Worst new name of the week (year?)

In 1996, the most prestigious business school accreditor, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, known everywhere as AACSB, changed its name to The International Association for Management Education. But they couldn't bear to give up their well known initials, so they were officially "AACSB: the International Association for Management Education."

Amazingly, it didn't work. "The initials didn't match, and we had difficulty communicating the name," said a spokesperson for AACSB: IAFME last month.

The solution: they keep the AACSB, and they change what it stands for again.

Quiz: Is the new name:

(a) American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (yet again)

(b) Association of American Colleges with Schools of Business

(c) Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

(d) Alliance for Advanced Collegial Schools of Business

(e) Amos and Andy's (oh, never mind...)

Correct answer, amazingly .

.

.

.

.

.

(c)

 

I don't know John, I've always liked the name Accrediting Commission International. ACI just has a nice ring, don't you think? Much more user friendly than IAC!

Accrediting: This designates the purpose of the agency, i.e., to provide a respected and recognized stamp of approval.

Commission: This lifts up the methodology, i.e., a body of legitimate educators committed to quality assurance.

International: This reveals the scope of the agency, i.e., offering schools worldwide the chance to be legitimately accredited.

If all six RA agencies could be combined into one massive entity called ACI, think of the ramifications if could have on the US educational system. Especially if ACI in Beebe, Arkansas, offered its expertise as well.

Russell

 

Can you imagine the brainstorming session that took place to come up with that dud?

I realize AACSB wants to get in on the explosion of foreign DL MBA programs, hence dumping the word "American." But that one is just stoooopid. All this from a marginally important accreditor that has spent far more energy keeping business schools out than it ever did advancing the cause of graduate business education.

AACSB: Anachronistic, Asinine Collection of Small Brains.

Rich Douglas

 

Sorry. I should think twice and write once, instead of the other way around. I forgot to mention another dumb thing about this reversal: the continued use of the word "collegiate." As we know, the term "college" connotes something less than a university in most countries. It even means secondary school in some places. Having "Collegiate" as part of your name doesn't exactly demonstrate much familiarity with the market your targeting. They should've stuck with the new name and gotten used to the new acronym. I guess there's no way the "C" could stand for "Change."

Rich Douglas

 

Harumph!

First they change the name of Sarasota to the name of a men's magazine. Now they're screwing around with the AACSB designation yet again!

Next theing you know Trinity will become a tier 1 RA school.

The world is going quite bonkers.

 

Fortunately, they rejected the name suggested by their UMUC consultant: Association to Advance University Collegiate University College Schools of Business.

 

They could cover all the bases with:

AAICAACSUABME (pronounced ache-ack-sue-ab-me)--American Alliance of the International Commissioning Association for Accrediting Collegiate Schools and Universities for the Advancement of Business and Management Education

Tracy Gies<><

 

Tracy proposes AAICAACSUABME (pronounced ache-ack-sue-ab-me)

That's funny. Also funny, in a different way, is the fact that at the DETC convention last month, everyone was pronouncing the acronym as "DEE-TECH," i.e. as if it were DTEC. Maybe that sounds a little classier than "DETSEE."

--John Bear, in San Francisco, where
the new "French Connection U.K." store
has been ordered to take down its big
"FCUK" sign at Union Square

 

Must be fallout from the new Republican administration!!!

Russell

 

Republicans? In San Francisco??

Nah. Union Square is a pretty up-market shopping area. "FCUK" detracts from the tone.

I think Robin Williams called San Francisco a city where people wear tweed over leather.

They are ready for anything: check out CA-approved http://www.iashs.edu (infortunately no distance education). But whatever it is, it had better not reduce the prices of their little tiny million dollar homes.

 

Bill D. reminds of of the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, but suggests they have no distance programs.

But they do -- or at least extensive independent study -- even more now than when we wrote them up for the 14th ed. of Bears' Guide (page 241-242) and reported a minimum of 15 weeks on campus for the doctorate, 9 for the master's. Looks from the website as if it might be as little as 3 weeks a year.