The Mona School of Business (MSB) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), has received accreditation from the international Association of MBAs  (AMBA) for achieving what AMBA describes as the highest standard in  Postgraduate Business Education for its EMBA and MBA programmes, The recognition which was received last week, notes that AMBA’s accreditation is earned only by Business Schools with the “best programmes”. AMBA’s  accreditation is internationally recognised as the global standard for all MBA, MBM and DBA programmes.
 
MSB received special commendation for the close relationship between the School and the local business world; the role of the cluster coordinators as  mentors and controllers of quality; the close relationship between the School and  the local business world; the quality and the commitment of the students and  graduates of the MBA programmes. Also commended was the staff  development opportunities available to both full-time and adjunct faculty; the enthusiasm and commitment of the MBA faculty; student membership of the School’s Board and the flexibility of delivery of the MBA programmes.
 
MSB Executive Director, Professor Evan Duggan, commenting on the School’s most recent and highest achievement, says that over the years, the MSB has increasingly received  recognition internationally from external examiners for the high quality of its programmes, locally from  employers for the performance of  our graduates,  and is acknowledged as the leading management institution in the CARICOM Region. “As early as 2001, the MSB, which started in 1987, received the USAID 40th Anniversary Award for Excellence in Education, and two years later, in 2004, it was admitted to Membership in the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (ACSB) International."
 
In 2008, and for three consecutive years since, the Mona School of Business was ranked by the Eduniversal International Scientific Committee (France) among the top 1,000 Business Schools in the world in the Worldwide Business Schools Ranking. In addition, MSB was given the ranking of ‘2 Palmes’ in the league of “Good Business Schools with Regional Influence.” The “FindMBA” web site also ranks the MSB among the top thirty most popular Business Schools in the Americas (Canada, South and Central America, and the Caribbean) with rankings ranging between 13th and 16th.
 
UWI Principal and former Executive Director of the MSB, Professor Gordon Shirley expresses joy in the recognition given by AMBA. “The AMBA accreditation”, he states, “is an assurance of quality, which has been the School’s objective from the start.  It also provides assurance to employers and top business recruiters looking to acquire the best managers and future business leaders, that graduates of our now AMBA accredited programmes have received the highest quality – and education and training most relevant to the changing demands of the business world – management education.”
 
 
MSB graduates, even before leaving the School have also consistently made their mark in the Opportunity Funding Cooperation Innovation & Entrepreneurship (OFCIE) competition for historically Black Colleges and Universities, held in Atlanta, at which the MSB is the only non-US contender. Since its first participation some nine years ago, MSB entries to the competition have placed variously, from fifth to second place the latter in 2010, when they also won the inaugural trophy for the “Best Presentation.” In the 2011, competition, they walked away again with the trophy for the Best Presentation, as well as the overall first prize for the “Best Business Project.”