THE ASFOR MASTER ACCREDITATION PROCESS
GUIDANCE NOTES ON MINIMUM MANDATORY REQUISITES FOR ACCREDITATION

OBJECTIVE
The realistic aim of an accreditation process at this point in the development of our country, is to distinguish those Masters which meet a significant set of standards (applied globally, not individually) from the dozens of tightly focused programs which often last only a few days, currently passed off as Master programs on the market. For this purpose, accreditation is open only to those Master programs which have completed at least three editions. The ASFOR accreditation has a duration of 5 years.

WHAT IS MEANT BY "MASTER PRODUCT"

ASFOR, in accordance with the provisions drawn up by the specifically dedicated associations (EFMD, EQUAL, CEEMAN) at the European level, has identified three different types of Master programs, with managerial and business contents.
Type A. Master in General Management:
These programs are generalist in their approach and cover the most important functional areas and sectors of business and address the needs of young graduate students with no relevant work experience and are designed to round off university education for career purposes.
Type B. Specialized Master programs:
These programs are aimed at increasing knowledge of a particular function or sector of activity. They recruit students with a previous degree that is relevant to the specific subject area in question. This type of program does not require previous work experience, although some students enter these programs after several years in a job.
Type C. Master in Business Administration (MBA):
This type is defined as a generalist program with the aim of integrating knowledge/competencies in the different areas of business, from a strategic and managerial standpoint. They address the needs of students with significant work experience and their objective is to promote a career change or accelerate career advancement. The Master programs mentioned above may include distance learning or online learning modules, providing they are carried out in compliance with the criteria and standards foreseen by the ASFOR accreditation process.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF CANDIDATES

Candidate profile: For all types of Master programs candidates must possess a first or second level university degree or similar educational qualification gained abroad.
Master in Business Administration candidates must have a significant amount of work experience: at least 3 years in an relevant position at a corporate level if they have a first level university degree, 2 years if they have a second level degree or a degree earned under the former university education system. On an exceptional basis, schools may evaluate candidates without a university degree but these candidates must have high-level professional requisites and a strong cultural profile.

Admission procedure: The selection and admission process must be formalized and must have the purpose to identify skills, aptitude and motivation of the candidates in taking a managerial role. Further to:
•    Academic and professional curriculum,
•    Written tests, psychological and aptitude tests, group dynamics tests
•    Interviews (with particular emphasis on motivation and orientation)
contents and characteristics of the admission process must be in line with the specific type of Master program for which admission is sought. However the School must analytically document all steps and phases of the admission procedure.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Minimum duration:
- Master in General Management
Total: 1200 hours (inclusive internship with a company)
- Specialized Master programs
Total: 1000 hours (inclusive  internship with a company)

Didactic activities whatever their structure (lessons, exercises, group work, action research) cannot amount to less than 600 and 500 hours respectively, on these types of Master programs.

- Master in Business Administration
Total: 500 hours.

Structured didactic activities.

Syllabus:

Considering the fact that business management topics are increasingly grouped into "macro areas", in keeping with a pedagogical approach that focuses more on processes than on single subject areas, the course syllabus will be assessed in terms of its inherent completeness and coherence, of the stated objectives of the course as well as in terms of the fundamental economic and corporate knowledge taught. Considering the training goals that an ASFOR accredited Master program by must have, even Specialized Master programs must dedicate at least 30% of the total number of hours of didactic activity to general aspects of management, i.e. to the issues involved in managing a company.

Internship with a company:
- Master in General Management and Specialized Master programs
Minimum duration: 400 hours
- Master in Business Administration
Since this type of Master program is aimed at candidates with a significant amount of work experience, in-company apprenticeships/internships are not mandatory; the course shall nevertheless comprise, beyond the structured didactic activities offered, work on a significant project with companies or other equivalent qualified activity (e.g. research on the field or with an international Business School).

Faculty:

The School must have a core faculty, i.e. permanent academic staff, deeply involved in the various phases of the educational process and having the following characteristics:
•    Total number: 10 faculty members, each with an individual commitment in activity structured in the Master program (teaching, orienteering, evaluation process, assistance) of at least 40 hours in the case of Specialized Master and Master in Business Administration programs and of 60 hours in the case of Master in General Management programs;
•    They must have been on the permanent staff of the School for at least 3 editions of the Master;
•    Experience: at least 3 years of significant teaching experience and/or at least 5 years of professional experience in a position of suitable responsibility in the field taught;
•    Annual staff turnover: should not exceed 30%, except in cases of radical, structural changes in projects.

program Direction:

The School must have a Director/Coordinator of teaching and research activities who must have at least 10 years of proven experience as a teacher/educator and must have a commitment in this role of a congruous number of days/year.
Teaching Methods:

Pedagogical methods should not be limited to the transmission on knowledge alone: they should also involve teaching participants to use managerial tools and approaches and must have the following characteristics:

- utilisation of managerial tools and active delivery modes;

-field projects aimed at verifying participants’ skills in applying managerial tools in real situations;
- at least 10% of total classroom time must be dedicated to company management testimonies and company visits/workshops. The number of students per class should not be less than 15 for Specialized Master programs and 20 for Master in General Management and MBA programs.
Teaching material:

As a general rule, teaching materials must have characteristics of quality in line with a course which aim is to give competence and not only knowledge. Besides they must be updated.

