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Commitment to quality standards in international accreditation procedures

The term “accreditation” literally means “giving faith”. That doesn’t work without trust. It is therefore of central importance that all activities of accreditation agencies are given complete trust so that the results of the quality assurance of studies and teaching can be fully relied on. This is a relevant factor for taking up a study programme and academic success, especially for prospective students and students.
Even if such trust has already been officially expressed to all agencies that are listed in the European Register (EQAR) and are full members of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), it is particularly important for external stakeholders abroad that the activities and results of these agencies are reliable at all times.
That is why the two accreditation agencies AQAS and ACQUIN have made a voluntary commitment to certain minimum standards for international accreditation procedures (Cross-Border Quality Assurance). This is intended to ensure that not only European standards (ESG) are adhered to at all times, but also that procedures are used that are in line with the German understanding of quality and the quality requirements of the European Higher Education Area.

Download Commitment to quality standards in international accreditation procedures

2024-09-23T10:21:55+02:0023. September 2024|News|

20 years of AQAS!

This year’s general meeting of AQAS e.V. was combined with a summer party to celebrate the agency’s 20th anniversary.

We were very happy to welcome guests from all over the world in Cologne.

In glorious summer weather, the chairman of the AQAS board Prof. Dr. Eberhard Menzel handed over certificates for the accreditation of 33 study programmes to the representatives of the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia.

Afterwards, the former Minister for Science, Further Education and Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate and former AQAS board member Prof. Dr. Konrad Wolf as well as our longstanding and well-deserving commission member Prof. Dr. Martina Klocke reviewed the last 20 years. The chairman of the German Accreditation Council (GAC), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Joachim Bargstädt, dared to take a look into the future with us.

Of course there was also a birthday cake, which was cut by the board and management together.

It was an all-round successful day.

2022-06-29T12:28:42+02:0029. June 2022|News|

New Cooperation between UAE MoE, CAA and AQAS

On 22nd of September 2021, our colleagues Ronny Heintze and Patrick Heinzer visited the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) office to discuss future collaboration, mutual understanding and sharing quality assurance best practices. The meeting was attended by H.E. Hussain Al Hammadi, the Minister of MoE, Prof. Mohammed Baniyas, CAA director, and CAA Commissioners.

We are looking forward to the upcoming cooperation and the related projects, which will only be the beginning of a long lasting partnership.

2021-10-15T13:17:20+02:0015. October 2021|News|

Online tour of Moi University Kenya

Based on its experience in in the evaluation of African Higher Education Centres of Excellence, AQAS recently carried out a digital site visit at Moi University, Kenya as part of the assessment of two ACE-programmes at the „Africa Centre of Excellence in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy“. The international expert team composed of members from Botswana, Kenya, Austria and Germany engaged in open and fruitful discussions with university and student representatives. AQAS would like to thank all participants and looks forward to further evaluations of the research institutions which are funded by the World Bank.

virtuelle Begehung

2021-04-21T08:19:50+02:0021. April 2021|News|

Digital Site Visits At Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

AQAS recently conducted two digital site visits at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) as part of an international accreditation procedure. UPI applied for accreditation of its programmes in vocational teacher education and language teacher education based on the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance. The panel of experts, composed of international reviewers from the academic field as well as student and labour market representatives, experienced a congenial atmosphere and engaged in professional and in-depth discussions with the university.

This is not the first collaboration with UPI which has become a member institution of AQAS in 2020. UPI has already received international accreditation by AQAS of programmes in Management and Geography Teacher Education. AQAS is delighted to welcome UPI as a further international member. As Professor Menzel, Head of the Management Board, emphasized: “AQAS is excited to welcome a member institution from Southeast Asia with which the agency has cooperated well in the past on the enhancement of quality in education. We look forward to our further collaboration”.

AQAS hopes to celebrate the membership in an appropriate ceremony with UPI in the future.

virtuelle Begehung

2021-03-25T16:15:01+01:0025. March 2021|News|

Starke Positionierung von AQAS im europäischen Kontext

Mit dem Ziel, nationale wie internationale Akkreditierungsberichte transparent und zentral öffentlich zugänglich zu machen, ist die vom European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) geführter Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) in den letzten Monaten stetig angewachsen und deckt mittlerweile Gutachten von 32 europäischen Agenturen und über 2.000 Hochschulen und Institutionen ab.

Mit aktuell 7.263 der über 35.000 hochgeladenen Gutachten positioniert sich AQAS deutlich als eine der erfahrensten europäischen Agenturen.
Sämtliche Datensätze können hier abgerufen werden.

2019-10-01T14:08:17+02:001. October 2019|News|

Strong positioning of AQAS in the European context

With the aim of making national and international accreditation reports publicly available in a transparent and centralized way, the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR), which is managed by the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), has grown steadily in recent months and now covers reports from 32 European agencies and more than 2,000 universities and institutions.

With currently 7,263 of the more than 35,000 uploaded reports, AQAS clearly positions itself as one of the most experienced agencies in Europe.
All datasets can be found here.

2019-10-01T14:07:41+02:001. October 2019|News|