SFU’s Beedie School of Business renews prestigious EQUIS accreditation

SFU’s Beedie School of Business has successfully renewed its prestigious EQUIS accreditation by EFMD Global for another five years, placing it among the world’s top business schools. Photographer: Larry Goldstein

Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business has earned renewed EQUIS accreditation by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Global, a comprehensive institutional accreditation system that recognizes the world’s top business and management schools. The accreditation, which is valid for a five-year period, recognizes the excellence of research and education at SFU Beedie. SFU Beedie also holds accreditation from AACSB International and is among only one per cent of business schools worldwide with both accreditations.

EQUIS accreditation ensures rigorous quality control, benchmarking SFU Beedie against international standards in terms of governance, programs, students, faculty, research, internationalization, ethics, responsibility, and sustainability, as well as engagement with the world of practice.

“We’re proud to achieve this re-accreditation, which places us among the world’s top business schools,” says Ujwal Kayande, Dean of SFU Beedie. “It is a testament to our outstanding faculty, staff, alumni, and students, as well as the strong support we receive from the business community. The EQUIS accreditation process is rigorous and very helpful in applying an external benchmarking lens to what we do well and what we could do better. We have benefited immensely from learning how to become a better version of ourselves, and we are grateful to EFMD for their endorsement and recommendations.”

The 2022 EQUIS peer review team, which consisted of representatives from universities in Denmark, the U.K., and Belgium, as well as an industry expert from Switzerland, highlighted SFU Beedie’s commitment to ethics, responsibility, and sustainability initiatives as a “clear area of excellence for the school” in their recommendation for renewal. SFU Beedie’s Indigenous Business Leadership Executive MBA program, designed by and for Indigenous communities, was also recognized for its impact over the past decade.

SFU Beedie has some of the world’s most cited business researchers among its faculty and numerous faculty members recognized with the TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Awards. The school has also demonstrated a strong focus on innovation, with its Executive Education programs for leaders in government, private sector, and community organizations, SFU’s Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, the Jack Austin Centre for Asia-Pacific Business, and RADIUS, SFU’s social innovation hub.

SFU Beedie is currently putting in place a five-year strategic plan aimed at further growing its PhD program, Indigenous partnerships, and Executive Education programs.