In 1974, the University at Albany School of Business became the first US business school to be accredited by AACSB at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is one of only three public universities in New York State with dual AACSB accreditation in business administration and accounting. It is recognised as a leading business school because it provides exceptional value, offers innovative programs, and is adept at blending academic research into the classroom. Students graduate with a clear understanding of theory and practice, enabling them to make a seamless transition from academia to the business world.
The school has five academic departments: accounting and law, finance, information technology management, marketing, and management. Professional accounting programs offer specialties in forensic accounting and taxation. The full-time MBA program provides an information systems focused curriculum. Evening and weekend MBA programs educate working professionals. A Nano+MBA program is offered in cooperation with the Universityís College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and a JD/MBA is offered in conjunction with Albany Law School.
Accolades and demonstrated success
The School of Business recently received three top 15 national rankings from the Princeton Review. The MBA program was ranked second in the US for providing the ëGreatest Oppportunity for Womení. The program ranked thirteenth for ëGeneral Managementí. The schoolís Small Business Development Centre was named one of the top ten centres in the nation by the US Small Business Administration.
The MBA concentration in ëHuman Resource Information Systemsí has been recognised by the ëSociety for Human Resource Managementí as one of only four MBA programs in the world meeting the criteria for comprehensive education in human resource management. It is the only MBA program in the US to incorporate information technology into a human resource curriculum.
Construction has begun on a new $64m School of Business building, a state-of the-art academic and research facility that is the only US project shortlisted for consideration in the 2010 World Architecture Festival awards in Barcelona this November.
Cutting edge academic research
During the past academic year, the school received more than $4m in funded research from federal and state agencies, foundations, and corporations. In recent years, the school has hosted several major research conferences for top academic journals. In 2008, they hosted the Technology Transfer Society Conference, sponsored by the Journal of Technology Transfer, which is edited by Dean Donald Siegel. A 2009 conference on ëCorporate Social Responsibilityí and ëEnvironmental Sustainabilityí yielded a special issue of Business & Society, the leading academic journal in the field of ethics and social responsibility. In 2010, they hosted a special issue workshop for ëCorporate Governanceí: An International Review on private equity, LBOs, and corporate governance. Each conference featured prominent alumni from organisations such as the University of Michigan, Sun Microsystems, Ernst & Young, Oppenheimer & Co, and leading accounting and private equity firms.
In May, the School of Business will host a research conference on the Financial and Real Effects of Alternative Investments: Hedge Funds, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Sovereign Wealth Funds for the Journal of Corporate Finance, featuring a practitioner panel of School of Business alumni who manage private equity and hedge funds and other types of alternative investment funds.
The School of Business regularly sponsors the ëSymposium on Information Assuranceí and the ëNew York State Cyber Security Conferenceí, which assembles experts from around the world to assess and prevent cyber security threats. The School of Businessí 2009 Conference on Digital Forensics & Cyber Crime was the first of its kind, bringing together practitioners and researchers to discuss cutting edge presentations on money laundering and accounting fraud detection.
Professor Saurav Dutta was recently named an ëAcademic Accounting Fellow at the Office of the Chief Accountant of the US Securities and Ex-change Commissioní. He will serve as a research resource for the SEC and as a liaison to professional accounting standards-setting bodies. This prestigious fellowship illustrates both the rigor and relevance of his path-breaking research on risk disclosure and also complements the development of the new masterís program in forensic accounting.
The School of Business houses the Centre for Institutional Investment Managementí, the first centre in the US to focus on research and analysis of strategic institutional investing. One project is the student operated University at Albany School of Business Investment Group, which manages a diversified mutual fund started from $100,000 in seed money.
Cutting edge academic programs
UASBIG draws students from the innovative ëFinancial Analyst Honorsí program, which provides the best and the brightest in finance with an accelerated pace and small class size. In 2006, before the recent economic downturn, The Institute for Financial Market Regulationí was established, providing an interdisciplinary approach combining business, law, public policy and technology.
The technology-focused full-time MBA program features field project experience. Under the supervision of a faculty member, student teams conduct a year-long consulting project for an organisation. The field projects combine with internships to provide work experience to students, enabling them to launch their careers successfully, often working for one of the Big Fourí accounting firms or a major company, such as General Electric.
The School of Business also recently established a chapter of the ëYoung Entrepreneurs Academyí, which brings middle school and high school students to campus to launch start-up companies- with real investors.
Alumni enthusiasm
Alumni can often be seen walking the halls of the School of Business. They serve as guest speakers in the classroom, provide interviewing and job search training, host student orientations, recruit students as interns or employees, participate in research conferences and serve on advisory boards.
For more information, write to 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12202, Telephone: (518) 442-4961 or visit albany.edu/business