Did Bang Lie to Nazarbayev?

On October 23, Dr Bang met with the President Nazarbayev, and following the meeting below given press release was issued by major news agencies and TV broadcast channels (original Russian release) announcing that KIMEP had received "international accreditation" among 2 non-US universities out of 120 total applications. No accreditation agency name was specified. It has created a lot of questions among students and local community. No official explanation regarding this has been found at KIMEP's official website. However, some people close to KIMEP officials explained that "Bang was simply misinterpreted by journalists" at the briefing after his meeting with the President of Kazakhstan in Astana on October 23. We have done our own investigation on this.
Translation of official release was as the following:

KIMEP Gets U.S. Accreditation
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-kazakhembus/102706.html

The Kazakhstan Institute of Economy, Management and Prognosis (KIMEP), the first institution in Kazakhstan to provide Western style education starting in the early 1990s, received the accreditation from a U.S. accreditation agency.

KIMEP President Chan Young

Bang, who is American, announced the news at a briefing after his meeting with the President of Kazakhstan in Astana on October 23.Bang said "more than 120 universities w

orldwide submitted their applications along with KIMEP, only 40 were approved, and of these 40 only two are outside the United States, including KIMEP."

Receiving the accreditation is a sign "Kazakhstan has reached world standards, and academic achievements of our students will be recognized in leading universities in the world," Bang added.

KIMEP has been bringing Western professors and curricula to Almaty, at a fraction of the cost of Harvard or Oxford, since 1992. With more than 600 faculty and staff and more than 4,000 students, KIMEP offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in business, economics, finance, accounting, public administration, political science, international relations, journalism, and mass communication.

We have contacted both AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, its logo is pictured at KIMEP's official website) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges to get their explanations, and received the following reponses:

-----Original Message-----
From: Ginger O'Berry [mailto: ginger@AACSB.eduThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ]
Subject: RE: accreditation status of KIMEP

Dear X:

Kazakhstan Institute of Management is a member of AACSB International. A complete list of member institutions may be found at http://www.aacsb.edu/members/educational.asp.

Membership is open to educational institutions, business organizations, foundations, professional associations, and non-profit organizations with an interest in management education. (Please see http://www.aacsb.edu/members/why.asp) for an overview of AACSB International membership.

Membership, however, does not confer AACSB accreditation and should not be interpreted as achieving accreditation. Accreditation is granted only to those institutions which have undergone a lengthy peer review process and been found to satisfy the Eligibility Procedures and Standards for Accreditation (http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards.asp). A complete listing of accredited members is available at
http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accreditedmembers.asp.

Kind regards,
Ginger O'Berry
Accreditation Services Associate
AACSB International
777 Harbour Island Blvd.
Suite 750
Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 769-6535
(813) 769-6559 fax
ginger@aacsb.eduThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
www.aacsb.edu

AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business advances quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership.

---Original Message Follows----
From: "Brittingham, Barbara" < BBrittingham@NEASC.ORGThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it >
Subject: RE: KIMEP
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:04:49 -0400

Dear X,
KIMEP is not accredited by us, nor are they a candidate at this time.

Sincerely,
Barbara Brittingham
Director, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
209 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730-1433
Phone: 781 271 0022, ext 5447 Direct: 781 541 5447
Fax: 781 271 0950 http://www.neasc.org

Responses clearly say that KIMEP is not accredited nor a candidate for accreditation, and releases about Bang's meeting with the President could be either a mistake or an intentional and planned PR campaign to cool down the public discussion around KIMEP's mismanagement. KIMEP has announced about accreditation plans 5 years ago, but still has not applied for.

However, official website says that KIMEP has applied for accreditation (http://www.kimep.kz/accreditation.htm says "KIMEP has applied for Accreditation with permanent Accreditation Commission in the United States of America. Strategic Planning and Activities are in progress to meet the standards and criteria of that commission" ) and no explanation has been made yet by KIMEP and media regarding "misinterpretation of Bang"....