From June
12- 15, 2015, the Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs
(ACBSP) held its annual conference in Philadelphia. Peirce College had an
opportunity to welcome participants for a special tour highlighting the history
and culture of the College.
Peirce’s relationship with ACBSP goes back to
1999 when our Business Administration Associate degree was first accredited. In
2002, the Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration was accredited for the
first time and in 2012, when we were reaffirmed for Business Administration, we
received a specialized accreditation in Accounting.
The ACBSP annual conference is hosted
in different cities each year. This highly regarded international conference
takes place all over the world, with last year being hosted in Chicago and
moving to Atlanta in 2016.
This year,
the event was held at the downtown Marriot in Philadelphia. Representatives
including deans and business faculty from ACBSP accredited schools and
institutions, as well as ACBSP staff from corporate headquarters were in
attendance, with attendees coming from countries around the world including
Canada, Mongolia, and India.
Not only did
Peirce play a key role as a host
intuition for the conference and partnering with ACBSP in support of the
conference, but we also served as ambassadors of the city of Philadelphia. We assisted
with conference logistics, and we also provided directions, information, and
recommendations for out of town participants to explore our culture- and
heritage-rich city.
On Monday,
the last day of the conference, Peirce College hosted a tour of its campus for
conference attendees. The event included
a warm welcome from President Mergiotti and by Vice President of Academic
Advancement, Rita Toliver-Roberts.
I led a tour
of the campus which included exploring the different parts of facilities while
incorporating our storied history. We shared the stories about our continued
connection with alumni and how different aspects of the College are named.
Following
the tour we showcased recent videos that we have launched to give an in-depth
perspective of Peirce’s mission. One of our reference librarians, Bart Everts,
put together a great presentation about Peirce’s business education efforts
dating back to the 1800s.
As the
session concluded, I gave the group a bonus “nickel tour” of Broad Street,
pointing out some of the buildings including the Kimmel Center and the Bellevue,
sharing our city’s expansive history.