This year at SAMIBC2020 we are pleased to announce another of our presenters, Somnath Bhattacharya from the University of Illinois Springfield. Dean Bhattacharya will be presenting the workshop Micro-Credentials Under 2020 AACSB Standard 5.3

Presentation Abstract: Standard 5.3 of the 2020 AACSB Standards Exposure Draft-II refers to Stackable Microlearning Credentials. This makes for timely coverage of this topic as most US business schools are facing challenges to their graduate school enrollments stemming from an economy that is humming along at almost full-employment and would-be graduate students are reluctant to forego full-time jobs to return to graduate schools.

AACSB Standard 5.2 emphasizes that “credentials such as certificates, minors and badges that can be stacked to form a business degree should have appropriate quality assurance processes in place. Such credentials that lead to a degree program will be defined as “in scope” and evaluated at the degree program level.”

Colleges of Business sometimes enter into agreements and arrangements with third-party microcredentialing providers such as ed2go (https://www.ed2go.com/). Should AACSB-accredited colleges and schools of business consider or further such arrangements given the scope of Standard 5.2 or should they go alone in the development and delivery of these credentials, given the strictures of Standard 5.2? Should stacked micro-credentials lead to a business degree or should they lead to a macro-credential? What should be the nature or form of such a macro-credential? Should such macro-credentials also fall under the purview of the Business school/college and the AACSB? How does a business school/college exercise quality control over third-party credential providers? Is there a conflict of interest in assuming agency roles for such providers?

These are some of the questions that ought to be discussed via panel discussion at SAM 2020.

Join us in Nashville, Tennessee to see this great paper and many more March 19 – 21, 2020. For registration information visit www.samnational.org/conference.