Akkreditierungsrat

1. SYSTEM Akkreditierungsrat OBJECTIVES STANDARDS The German System of Accreditation PROCEDURE BOLOGNA Franz Börsch Accreditation Council Office www.akkreditierungsrat.de ECA

2. The German System of Accreditation SYSTEM OBJECTIVES Agencies Agencies accredits Accreditation Council 1. Four representatives from higher education institutions 2. Four Länder representatives 3. Five representatives from among professional practitioners 4. Two students 5. Two international representatives accredit accredit STANDARDS Programs Programs PROCEDURE Office BOLOGNA appoint appoint Association of Universities and other Higher Education Institutions / Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs ECA

3. Accreditation: Standards and Criteria SYSTEM OBJECTIVES 1. quality requirements for accrediting study programs criteria 2. quality requirements for accrediting agencies standards STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

4. The Objectives of Accreditation SYSTEM OBJECTIVES • Assuring Quality • minimum requirements in terms of subject and content and • in terms of its professional relevance ... • Creating Transparency • standards, definition of the key competencies (output), publication of the quality policies / database on AR-website ... • Offering Diversity • peer review, no detailed catalogues of criteria, creative scope for the HEI ... • Improving Mobility • mutual recognition of the national QA systems / the academic qualifications ... STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

5. The Basic Standards: Accrediting Agencies SYSTEM OBJECTIVES • Independence of higher education institutions as well as of business, industry and professional associations • Participation of HEIand representatives of professional practice in decision making • Operation on the basis of the principles of transparency, efficiency and economy, not profit-oriented • Performance of accreditation for all types of higher education institutions and for several disciplines • National and international competence • Documentation of evaluation criteria and standards as well as staff qualifications • Internal measures of qualitycontrol and suitable practices of documentation and information STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

6. The Criteria: Accrediting Programs SYSTEM OBJECTIVES Quality and international compatibility Requirements in respect of the quality and international compatibility of the curriculum  Employability The professional qualification of graduates on the basis of a consistent and coherent program  Staff resources Details of the staff resources for the program within the HEI, composition of staff Physical facilities Availability of premises, equipment and other physical facilities (lecture halls, seminar rooms, laboratories, library) STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

7. Information/Criteria: Distance Learning Programs SYSTEM OBJECTIVES  Coherence of media application and learning outcomes  Usability and design of the software  Percentage of face-to-face-teaching modules (if intended)  media competencies  Learning-Management-Systems  Counselling practices  Tutorial practices  Constant access to technology  Appropriate teaching facilities  Opportunities for individual practice STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

8. The multi-phased Process of Accreditation SYSTEM • 1. step: presentation • composition of the application documents, sending in the • application documents to an accreditation agency • 2. step: site visit • hearing, interview of the applicants by the expert group, • discussion • evaluation report including the vote of the peers • 3. step: decision of the Accreditation Commission • with reference to the evaluation report of the peer group the • commission decides whether • a) the program is accredited • b) the program is accredited with conditions • c) the accreditation is denied • 4. step: publication of the decission on AR-website OBJECTIVES STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

9. QA and Bologna Process SYSTEM OBJECTIVES Communiqué of the Conference of Ministers responsible for Higher Education in Berlin on 19 September 2003: “The quality of higher education has proven to be at the heart of the setting up of a European Higher Education Area. Ministers commit themselves to supporting further development of quality assurance at institutional, national and European level. They stress the need to develop mutually shared criteria and methodologies on quality assurance.” STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

10. International Networks SYSTEM OBJECTIVES Development of subject-oriented standards (EQUAL, EQUIS, Tuning Project) Development of generic quality standards (JQI, Dublin De- scriptors, ECTS) Agencies STANDARDS INQA- HEE ENQA: Common guidelines AR PROCEDURE network network Mutual recognition: procedures D-A-CH, ECA, ... Mutual recognition: qualifications ZAB / ENIC/NARIC BOLOGNA Agencies ECA

11. Mutual Recognition - Central Questions SYSTEM OBJECTIVES  What are the generic quality criteria for awarding Bachelor's or Master's degrees?  Qualification framework Which input and process oriented quality criteria (like the design of curricula, objectives of programmes, staff resources, etc) have to be taken into consideration?  Code of good practice What are the standards for the accreditation procedures and how the internal quality assurance measures of accreditation organizations have to be defined?  Code of good practice STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

12. International Networks SYSTEM OBJECTIVES Development of subject-oriented standards (EQUAL, EQUIS, Tuning Project) Development of generic quality standards (JQI, Dublin De- scriptors, ECTS) Agencies STANDARDS INQA- HEE ENQA: Common guidelines AR PROCEDURE network network Mutual recognition: procedures D-A-CH, ECA, ... Mutual recognition: qualifications ZAB / ENIC/NARIC BOLOGNA Agencies ECA

13. ECA: Ultimate Aim and Instuments SYSTEM “The ultimate aim of the European Consortium for Accreditation in HE is to achieve mutual recognition of accreditation decisions among the participating countries before the end of 2007.” The key elements or instruments of the agreement of co-operation are: 1. A code of good practice, that defines the necessary requirements for accreditation organisations 2. A qualification framework, that provides quality criteria for awarding Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees 3. A Publication format (accreditation report supplement), that serves to enhance the transparency of the quality of programmes or institutions 4. Selection criteria for external experts, that takes into account the key importance of the peer-review in accreditation procedures. OBJECTIVES STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

14. ECA: The Code of Good Practice SYSTEM OBJECTIVES  The Code defines necessary requirements for accreditation organizations  The Code serves to support the internal quality assurance policies of an accreditation organization  The Code shall not lead to predominance of one single point of view, but should promote “good practices”  The Code should be continuously updated to conform to the current international “state of the art of good practices” STANDARDS PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

15. SYSTEM OBJECTIVES STANDARDS www.akkreditierungsrat.de PROCEDURE BOLOGNA Akkreditierungsrat ECA