In December 2013, our school was accepted as an official member of AACSB.
On January 22, 2014, membership and its aims were announced to faculty members at the Academic General Assembly.
On February 5, 2014 staff were also asked to become familiar as a member of the AACSB portal by the dean's e-mail .
On March 14, 2014, Asst. Assoc. Dr. Umut Sanem Çitçi has been appointed by the Dean's Office as the accreditation officer.
Umut Sanem Çitçi worked with a team of research assistants within a period of seven months. The team consisted of the following people: Research Assistant Ayşegül KARATAŞ - Research Assistant Halil ŞİMDİ (Department of International Trade), Research Assistant Gülcan KAHRAMAN (Department of Health Management), Research Assistant Samet ÖZDEMİR (Human Resources Management Department), Research Assistant Mustafa KOÇ - Research Assistant Mustafa Kenan ERKAN (Department of Business).
The team held six meetings, analyzed the Eligibility Package in detail, and worked on the following activities until the end of the 2013-2014 Spring Semester:
In the summer term of 2014, due to the difficulties experienced in collecting data, it was decided by the Dean's Office to give time to school members until September.
On October 15, 2014, Dr. Umut Sanem ÇİTÇİ informed the rector and academic staff about AACSB at the School Academic Board meeting.
In November 2014, Assoc. Dr. Hakan TUNAHAN was appointed as the Business School Accreditation Coordinator.
On September 28, 2015, our Eligibility Application was made.
In October 2015, we attended the AACSB's Europe, Middle East and Africa annual meeting in Frankfurt.
On November 9, 2015, the AACSB Initial Accreditation Committee reported that our Eligibility Application was accepted.
In November 2015, we attended the AACSB Business Accreditation Seminar in Zagreb.
In January 2016, Dr. Mohamed Madi has been appointed as our AACSB accreditation mentor.
In February 2016, in order to make our mission more unique, we started to take the views of our students, faculty members, graduates and the business world and analyze the data obtained.
February 1, 2016 AACSB's "Inspirational Innovations" initiative recognized UPEP (From University to International Trade Representatives), which includes the on-demand internship of foreign students at SAU in Sakarya, as one of 30 innovations.that represent how business schools innovate and ensure diversity in the business education environment. UPEP was selected from an evaluation of more than 300 innovations from 35 countries, more than 200 schools.
In March 2016, we completed the preparations of the standard no.2 for measuring the intellectual contributions of the faculty staff, including their academic studies, and the standard no.15, which analyzes the sufficiency of faculties at the level of programs and school.
In March 2016, we printed and distributed posters and brochures on the awareness of accreditation and started to inform our students by setting up stands.
In March 2016, our mentor made his first visit to our school.
In May 2016, our school attended the AACSB Annual Accreditation Conference in Milan. Click. for the meeting notes.
In June, 2016, we formed the School Advisory Board and held its first meeting in order to create "Impact on Stakeholders", which is one of the cornerstones of accreditation.
In October 2016, with the UN Global Compact, we have become one of the seven universities in Turkey including Sabancı and Koç Universities, which signed the Principles of Responsible Business Education for our social responsibility and sustainability purpose.
In October 2016, we opened our Finance laboratory as one of our important projects.
In October 2016, our school attended the AACSB's Europe, Middle East and Africa Annual Conference held in Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Click.for the meeting notes.
In November 2016, the software that associates “Evaluation with Learning and program outcomes” was put into practice in order to provide “Assurance of Learning” which is the condition of accreditation.
In January 2017, a national Accreditation Information Meeting was held at our university with the participation of Tim Mescon, Head of AACSB EMEA, senior management and academicians from more than 50 universities in Turkey including Quality Board Head of Higher Education Prof. Dr. Orhan Uzun and SAU rector Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas. Click. for the meeting page.
On February 1, 2017, our innovation "Harmony Between B-School and B-World", which is based on the content analysis of job postings in order to match program outcomes with the demands of the business world and to increase the employability of graduates, was recognized by AACSB as one of 30 innovations representing how business schools innovate and diversify around business education. This is the second time we have been recognized in global education innovations.
On April 2017, The final version of our mission and vision came into effect in April 2017. Click. for our mission and vision statements.
In May, 2017, we attended the AACSB Annual Accreditation Conference in Vienna. Click. for the meeting notes.
In May 2017, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Higher Education Prof. Dr. Hasan MANDAL had meeting with the the dean of our school Prof. Dr. Ahmet Vecdi CAN, Vice Dean Dr.Adem AKBIYIK and Advisory Board Member Ali İhsan Güneş and Assoc. Dr. Hakan TUNAHAN. During the meeting, our school's recent breakthroughs and accreditation process were discussed.
In July 2017, the Self-Evaluation Report committee has been formed. Click for the news.
On October 10, 2017, a breakfast meeting was held with the participation of the Dean, Vice Deans, Department Heads and Accreditation Self-Evaluation team as the invitation of our Rector for discussing our accreditation process. Click for the news.
On October 18, 2017, our Dean Prof. Dr. Ahmet Vecdi Can made a presentation at the International Thrace Accountancy, Finance and Auditing Symposium titled "AACSB Accreditation Experience: Sakarya University Business School Example". Click for the news.
Between 16 and 18 October 2017, we attended the AACSB's Europe, Middle East and Africa Annual Conference held in Julian’s city, Malta. Click for Click for the news.
Between 09-10 November, 2017, we attended the first of the AACSB's Assurance of Learning (AoL) Seminar series held at the Lebanese American University Adnan Kassar Business School in Beirut, Lebanon. Click for the news.
Between 22-23 November 2017, we attended the AACSB's Assurance of Learning (AoL) Seminar series II. İn Lisbon, Portugal. Click for the news.
On December 31, 2017, we submitted our Self-Evaluation Report to the AACSB Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC).
