Attention, please: Salisbury University is awesome.
The university’s Department of Accounting and Legal Studies has earned the coveted accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business — better known as AACSB International.
The department is part of Salisbury’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business.
“It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn both accounting and business accreditation, and I commend Salisbury University for its dedication to management education, as well as its leadership in the community,” said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Through accreditation, the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business has not only met specific standards of excellence, but has also made a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver high quality education to its students.”
Kenneth Smith, chair of Salisbury’s Department of Accounting and Legal Studies, said the accreditation is a huge shot in the arm for the department.
“It puts a stamp of approval on the quality of educational services we provide our students, and it enhances our reputation among prospective students and their parents,” Smith said.
More important, Smith said the accreditation makes Salisbury a known commodity among firms outside of the mid-Atlantic region. “That’s very helpful to our students as they seek employment outside of our area,” Smith said.
In an era when fewer accounting students are taking the CPA exam, Salisbury is doing its part to restock the profession’s pipeline. According to Smith, half of the university’s 50 or so accounting graduates each year stick around during the summer to take the Becker FastPass CPA Review course on campus.
That extra work is paying off. In each of the past two years, Salisbury has produced a winner of the Elijah Watt Sells Award, given to those who score the highest on the CPA exam each year. Salisbury graduate Valerie Sheehan won the award in 2013, and John Buntz earned the honor in 2014.
That’s just the latest evidence that Salisbury is working hard to help the profession grow.
“We’re looking forward to continually improving the quality of our offerings,” Smith said, “and to respond to the needs of the professional accounting community on a timely basis in terms of providing our students with the education they need to be successful.”
Read more about Salisbury’s accreditation here.