The Indiana University East School of Business & Economics and Ivy Tech Community College’s School of Business co-hosted the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Great Lakes Region 4 Conference.

The conference welcomed guests with a dinner at J&J Winery on Thursday, October 7.  Jack Hess, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Columbus, Ind., was the keynote speaker. He discussed entrepreneurship and empowered faculty to develop the entrepreneurial spirit in their students.

Seventy-five business faculty representing about 25 colleges and universities in the Great Lakes Region attended the conference. On October 8, there were 16 presentations on the conference theme “Managing Business Education in the New Fiscal Reality.”

IU East School of Business and Economics faculty were among the presenters including Tim Scales, lecturer of business and director of the Entrepreneurship Center,  Greg Weber, associate professor of management systems, and John Stager, assistant professor of informatics.

Scales was also recognized as the 2010 ACBSP Teaching Excellence Award for Region 4 winner. Scales received the award during the ACBSP annual conference held June 25 in Los Angeles.

A Region 4 meeting and concurrent sessions took place during the conference. IU East faculty Anita Morgan, assistant professor of accounting, is president of Region 4 and Marsha Jance, assistant professor of business administration, is the secretary-treasurer.

ACBSP is an international organization. Region 4 represents colleges and universities in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Canadian Province of Ontario. According to ACBSP, its mission is to establish, promote and recognize educational standards that contribute to the continuous improvement of business education and, through the process of accreditation, to recognize business schools and programs that adhere to these standards.