System accreditation
System accreditation is a term from the context of the accreditation of universities ; Process accreditation is also used as synonymous or unclearly defined.
In Germany, system accreditation is a procedure for the accreditation of study programs at universities, in which an accreditation agency does not assess the study programs to be accredited ( program accreditation ), but instead the quality assurance system of a university. This is based on the expectation that an efficient quality assurance system guarantees that all courses of study established within the framework of this system meet the requirements of program accreditation. In this respect, it is an indirect system of accreditation.
Origin and development of system accreditation
The main impetus for the development of the idea of system accreditation was the widespread dissatisfaction with procedures for (program) accreditation of study programs, e.g. B. regarding
- the direct and indirect costs (costs for agencies, binding of people and resources in the universities through often lengthy and costly procedures),
- the disproportion between the high number of study programs to be accredited and the available "accreditation capacity" of the six approved agencies ("accreditation backlog"),
- the benefit of continued program accreditations in universities or departments that have already received one or more degree program accreditations and
- the problem of an appropriate recording and consideration of institutional aspects by changing expert groups whose review mandate is focused on individual programs.
Criticism of the program accreditation procedure intensified as the conversion process progressed. A first process accreditation procedure, designed as a pilot test, was carried out in connection with the "Quality Assurance Project" of the University Rectors' Conference (HRK). The universities of Bayreuth and Bremen, the universities of applied sciences Erfurt and Münster and the accreditation agency ACQUIN were involved . The financing of this project by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF underscores the associated intention of further institutional development of the accreditation system.
At a final conference in October 2006, the results from the very differently designed and developed pilot universities were presented. The institutional conclusions presented there with regard to the possibility of replacing the program accreditation were very cautious.
Another model project for system accreditation took place at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in 2006–2008. The project was accompanied by an advisory board made up of external experts from the field of accreditation and quality assurance at universities, the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Culture and the ACQUIN accreditation agency. On March 28, 2011, JGU became the first university nationwide to receive an official accreditation seal for its functioning quality assurance system.
Consultations and resolutions by the Accreditation Council, HRK and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) in the first half of 2007 paved the way for system accreditation. Commissioned by the KMK, the Accreditation Council presented an initial version of the criteria for system accreditation and procedural regulations on October 8, 2007. These gave impetus to further discussions, which in particular led to a renewed consultation and resolution of the KMK in December 2007, which in turn gave rise to a modification of the resolutions of the Accreditation Council. The second version of the requirements of the Accreditation Council for system accreditation was decided on February 29, 2008.
System accreditation criteria and procedures
The accreditation council is the regulatory authority in matters of accreditation of courses at universities. This has passed resolutions on criteria and procedures for system accreditation, which are accessible via its website.
The system accreditation procedure transfers quality management procedures known in the industry to the universities. Characteristic for this approach is the focus on processes of the production of certain products or services (in this case probably: scientific qualification), which in particular
- to be comprehensively and completely documented,
- to check their performance and
- may need to be improved.
The subject of system accreditation are these quality assurance structures, which are to be assessed with regard to their performance. With regard to the exact criteria of performance, there has not been sufficient clarity so far; the requirements for degree programs to be accredited, in particular by laws and KMK resolutions, must certainly be met as explicitly and unconditionally, however, on the one hand, the accreditation council and agencies, which as an Art "Quasi-authorities" in a gray area of unclear legitimacy have an independent norm-setting effect, on the other hand the highly idiosyncratic results, which are dependent on the personal composition of the expert group and the contingent assessment process, contribute to the assessment. In addition to the assessment of the quality assurance system, certain structural features of the study programs (feature sample) as well as exemplary selected study programs (program sample) must also be included in the system accreditation. In addition, before a university is admitted to system accreditation, a minimum number of programs must be accredited in program accreditation procedures.
These resolutions on system accreditation gave rise to discussions, in particular of the specific requirements for quality assurance systems and the design of system accreditation procedures. It is also controversial whether, in view of the comprehensive requirements, in particular the high proportion of program accreditations that are still required, the originally pursued goal of relieving the universities of complex procedures can be achieved at all.
