The Melville School of Business at Kwantlen Polytechnic University made a national impression at the annual conference for a leading global business education accrediting body.
Three of five presentations at the recent 2022 Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs Region 11 annual conference in Toronto were from KPU – including one chosen as the winner.
Representatives from accredited business schools across Canada attended the conference, which included presentations around the theme “Celebrating Collaborative Alliances: Stronger Together.”
Judges chose Melville School of Business instructor Tara Immell as winner for “Partnering to provide customized language use support,” a presentation she developed with Joanna Daley in KPU’s English Language Studies department. Joanna says this partnership created the first joint initiative at KPU to begin to address the academic challenges that internationally educated business students face by providing language and study skills expertise in the context of their business courses.
“My presentation truly reflected the theme of the conference since the support students receive from myself and Joanna working together is truly stronger than I could have provided on my own,” says Immell. “As a business instructor, my focus is on providing students with the skills they need to succeed in getting hired. Since these skills extend beyond understanding the course content to being able to communicate the understanding of the course content, I needed a partner to take on the communication support.”
Along with a cash prize, Immell, who teaches in the school’s Green Business Management and Sustainability graduate diploma program, has received an invitation to present at the 2023 ACBSP international conference in Chicago June 29 to July 23, 2023.
Also presenting from KPU were faculty members Pamela Ip and Christina Shorthouse, who discussed their projects as recipients of KPU’s United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship in their presentation, “Anatomy of a renewable assignment: collaboration using the 17 UNSDGs.”
Associate dean Donald Reddick, along with KPU teaching and learning instructor Gillian Sudlow, presented “Annual PD/service/scholarship reporting by PebblePad e-portfolio” – promoting a new reporting platform for faculty.
Seneca College hosted the national conference Nov. 2 to 3.
Reddick says accreditation is important to Melville School of Business, which is one of 12 Canadian business schools accredited by ACBSP.
“Accrediting bodies help us ensure that we have continuous improvement processes in everything that we do. By being accredited, we’re recognized as an institution that takes continuous education quality improvement seriously,” he says. “By participating in this conference, we learn more about processes that can improve quality, and we also share best practices.”