Evaluation process:

Right from the start of the program, the methods for assessing students’ progress must be explicit and purposeful from the beginning of the course and must be made at various stages of the course, in order to highlight the results individual participants have obtained in terms of (managerial) knowledge, competencies and behaviour, in objective and transparent fashion. It must foresee the minimum standard of results on the different didactic subjects and the subsequent actions in case of negative or insufficient results. The evaluation process must indicate also the total conditions of learning, in order to get the final diploma, with particular attention to the evaluation of the field project activity.
Assistance Activity (tutorship, coaching, counselling):

Apart from the core faculty, the School must guarantee continuous assistance and learning support for students by providing a number of internal units in relation to   the number of participants and to the characteristics of the course.
For each unit the School must indicate the role and the number of hours devoted to the assistance activity (which must also include the in-company internship).
Research and Innovation Activity by the School or the Master Area:

In order to help foster the prestige of Master program teaching process, special emphasis is laid on research activity carried out by the School or the Master Area with regard to the ongoing improvement of the knowledge and competencies of its teaching staff and to the production of original didactic materials that are made available to participants.

LOGISTICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
The Master location: The School must have a specific department devoted to the activities of the Master program. The Master department must be adequately sized and equipped with appropriate educational tools either on respect of the standards of the accreditation process or the number of students and characteristics of the course. There must also be a sufficient number of study/work areas with appropriate equipment for groups (generally, 1 classroom every 6-8 participants)
Library and reading rooms: The School must have a well-stocked library either on quantitative or quality terms, making available to students: books/manuals - CDs – Subscriptions to financial/economic newspapers and periodicals and specialized magazines – Subscriptions to on-line data banks - Availability of reading rooms and/or similarly equipped areas for individual or group studies even longer than the normal time of the didactic activities.
Computer and Support Facilities: In order to provide an efficient learning the School must guarantee adequate support facilities concerning ICT (i.e. PC linked in a network and with an internet access, elettronic mail, printers…). If some modules are delivered in distance learning, the related digital equipment must be suitable for this type of didactic activity.
Other student support services: the School must guarantee the provision of some essential and specific services for students like secretariat, an office for internship and placement services, to which is asked to assist the participants and put them in relation with the companies and the job market. The presence of other support services such as leisure activities and accommodation services, etc. would be desirable.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION:

The School should foster the development of an association of alumni of the Master program also making available the adequate organizational resources. The Association has a role of link between the School and the alumni and helps the School in organizing meetings and events on management issues.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
The MASTER participant, as the end-user of the educational product being offered, must have the chance to express his/her evaluation of the course and degree of personal satisfaction. For this reason the School must periodically survey these elements using specifically designed questionnaires so that the necessary improvements to the course can be made. Likewise, at the end of the course, ASFOR will be able to carry out its own sample survey of the opinions and evaluations of participants, using questionnaires of its own.

CAREER SERVICE AND PLACEMENT
Upon completion of the Master, the School administration must carry out a suitable placement program as ASFOR believes the percentage of employed graduates, 80% within 6 months from the end of the course, is an indicator of the effectiveness and aptness of the proposed training course with respect to the job market and economic system’s real demand.

ECONOMICS
Both when applying for accreditation and in the subsequent promotion of their Master programs, the Schools must explicitly disclose the principal sources of funds used to finance their programs. These sources, which can be derived from specific accounting documents (e.g. budget), must include funds and contributions of whatever kind paid to the School to cover the costs of their Master programs and of scholarships made available to participants, with the exception of irrevocably repayable student loans.
As a general guideline, the Master program participants should contribute, directly or indirectly, at least to one third of the enrolment fee or of the overall cost of the program. This ensure the opportunity that participants invest their own resources in the course (also with the aim of a mutual commitment). Whenever financing is granted exclusively or prevalently by public or private bodies and/or is not directly related to the market (scholarships, tuition fees), the ASFOR Committee, apart from being particularly rigorous in assessing the School against the individual criteria discussed above, will evaluate the financial sustainability of the course also in terms of continuity, in order to ascertain that the course has characteristic of stability and that it don’t depend only on the decisions of the financing subjects.

THE INSTITUTION
In addition to evaluating the Master program, ASFOR believes it is essential to conduct an appraisal of the School producing the program, on the basis of the following factors: - mission and strategy (including any alliances and agreements with other Schools) -organizational structure and governance - portfolio of programs – corporate connections – degree of internationalization as well as any further information item deemed useful in highlighting the School’s role within its reference framework and its contribution to the development and qualification of human resources finalized to growing up their profile in the companies. ASFOR will evaluate the School not only on the basis of the present situation but also in a perspective of upgrading in order to face the evolution of the market.