Integrating professional reaccreditation and quality award processes

Accreditation reviews represent an important component of many educational institutions' quality assurance systems. Integrating application for a quality award into the reaccreditation process can add a new dimension to the reaccreditation process and provide a college with significant benefits. The College of Business and Economics at the University of Idaho used application for the Idaho Quality Award, which is based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, as its primary means for carrying out the self-evaluation process required for AACSB professional reaccreditation. This paper discusses the college's experiences combining AACSB self-evaluation with application for a state quality award, describing the motivation for using this approach, how the college went about it, and the significant benefits that the college realized as a result.