Bautista: Uplifting the standards of business education

Friday, August 12, 2011

BUSINESS schools have developed excellent professionals across many industries. They have contributed immensely to job creation and innovation, both in developed and emerging countries. Their positive effects are evident through the lives of many successful entrepreneurs and firms.

The many challenges that businesses and society face in the 21st century only heighten the demand for highly prepared managers and entrepreneurs. This is precisely where the business schools must play their roles.

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In the Philippines, the development of high quality business education underwent a long process.

In 1960, the Industrial Development Center and the International Cooperation Administration (now the Agency for International Development under the US State Department) initiated the organization of a team of deans of business schools.

The study team was called the Philippine Schools of Management and Business Administration. It went to the United States in 1961 to observe 12 universities and 11 corporations and foundations concerned with business education.

The team focused on studying curriculum development, school-industry relations, general school administration, and faculty qualifications and relations.

When the team returned, it invited representatives from other business schools and formed an executive committee that was later expanded into the Philippine Association of Collegiate Schools of Business or PACSB. With Dr. Santiago dela Cruz as its first president, PACSB was formally started on July 21, 1962.

PACSB’s activities are diverse such as, among others, the conduct of seminars, conferences, and conventions for faculty development, and the provision of consultancy and other services to its member-schools. At present, PACSB has a total of 283 member-schools throughout the country.

It also spearheads curriculum changes and revisions, upgrading of rules and standards for business education, and conducting dialogues with government agencies particularly Ched and PRC.

Its other functions include linking with business and industry and other associations, agencies and institutions concerned with business education. It also grants scholarship, holds industry immersion, and provides research grants to the faculty of member-schools.

PACSB maintains a close relationship with the Ched Technical Panel for Business and Industry, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Civil Service Commission, Finex, Picpa, Philippine Marketing Association, and the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

It also coordinates with the Philippine Council of Management, Junior Achievement of the Philippines, Fund for Assistance to Private Education, Philippine Stock Exchange, and the International Federation for Business Education.

School year 2011-2012 marks the 50th anniversary of PACSB. Among the planned major activities are the mid-year conferences in Dumaguete City on October 14-15 and in Baguio City on November 17-18 this year with the theme “Business Education Influx (the K to 12 Phenomena).” Another big event is the annual national conference in Manila in April 2012.

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Dr. Reynaldo S. Bautista is the current national president of the Philippine Association of Collegiate Schools of Business for SY 2011-‘12. He is the dean of the SLU-School of Accountancy and Business Management (SABM). SABM has a level III Paascu accreditation. It is recognized by CHED as a Center of Development in Accountancy Education (one among only four in the country), and a Center of Development in Entrepreneurship Education (one among only two in the country) (MNMeneses). (Reynaldo S. Bautista)