Champlain's Stiller School of Business Earns Full ACBSP Accreditation

Experiential business education program earns praise for excellence

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BURLINGTON, VT (02/09/2018) The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) has formally recognized Champlain College's Robert P. Stiller School of Business (SSB) with full accreditation. This accreditation recognizes the excellence of Champlain' business education and is a major milestone for the business school.

After a thorough yearlong review, the ACBSP recognized the Stiller School for its engaged and thoughtful effort to provide a premium business curriculum that equips students for today's issues and tomorrow's challenges in the global marketplace.

"A business education this exceptional can only be achieved through a commitment to a continuous evaluation of the experience and education we provide our students. We are extremely proud to be recognized by the ACBSP for this work," said Champlain President Donald J. Laackman.

The Stiller School approach to business education is different, as Dr. Scott H. Baker, Dean of the Stiller School of Business, noted; " We are in the business of educating tomorrow's business innovators and leaders, and take our jobs very, very seriously. This ethos directly aligns with ACBSPs fundamental goal of excellence in student-centered undergraduate business education and continuous improvement. The Stiller School of Business provides a comprehensive foundation in various and relevant business disciplines through an innovative, integrated, and applied approach. We also factor in multiple internal and external stakeholders' input (current students, alumni, industry experts, trustees) into our thinking. Our students also gain significant professional experience before graduating by working with live clients, through multiple internships, and course-embedded exposure to industry professionals."

The key to this successful approach, says Baker, is the SSB faculty and staff; "They're innovators and leaders as practitioner-scholars who also care deeply about student learning, and serve as passionate mentors and advocates for their students."

The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs focuses on teaching excellence, determining student learning outcomes and a continuous improvement model. ACBSP's student-centered teaching and learning approach, which is measured and analyzed for quality, ensures that students gain the right skills from their educational investment. Institutions with programs accredited by ACBSP are committed to continuous improvement that ensures their business programs will give students the skills employers want.

"We were very impressed with the Stiller School of Business and Champlain College. They have set a high bar, and we are hopeful this accreditation will help them maintain and advance their great work," said representatives from the ACBSP Commissioner Team.

ACBSP is known worldwide for having the utmost standards of quality in higher education accreditation and was founded to promote continuous improvement and recognize excellence in business education. The accreditation process for the Stiller School of Business was rigorous and included preparing a self-study of the current business programs and a site visit by a team of peer evaluators.

The Stiller School intentionally sought and incorporated employer input to create a well-rounded business curriculum that not only focuses on students' learning within their major field of study but also provides a four-year cross-business experience with the exact characteristics and expertise they seek in job candidates. The Stiller School offers the following majors:

Each major features extensive hands-on learning opportunities through marketplace practice projects, simulations and case studies, as well as fantastic internship opportunities, both locally and at Champlain's two international campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland.

"Our students graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to know for the jobs they want, and they get them," Baker said, "In fact, our most recent career data indicates that over 90% of Stiller School of Business graduates achieved employment within six months of graduation. Even more impressive, 89% of our SSB graduates obtained employment in positions directly related to their majors; this is exceptional by national standards."

The Stiller School of Business is also home to the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry (CCAI), the only academic-based center of excellence in the world that focuses directly on appreciative inquiry and its implications for positive organizational development and management. The CCAI is co-convening the World Positive Education Accelerator in June 2018, hosting over 1200 thought-leaders and practitioners in education, positive psychology, and appreciative inquiry to establish a road-map for transforming education from Pre-K through continuing education.

The Build Your Own Business program (BYOBiz®) provides Champlain student entrepreneurs assistance with building an existing business or idea they have for a business. BYOBiz exists to help students explore entrepreneurship hands-on and provides opportunities for them to gain valuable life skills and build self-confidence through its Elevator Pitch and LaunchVT competitions, in which students pitch their ideas for a business as succinctly and convincingly as possible.

Since 2013, the Stiller School has received a prestigious grant from the Freeman Foundation, which has allowed nearly 100 students to travel to Shanghai, China, and neighboring countries in Asia, to complete summer internships at minimal out-of-pocket costs, with some students continuing on for a semester of study. The global perspective students gain from exposure to business within the international marketplace provides invaluable professional experience and learning opportunity which they may not have otherwise encountered.

About ACBSP: The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) focuses on teaching excellence, determining student learning outcomes and a continuous improvement model. ACBSP's student-centered teaching and learning approach, which is measured and analyzed for quality, ensures that students gain the right skills from their educational investment. Institutions with programs accredited by ACBSP are committed to continuous improvement that ensures their business programs will give students the skills employers want.

About the Robert P. Stiller School of Business: The Stiller School of Business develops the strengths, integrity, expertise and entrepreneurial mindset of aspiring and innovative professionals to create positive change in their lives, workplaces, communities and the world. Continuing its nearly 140-year-old tradition of agility and relevance, the Robert P. Stiller School of Business at Champlain College offers outstanding degree programs in the country's hottest and most profitable areas of business. Read more about the Stiller School of Business experiential, outcome-oriented business education.

About Champlain College: Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 382 Colleges: 2018 Edition. For the third year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2018 "America's Best Colleges," and an "A+ School for B Students" and is ranked in the top 100 Regional Universities of the North. Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2018 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain and is a 2018 College of Distinction. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.