Abstract:

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are key actors in today's knowledge society. Since the early 18th century, these institutions have been both education and research oriented organisations. More recently they have become more entrepreneurial and engaged to external stakeholders such as business and society, thereby adding a third mission to their organisation. There are today many reasons why institutions actively engage with their environment. Universities aim to provide students with the skills demanded by organisations in the private, public, not-for-profit and governmental sector, to generate the best possible return on their research investments, to address today's societal challenges through innovation and to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders for mutual benefit, just to name a few.

Given this changing higher education environment, the question arises how the development of more engaged and entrepreneurial universities can be facilitated. Given the benefits of accreditation to provide recognition and to support organisational development and cultural change, most universities today accredit their study programmes and many accredit their quality management and international focus. The university's entrepreneurial orientation and engagement with their surrounding region and society, however, has been largely neglected in accreditations.

Therefore, in 2016 the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities (ACEEU), the first council focusing on entrepreneurship and engagement accreditation on an institutional level, has been founded. ACEEU aims to set a global standard for entrepreneurial and engaged institutions. Central to ACEEU's accreditation are the 15 standards that have been developed and against which applicant institutions are evaluated. The presentation will focus on discussing the accreditation approach (e.g. process and standards) as well as first insights into the 12 institutions that are currently piloting the accreditation, amongst which prestigious institutions such as The University of Adelaide (Australia), the University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Ryerson University (Canada), Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), the University of Warsaw (Poland) and Qatar University (Qatar).

The presentation is primarily aimed at higher education staff at various levels, including
(1) university leaders and managers,
(2) directors of entrepreneurship and innovation centers, technology transfer offices, corporate relationship offices,
(3) entrepreneurship and innovation professors and researchers.

Secondary audiences include government representatives who can learn about an approach that can help to transform higher education. The audience will be able learn more an innovative approach to drive entrepreneurship, engagement and thus also innovation in higher education (especially on how to measure entrepreneurship and engagement practice), may this for undertaking the accreditation in their home institution, or for research purposes.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial universities, engaged universities.