University of Applied Sciences Council

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The Fachhochschulrat (FH Council) was an authority in Austria responsible for the accreditation and evaluation of Fachhochschule courses. It was created with the introduction of universities of applied sciences in Austria in 1993. As part of the reorganization of external quality assurance, the University of Applied Sciences Council was dissolved at the end of August 2012. Since then, the new Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria has taken on its tasks, which is responsible for quality assurance in all three higher education sectors (private universities, state universities and technical colleges).

Statutory duties

According to the University of Applied Sciences Studies Act (FHStG), the University Council was responsible for the following tasks:

  1. the decision on the accreditation of courses of study as a university of applied sciences courses with the exception of the location, the decision on the revocation of the accreditation as well as the decision on the award and revocation of the designation "university of applied sciences";
  2. the awarding of the academic degrees intended for university of applied sciences courses and the nostrification of foreign degrees;
  3. securing a standard of training corresponding to § 3 (FHStG) through observation and evaluation of the courses and universities of applied sciences;
  4. promoting the quality of teaching and learning as well as innovations in technical college courses through research, further training and other measures;
  5. Continuous monitoring of the entire UAS sector with regard to its coherence with the rest of the education system and its acceptance by the employment system and the demand for education;
  6. advising the responsible federal minister on questions relating to the technical college system and the use of federal funds, as well as making recommendations with regard to the locations at which the courses are held;
  7. the annual submission of a report on the activities of the technical college council in the past calendar year, on the status of developments in the technical college area as well as its short and long-term needs; The report must be submitted to the responsible federal minister by March 1 of each year for submission to the National Council.

Members of the University Council

The University of Applied Sciences Council consisted of 16 members including the Presidium, half of which had to have proven themselves through a habilitation. The other half had to have proof of several years of activity in the professional fields relevant for FH degree programs. The members were appointed for 3 years by the Federal Minister for Science and Research, whereby 4 members were to be appointed on the basis of proposals made by the Advisory Council for Economic and Social Issues . One-time reappointments were permitted. The members were not bound by instructions. Most recently, Leopold März was President and Norbert Vana was Vice President.

Awarded the title of technical college

Since, in contrast to the normal situation in Germany, the universities of applied sciences in Austria are organized under private law, state (external) quality assurance (accreditation and evaluation) is of particular importance. Institutions that implement (maintain) courses at a university of applied sciences are not automatically referred to as universities of applied sciences, rather this designation was given to them by the university council. Special requirements are necessary for this:

  • At least two university of applied sciences courses must be established.
  • There is a plan that makes the achievement of 1000 places within 5 years credible.
  • A college of universities of applied sciences has been set up.

Of the total of 18 institutions that maintain technical college courses, 12 are currently designated as technical colleges in accordance with the Fachhochschul-Studiengesetz (FHStG).