The Quality Assurance Systemin German Higher Education
Study Seminar: NIAD-UE / German Accreditation Council
7. October 2015 in Tokyo
Dr. Olaf Bartz

I. General View: The Accreditation SystemContentI.

General View: The Accreditation System

II.

The Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany

III.

Regulations for the Accreditation Council

IV.

Quality Approach

V.

System Accreditation

VI.

Student Mobility

VII.

Challenges

I. General View: The Accreditation System

The Accreditation System in Germany I

1. Programme Accreditation
Subject matter: single study programmeAccreditation period: 7 years (first accreditation 5 years)

2. System Accreditation
Subject matter: internal quality assurance system of HEI;
effects of decision: all study programmes of HEI are accredited
Accreditation period: 8 years (first accreditation 6 years)

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Number 4

I. General View: The Accreditation System

The Accreditation System in Germany II

Programmes
QA-System of HEI

Programmes

QA-System of HEI

Programmes
accredit

Agency 1

Programmes

Programmes

accredit

Agency 2

Agency naccredits

accredits

Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany
Accreditation Council

appoint

HeadOffice

Foundation Councilappoint

Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder andGerman Rector‘s Conference

I. General View: The Accreditation System

Number 5

Discipline-oriented Accreditation Agencies in Germany

AHPGS

Accreditation Agency for Study Programmes in Special Education, Care,
Health Sciences and Social Work

AKAST

Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Canonical courses ofStudies in Germany (accreditied only for programme accreditation)

ASIIN

Accreditation Agency specialised in accrediting Degree Programs fromthe fields of Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science, the NaturalSciences and Mathematics.

FIBAA

Foundation for Business Administration Accreditation

I. General View: The Accreditation System

Number 6

Multidisciplinary Accreditation Agencies in Germany

AAQ

Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance

ACQUINAccreditation-, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute

AQAS

Agency for Quality Assurance in the course of the Accreditation of Study
Programmes

AQ Austria

Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria

evalag

Evaluation Agency Baden-Württemberg

ZEvA

Central Evaluations- and Accreditation Agency HannoverII. The Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany

Number 7The FoundationBoard
Executes the Accreditation Council's resolutions

Accreditation Council (GAC)

Foundation Council

Is essentially responsible for performing theFoundation tasks

Monitors the lawfulness and efficiencyof the foundation activities carried out
by the Accreditation Council and theBoard

makes decisions on all matters of the Foundation

Head Office
Supports the execution of Foundation businessII. The Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany

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Composition of the Accreditation Council

Four representatives
from HEI

Four representatives
from the Länder
Two students

Two foreign
representatives
with accreditation
experience






One representative from theAgencies in a consultative capacity

Five representatives
from amongprofessional
practioners

III. Regulations for the Accreditation Council

Number 9Tasks according to the Foundation Law (1)§ 2 Central Aims of the Foundation(1) The Foundation serves to fulfil the following tasks:
1. Accreditation and Reaccreditation of accreditation agencies
2. Compliance of the common and specific structural guidelines of the Länder into
a set of binding guidelines for the agencies
3. Regulation of “minimum requirements” for accreditations
4. Monitoring of accreditations awarded by the agencies

III. Regulations for the Accreditation Council

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Tasks according to the Foundation Law (2)§ 3 Collaboration between the Foundation and the Agencies(2) The subject matter of the agreements between the Foundation and the respective Agency
includes, in particular
1. Compliance with the common structural guidelines of the Länder
2. Compliance with the minimum requirements for accreditation procedures, including
the prerequisites and limits of bundled accreditations
3. Quality requirements with regard to the internal organisation of the agency
4. The commitment of the agency to the principle of good faith in dealing with the sealof the Foundation
5. Reporting obligations of the agency with regard to the Accreditation Council

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IV. Quality Approach

The Quality Approach of Accreditation

The Quality Circle
The Accreditation Council‘sconcept of accreditation is basedon the fitness of und fitness forpurpose approach: The
underlying quality assessment
takes into account the intended
learning outcomes of aprogramme identified and madetransparent by the higher
education institution as well as
the question, if the proposed
study concept is likely to achieve
the valid learning outcomes.