On February 10, 2018, the AACSB Initial Accreditation Committee discussed our Initial Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) at the meeting.
On 9-11 May, 2018, we attended the AACSB Europe, Middle East and Africa Annual Accreditation Meeting.
On June 2, 2018, our Self-Assessment report, which was requested to be revised, was reviewed as a result of detailed and intense studies and submitted for discussion at the Committee's meeting in July.
On 30 July, 2018, the revised ISER report was accepted.
On December 3, 2018, the faculty member Dr. Ece KUZULU was appointed as the accreditation coordinator.
On March 8, 2019, Research Assistant Dr. Naciye Güliz Uğur was appointed as the accreditation coordinator.
On April 1, 2019, Learning Assurance Workshop in the school was held.
In May 2019, our school's First Progress Report was submitted to the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC).
In July 2019, the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC) convened on 17-18 July 2019 and examined Sakarya University's first Progress Report.
On September 2, 2019, the evaluation of the First Progress Report was submitted to our school and it was asked to prepare the Second Progress Report.
In September 2019, our mentor Mohamed Madi handed over his post.
In December 2019, our School attended the Middle East Summit held in Dubai, with 110 participants from 20 different countries, especially from the Arab World.
On January 15, 2020, ICN Business School Vice Dean Sarah VAUGHAN was appointed as our new mentor.
In May 2020, our school's Second Progress report was submitted to the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC).
On August 18, 2020, the 2nd Progress Report was accepted by the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC) and preparation for the field visit was requested.
On October 27, 2020, the final self-evaluation report and field visit application letter were sent to the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC).
On January 25, 2021, it was reported that the first accreditation visit will be carried out on 9-12 November 2021 and the Final Self-Evaluation Report should be prepared four-six months before that. Steef van de VELDE who is the Dean of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. was appointed by IAC as president for final report preparations and field visit.
On February 19, 2021, Prof. Dr. Hakan Tunahan was appointed to SAU Business School Accreditation Advisor.
On March 16, 2021, Vice Dean Assoc. Dr. Emrah ÖZSOY was appointed as AACSB Coordinator.
On March, 23, 2021, in our work for the renewal of our Advisory Board, we discussed the structure of the board and the actions to be taken in the upcoming period with Adnan Borazancıoğlu, the owner of Bortek Engineering, and Ali İhsan Güneş, the partner of FGİ company representing the business World.
On March 24, 2021, our department heads and the dean's office met to discuss how our final processes in our accreditation journey could be carried out more effectively.
On March 31, 2021, an information and consultation meeting was held with the participation of our school's academic and administrative staff in order to ensure dissemination and internalization.
On April 1, 2021, our Advisory Board held the first meeting of its new term with full participation.At the meeting, the point reached in the accreditation process of our school, the contribution of the advisory board to this process, the review of the curriculum, internships, job and training opportunities to be provided to students, and supporting scientific studies were discussed.
On April 22, 2021 We held the second meeting of the Advisory Board They discussed the results of the survey expressing the opinions of the business world about the graduates of the faculties and the point where corporate internship program preparations have come. One of the most important outcomes of the meeting was the decision of the advisory board to purchase the world-renowned business simulation software, which was decided to be brought to the faculty by the representatives of the business world. It will be an important step in our software accreditation process in our alignment with Standard 8.
In May, 2021, in order to strengthen our assurance of learning, a new cooperation was reached with the world's leading developer of Business and Strategy Simulations; the Finnish-based company CESIM, under the sponsorship of our School Advisory Board. Our students started training with simulation.
In May, 2021, Prof. Dr. Tuğrul Atamer who worked in France between 2002 and 2012 in the field of strategic management and working as the Dean of Emlyon that is one of the oldest schools and one of the best business schools in the world in terms of postgraduate education, became a member of our School’s Advisory Board. Also, Prof. Dr. Tuğrul Atamer was the chairman of the board of directors of Emlyon for a while.
On June 2, 2021, we held the "Strategic Transformation in Higher Education After the Pandemic" conference where our Advisory Board member and Vice Rector of the French Emlyon School Prof. Dr. Tuğrul Atamer was the speaker with the participation of our faculties. At the meeting, it was discussed how the ongoing and accelerating transformation in societies will change higher education and especially the teaching methods that fall within the subject of Teaching Effectiveness, the Standard 12 of AACSB accreditation.
On June 4, 2021 Prof. Dr. Remzi Altuntaş, who has the highest H index with 30 and Ahmet Karakiraz, who has the highest H value of 8 among the research assistants in our faculty, were awarded by our Advisory Board for their achievements at the meeting held at the Dean's Office
on June 11, 2021, Assurance of Learning Commission of our faculty convened . At the meeting, the feedback from internal and external stakeholders was evaluated in terms of achieving the program learning outcomes after the period completed.
on June 11, 2021, The Curriculum Committee meeting of our faculty convened. At the meeting, all course change suggestions from internal and external stakeholders were shared with the commission members.
on July 15, 2021, Final Self-Evaluation Report has been submitted to AACSB.
on September 13, 2021, we held online meeting with Prof. Dr. Mohamed Madi and Assoc. Prof. Surendranath Rakesh.
on October 25, 2021, we conducted a meeting with our advisory board.
on October 26, 2021, we held online meeting with our head of departments.
on October 31, 2021, we held meeting with our students and graduates.
on November 1, 2021, our meetings are going on with our faculty staff.
The second site visit for AACSB Accreditation process took place on July 20, 2022. During the second site visit, the team held meetings with Steef van de Velde (Rotterdam School of Business), and Thami Ghorfi (Dean of the ESCA School of Business).
31 October 2022-Our accreditation process has been successfully completed and we are accredited by the AACSB. We are now one of the most qualified business schools in the world.
