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

2. The German System of Accreditation Association of Universities and other Higher Education Institutions / Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs Office 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 appoint Agencies accredits accredit Programs Agencies accredit SYSTEM OBJECTIVES STANDARDS Programs PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

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

4. The Objectives of Accreditation  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... SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

5. The Basic Standards: Accrediting Agencies SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES  Independence of higher education institutions as well as of business, industry and professional associations  Participation of HEI and 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 quality control and suitable practices of documentation and information PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

6. The Criteria: Accrediting Programs SYSTEM STANDARDS 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) PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA

7. SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES PROCEDURE BOLOGNA ECA Information/Criteria: Distance Learning Programs  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

8. The multi-phased Process of Accreditation 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 PROCEDURE SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES BOLOGNA ECA

9. QA and Bologna Process BOLOGNA PROCEDURE SYSTEM STANDARDS 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.” ECA

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

11. Mutual Recognition - Central Questions  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 BOLOGNA PROCEDURE SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES ECA

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

13. ECA: Ultimate Aim and Instuments “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. BOLOGNA ECA PROCEDURE SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES

14. ECA: The Code of Good Practice  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” BOLOGNA ECA PROCEDURE SYSTEM STANDARDS OBJECTIVES

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