UVic’s business school joins elite class

A new accreditation received by the University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business puts it among the top-tier of business schools worldwide. In January, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited the school’s business programs following a thorough program review, evaluation of the teaching environment, and an examination of course relevance to the needs of business.

“The Gustavson School of Business continues to build a reputation for excellence, and this new accreditation reflects the dedication of the faculty, staff and students to the pursuit of that goal,” says UVic President David Turpin.

“AACSB accreditation lets our students know that they are getting a quality business education,” says Dr. Ali Dastmalchian, dean of the Gustavson School. “This was an exhaustive three-year process where we measured every aspect of our program delivery, from the number of PhD-qualified professors teaching in the classrooms, to our research record, to student learning outcomes.”

“It is a standard that assures prospective students that a certain level of quality will be upheld with respect to their management education,” says Connor Edwards, president of the Commerce Students Society and BCom candidate 2011.


“For current students, it signifies that the leadership at the Gustavson Business School is leveraging every opportunity to become one of the top-ranked programs not only in Canada, but on an international scale.”


This is the second accreditation for the business school. It received the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation in 2007 and was reaccredited in 2010.

Out of 12,000 business schools worldwide, there are 66 business schools—about 0.5 per cent—with both accreditations. The Gustavson School of Business joins six other Canadian business schools with this double mark of excellence: Queen’s, Sauder School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Telfer School of Business, HEC Montreal and Laval.

The Gustavson School of Business serves about 900 students each year and has just celebrated its 20th anniversary by introducing a PhD in International Management and Organization, a Master of Global Business degree and a Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Entrepreneurship. These programs complement its BCom, MBA, Executive Programs and specializations in international business, entrepreneurship and service management.