UTS Business joins elite group of top schools

The UTS Business Faculty recently joined the world's top ten percent of elite business schools, by earning accreditation from the American Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

AACSB International is the world's top accrediting body for business and accounting schools. In order to earn

AACSB accreditation, a school must satisfy 21 standards, including having:

- Highly qualified faculty members;

- High quality student and staff support networks;

-A mission statement that pledges intellectual contributions to advance the knowledge and practice of business and management and;

- A commitment to continuous improvement and staying responsive to the needs of business, with regular reviews of the curriculum and mission statement.

Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB International, welcomed the UTS Business Faculty, saying that, "It takes a great deal of self evaluation and determination to earn AACSB accreditation. Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans and staff make a commitment to ongoing improvement that ensures that they will deliver a high-quality education to students."

UTS Dean of Business Professor Rob Lynch thanked the staff of the UTS Business Faculty for their high-quality work in teaching, research, administration and community service, which has earned the Faculty its accreditation.

"In 2007 we will be doing further work to embed the 21 AACSB standards into the everyday practice of the Faculty to ensure we maintain accreditation and this important new status for the faculty," said Professor Lynch, adding that, "This successful accreditation outcome follows on from recent outstanding success in gaining Australian Research Council grants (2006), in being ranked in the top six business/economics faculties for the Department of Education, Science and Training's Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (2007) and being ranked number eight among Australian Business and Law disciplines in the recent Melbourne University Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Rankings (2006)."

UTS Science Facilities Upgraded

Recently completed, the two year, multi-million dollar upgrade of the UTS Science building equips science students with some of the most modern laboratories, equipment and classrooms in Australia. Housing lecture theatres, classrooms and a series of new multifunctional, research, instrumentation and greenhouse laboratories the building provides a pleasant, light filled learning environment.

A milestone for women in leadership at UTS

With the appointment of two new senior executives, UTS has achieved what is still a rarity in both the public and private sectors, an equal representation of men and women in top-level roles.

Dr Rosalind Dubs has joined the executive as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (External Relations) and Registrar, while Professor Shirley Alexander has moved from Dean of Education to Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Teaching, Learning and Equity).

The fact that four of eight executive positions, along with that of the UTS Chancellor, are now held by women reflects UTS's long history of being an employer of choice for women, according to Director of the UTS Equity and Diversity Unit Anne Maree Payne.

"UTS has earned an Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) citation every year since the Employer of Choice for Women award was launched in 2001 and has been rated as a best practice organisation by EOWA for more than ten years," Ms Payne said.

"There are very few Australian universities that have such a high percentage of women in senior academic and administrative positions.

"This is the case across all sectors of the university. Last year the overall representation of women staff at UTS was greater than 50 per cent (50.5), and the number of academic women was greater than 40 per cent (40.4). Women constituted 57.2 per cent of general staff," Ms Payne said.

UTS also has a strong record in relation to academic promotion for women. In 2005 – the most recent data available – women constituted 47.5 per cent of those promoted, a figure well above their workforce participation rate as academic staff," Ms Payne said.