSB International—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. 

Lok Jack GSB currently holds global accreditation with the Association of MBAs (AMBA). However, in the field of business, AACSB is the largest and the longest standing specialized accrediting agency for business programmes in the world. AACSB accreditation will therefore place The UWI as a premier institution in the world in the field of business and management education. AACSB recognizes institutions that uphold its mission and core values, work to advance the interests of global management education, and participate in AACSB’s community of leading business schools. AACSB focuses on continuous quality improvement in management education through innovation, impact, and engagement. 

According to Professor Sankat, this accreditation process is vital not just to attain another accreditation but it provides a platform to elevate existing standards at The UWI and Lok Jack GSB and invest in the human capital where gaps are determined through the AACSB evaluation process. He also added that the fundamental purpose of this AACSB accreditation journey will be to hold the institution accountable for improving business practice through scholarly education and impactful intellectual contributions. 

The achievement of the AACSB accreditation will put The UWI’s Department of Management Studies and Lok Jack GSB on par with some of the world’s best known business schools, including the London Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, EDHEC Business School, Warwick Business School, and the University of Toronto that are among the more than 596 business schools in over 37 countries accredited by AACSB.

End

Photo Caption

Professor Sankat shares a moment with Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Errol Simms, and Professor Miguel Carrillo, Executive Director of The Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.

Notes to the editor

About AACSB Accreditation 

In 1916, AACSB International was established as a membership organization for business schools—a place where business schools could network and discuss issues that affected the business education industry and their institutions. In 1919, the first AACSB Accreditation Standards were adopted with the primary objective of improving collegiate business education. In 1980, an additional set of accreditation standards were developed for undergraduate and graduate-level degree programs in accounting to address the special needs of the profession. Throughout the years, both the AACSB Business and Accounting Accreditation Standards have been continually revised to reflect the ever-changing needs of business and its students. Today, the AACSB Accreditation Standards are used as the basis to evaluate a business school’s mission, operations, faculty qualifications and contributions, programmes, and other critical areas. AACSB accreditation ensures students and parents that the business school is providing a top-quality education. It also ensures employers that AACSB-accredited business school graduates are ready to perform from day one. Additionally, AACSB accreditation provides many benefits to the faculty and staff at its accredited schools by attracting higher quality students, providing greater research opportunities, and allowing for global recognition.  

About The Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (Lok Jack GSB)

The Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business was established in 1989 as a joint venture between The University of the West Indies and the private sector of Trinidad and Tobago to provide postgraduate education in business and management. In October 2005, the Board of Directors and the University agreed to change the name of the business school in honour of an endowment made by Arthur Lok Jack, one of the Caribbean's leading entrepreneurs. Lok Jack GSB has produced more than 1,700 graduates to date and has trained and developed more than 19,000 people through executive and professional programmes. In addition, it has worked in leading organisations in the private and public sectors in at least 16 countries in the region and as far as Africa. 

The school currently offers graduate programmes in Trinidad, Tobago, Guyana and is pursuing new markets that are interested in its innovative new Master’s Programmes. 

Today, Lok Jack GSB is recognised as the premier institution for the provision of business and management education, training and consultancy services in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region.  

About The UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

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