5. Enhancement:
timely1. Objectives:
valid

4. Monitoring:honest3. Implementation: true

2. Concept:
fitting

V. System Accreditation

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Subject Matter of the Review“Subject matter of the system accreditation is the internal quality assurance system of aHigher Education Institution in the field of teaching and learning. The structures andprocesses relevant for teaching and learning are assessed with regard to their appropriate
ness for achieving the qualification objectives and for ensuring high quality of the study
programmes, with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance inHigher Education (ESG), the guidelines of the Standing Conference of the Ministers ofEducation and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and the criteria of the Accreditation Council beingapplied.”V. System Accreditation

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Story behind the introduction of System Accreditation

Objectives(1) Strengthen responsibility and management ability of the universities(2) Promote continuous quality development(3) Contribute to the formation of an individual university's profile(4) Promote development of a quality culture

Criticism of the program accreditation(1) Too little relevant management-related knowledge about the quality of teaching andlearning(2) Tendency to maintaining the status quo and thus too little quality enhancement(3) Too many study programmes having to be accredited

V. System Accreditation

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Status of System Accreditation

Outline Data (October 2015):
36 HEIs with finished system accreditation
26 HEIs in progress, soSystem accreditation covers >15% of German HEIs (of all kind)

Observations:(1)

Procedure works as such

(2)

System accreditation needs initial investment of time, money, and thought. So a firstsystem accreditation may be more onerous than a routine programme reaccreditation(3)

Figures will raise, but not as a landslide(4)

Too early to compare the quality of study programmes at system accredited HEIs withother programmes

V. System Accreditation

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Impact of System Accreditation – the view of HEI

Comment of a former university’s president in the System Accreditation Forum(January 2015):“The system accreditation acts as the pressure required from outside. No organization starts
without external pressure to deal with themselves. The System Accreditation has alreadyhelped us to think about what we can do better.”•Internalisation of quality control → strengthening of university autonomy and themanagement ability of universities•

Incentive for the development of an internal quality assurance system and of a quality
culture in universities•

System accreditation initiates internal discussion processes on quality assurance anddevelopment•

System accreditation increases the acceptance of quality assurance procedures within
HEIVI. Student Mobility

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Student Mobility

1. Criteria of the German Accreditation Council:
Recognition of credits achieved at other higher education institutions in accordance with theLisbon Recognition Convention (criterion 2.3).
Possibly planned mobility windows are integrated in the curriculum (criterion 2.3).

2. European standards and Guidelines (ESG)
Institutions should consistently apply predefined and published regulations covering allphases of the student “life cycle”, e.g. student admission, progression, recognition andcertification (standard 1.4).

Fair recognition of higher education qualifications, periods of study and prior learning areessential components for promoting mobility.

VII. Challenges

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Challenges of Quality Assurance and Accreditation(1)

New approach: Shift from compliance to quality enhancement (compliance with given
rules still important but rather taken for granted)(2)

Internationalisation: Accreditation of Joint Programmes and Transnational Programmes:
Increase efficiency(3)

Re-Accreditation as a rule in the procedures of System Accreditation(4)

Implementation of the so called “trial clause” of the GAC and evaluation of the results(5)Awarding the quality seal of the GAC by the HEI: balance between control and trust in
the system accredited HEI(6)

The meaning of subject-specific and professional-related criteria in the accreditation
procedure(7)Consistency of the agencies’ accreditation decisions in the System Accreditation(8)

Relation between GAC, agencies and system accredited HEI

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Thank you for your attention!

Dr. Olaf Bartz
Managing Director / Board Member
German Accreditation Council (GAC)

More information available at:www.akkreditierungsrat.de