International Accreditation and Preparation for a New Bachelor’s Programme – Senate Meets to Open the Academic Year

The Senate of Corvinus University held its first meeting of the academic year, covering topics such as international accreditation processes, preparations for launching a bachelor’s degree called Data Science in Business, and the appointment of associate professors.

Study Programme of Data Science in Business to be Launched at Corvinus

A new, English-language study programme of eight semesters, called Data Science in Business, may be launched soon at Corvinus. The purpose of the study programme is for the University to train professionals who understand and know the mathematical and statistical foundations of data science methods but do not plan to focus on research and development tasks.

The study programme will require the acquisition of 240 credits, consisting of economics, mathematics, statistics, IT, and inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge of business-methodology. The study programme will be practice-oriented and will be accompanied by a twelve-week, compulsory internship.

The leader of the programme development process, associate professor Dr. Réka Vas will be the Programme Leader.

The Senate voted, without any votes against, for the document on launching the planned undergraduate study programme in Business Data Science.

The start date of the programme depends on the date when the Ministry for Information and Technology is ready to publish the training and output requirements and approve the document on launching the study programme. The new study programme may start in the next academic year, 2022/23, at the earliest.

Evaluation of applications for promotion

In parallel with the academic career model, Corvinus introduced a new promotion system. While earlier it had been the Senate, now it is the  Academics Career Committee that makes decisions on proposals for nominations of associate professors. Members on the Committee included three external lecturers, three Corvinus lecturers and three Vice-Rectors.

The University evaluated 60 applications for promotion, of which 35 were of Corvinus lecturers and 25 were of external lecturers. They evaluated 26 applications for associate professor and one application for university professor positions, and 33 applications for other lecturer positions. When making decisions, they considered, among others, candidates’ research work, international embeddedness, new topics and methodological innovations in education, as well as the extent to which applicants can meet increasingly stringent requirements concerning university professors. Based on these, the Committee eventually supported 17 applications for associate professor and 32 ones for lecturer positions.

Both supported and rejected applicants received detailed feedback, often through face-to-face consultations.

Appointment documents will be handed over by Dr. Előd Takáts at the Corvinus Faculty Club on 29 September 2021.

According to Dr. László Csicsmann, Chairman of the Career Committee and Vice-Rector for Faculty, the promotion practices of the three faculties of Corvinus have been successfully combined, but there is still room for innovation in evaluation procedures. While certain requirements must be met by each candidate, even international standards fail to set quantitative requirements: this would be difficult, as if we take the numbers as a basis, candidates who excel and do valuable work in non-quantified areas may fall out of progress.

It was suggested that various calls for applications be published, for instance, separate ones for researcher and for lecturer associate professor positions, but this would be against international expectations – and it is important for Corvinus to meet international standards. Several members agreed that it would be necessary to set certain minimum requirements enabling them to better assess each colleague’s involvement in research, education and service activities and the extent to which someone exceeds minimum requirements.

It is not an easy task to measure different activities. In particular, the evaluation of services represents a challenge to the Committee, which may result in a situation where colleagues who publish a lot are favoured, but their educational activities are given secondary importance. It was suggested that different career paths and development opportunities should be outlined to motivate applicants who are mainly engaged in education. Dr. Előd Takáts emphasized that precisely such suggestions make it difficult to find the right balance between quantified criteria and subjective evaluation.

The results of EQUIS accreditation are expected in early December

On 10 August 2021, Corvinus submitted the self-assessment report which is an important part of the EQUIS accreditation process. The Corvinus Business School had already received the EQUIS certification in 2018 but, in this year’s accreditation process, Corvinus wants to extend the certification to the entire University. Students also played a significant role, through the Student Union, other student organizations and Colleges for Advanced Studies, by compiling documents for the application, as the self-assessment documentation includes, among others, a Report by Students.

As part of the accreditation process, the University will be assessed by experts through an online process taking place on 2 – 5 October 2021. First, the portfolio of programmes and financial audit procedures are monitored, in addition to the leadership of the University. Assessors will then talk to two teams of students, corporate partners and members of the alumni community, and then, in a separate block, participants in the Faculty Development project.

The outcome of the EQUIS accreditation process is expected by early December 2021, following a comprehensive, wide-ranging examination. According to Dr. Zoltán Oszkár Szántó, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Corvinus is expecting the team of experts by having good chances.