AACSB Congratulates the University of Florida ‘Post-Doctoral Bridge Program’ Graduates

Tampa, Florida, USA (August 3, 2016)—In response to the critical faculty shortages across business education, the Hough Graduate School of Business at the University of Florida (UF) recently graduated an accomplished class of participants from its AACSB International (AACSB) endorsed Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Program.

Offered through three AACSB-accredited institutions, this innovative Bridge Program provides intensive training to doctoral faculty from non-business disciplines, and prepares them to teach courses in business disciplines where significant shortages exist. AACSB's endorsement ensures that each program adheres to a rigorous set of standards, and serves as a bridge to facilitate the transition of these scholars into faculty positions within business education.

The University of Florida Post-Doctoral Bridge Program (UF-PDB) offers study modules in accounting and finance, marketing and management, and international business and entrepreneurship. Fourteen participants graduated from the program, and each holds a doctoral-level degree from a variety of related fields including: construction management, curriculum and instruction, economics. Education, engineering, human resources, organizational communication and leadership, and workforce education and development.

The July 24, 2016 graduates, ordered by UF-PDB discipline, include:

• Accounting & Finance: Bruno Arthur, Seema Bandyopadhyay, Kent Malone, Mark McKnight, and Misty Price.
• Marketing & Management: Sheena Choi, Amanda Evert, Dini Homsey, Robert Mortlock, and Farnaz Tabaee.
• International Business & Entrepreneurship: Justin Evans, Dekuwmini Mornah, and Angela Titi Amayah Ntala.

The graduates have earned a certificate of completion indicating that they are qualified to teach in their new UF-PDB discipline for five years from the date of graduation. In order to maintain academic qualification, each graduate must perform appropriate teaching and research activities related to this discipline.

"The UF Post-Doctoral Bridge Program provides a unique path for degreed doctoral graduates to pursue a new passion in teaching within the business education sector,” said Thomas R. Robinson, president and chief executive officer of AACSB International. “For students, this dual knowledge base means an expanded breadth of insight for learning, and for faculty this means an opportunity to accelerate innovation in the classroom—amplifying the impact of their teaching. Congratulations to all.”

For more information on the program, visit www.aacsb.edu/bridgeprograms.