System-accredited universities
- University of Mainz (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since March 2011
- FH Münster (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since November 2011
- Dual University BW (accredited by ZEVA); system accredited since December 2011
- FOM University of Economics and Management Essen (accredited by FIBAA ); system accredited since January 2012
- Nordakademie - Elmshorn Business School (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since April 2012
- TU Ilmenau (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2012
- WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since April 2012
- University of Potsdam (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2012
- Saarland University (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2012
- University of Stuttgart (accredited by OAQ); system accredited since September 2012
- Hochschule Furtwangen University (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since May 2013
- Stuttgart Media University (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since June 2013
- Department of Economics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since July 2013
- Zeppelin University (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2013
- Nürtingen-Geislingen University (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since November 2013
- ESB Business School at Reutlingen University (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since November 2013
- FH Kiel (accredited by AQ Austria); system accredited since November 2013
- HTW Berlin (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since May 2014
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT (accredited by OAQ); system accredited since May 2014
- Technical University of Munich (accredited by OAQ); system accredited since May 2014
- Leuphana University of Lüneburg (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2014
- University of Applied Sciences Hof (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2014
- University of Heidelberg (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2014
- University of Tübingen (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2014
- University of Konstanz (accredited by OAQ); system accredited since October 2014
- accadis Hochschule Bad Homburg (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since December 2014
- Aalen University (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since March 2015
- Hochschule Fresenius (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since March 2015
- Technical University Wildau (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since March 2015
- Technical University of Dresden (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since March 2015
- bbw university (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since April 2015
- Karlshochschule International University (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since April 2015
- Catholic University of Freiburg (accredited by AHPGS); system accredited since April 2015
- University of Regensburg (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2015
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since May 2015
- Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since July 2015
- German Sport University Cologne (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since September 2015
- FH Bielefeld (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since September 2015
- University of Health & Sport, Technology & Art Berlin (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since September 2015
- University of Applied Management Ismaning (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since September 2015
- University of Greifswald (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since September 2015
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (accredited by AHPGS); system accredited since October 2015
- Technical University of Kaiserslautern (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since October 2015
- Offenburg University (accredited by ASIIN); system accredited since December 2015
- Institute for Academic Further Education at the Technical University of Ingolstadt (accredited by FIBAA); system accredited since December 2015
- University of Kiel (accredited by evalag); system accredited since March 2016
- University of Bayreuth (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2016
- Free University of Berlin (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since May 2016
- University of Frankfurt am Main (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2016
- University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since June 2016
- Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences - Technology and Economics (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since August 2016
- University of Bremen (accredited by AAQ); system accredited since September 2016
- University of Duisburg-Essen (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2016
- HTW Dresden (accredited by ZEvA); system accredited since December 2016
- University of Applied Sciences Ravensburg-Weingarten (accredited by ZEvA); system accredited since March 2017
- OTH Amberg-Weiden (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2017
- European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2017
- University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since April 2017
- Technical University of Darmstadt (accredited by AAQ); system accredited since April 2017
- Subsystem accreditation procedure for teacher training at the universities of the City of Hamburg under the leadership of the University of Hamburg (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since July 2017
- University of Hanover (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since September 2017
- University of Siegen (accredited by the experimentation clause); system accredited since September 2017
- East Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since September 2017
- University of Trier - Trier University of Applied Sciences (accredited by evalag); system accredited since October 2017
- University of Music and Theater Hamburg (accredited by ZEvA); system accredited since November 2017
- Weingarten University of Education (accredited by AHPGS); system accredited since February 2018
- University of Rostock (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since March 2018
- Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since March 2018
- Albstadt-Sigmaringen University (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since March 2018
- University of Worms (accredited by evalag); system accredited since March 2018
- Ludwigsburg University of Education (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since March 2018
- University of Applied Sciences Hamburg (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since May 2018
- Schmalkalden University (accredited by ACQUIN); system accredited since May 2018
- University of Applied Sciences Bremen (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since May 2019
- SRH Fernhochschule (accredited by ZEvA); system accredited since July 2019
- University of Trier (accredited by AQAS); system accredited since August 2019
literature
- Beise, Anna Sophie / Jungermann, Imke / Wannemacher, Klaus (eds.) (2014): Quality assurance of study programs beyond program accreditation. New challenges for university management and organizational development . HIS University Development, Hanover (Forum Hochschule 1/2014)
- Fähndrich, Sabine / Schmidt, Uwe (Ed.) (2009): The model project system accreditation at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz . Mainz: Center for Quality Assurance and Development. (= Mainz Contributions to University Development Volume 15)
- Grendel, Tanja / Rosenbusch, Christoph (2010): System accreditation: an innovative approach to assure and develop the quality of study programs in Germany . In: Higher Education Management and Policy , Volume 22, Number 1, pp. 99-110
- Schmidt, Uwe / Horstmeyer, Jette (2008): System accreditation: requirements, experiences, opportunities using the example of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , in: Contributions to University Research, Issue 1, Volume 30, 2008, pp. 40–59, (published from the Bavarian State Institute for University Planning and Research, available on the Internet at http://www.ihf.bayern.de )
- Winter, Martin (2007): Program, process and problem accreditation. The accreditation of study programs and their alternatives , in: die hochschule , vol. 16, 2/2007, pp. 88–124
Web links
- HRK , Project Q: Central contact point and resource for the German discussion about quality assurance in higher education. In addition to current topics and plans, information on previous projects, conferences, workshops, etc. can be found here, especially on the above. Pilot project "process quality for teaching and studies"
- The current resolutions of the Accreditation Council , including the requirements for system accreditation, can be found on its website.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Database of the Accreditation Council Foundation, https://www.akkreditierungsrat.de/akkrhochschulen/52f0578f-3ce3-c3aa-1e60-f4019d4c9cbe/
- ↑ ZEvA: Accredited Universities. Retrieved January 9, 2020 .