Austrian Accreditation Council ENQA Workshop, Rome, November 2003

University Accreditation Act (1999)

   federal law governing the accreditation of private universities establishes the responsibilities of the Accreditation Council as well as its autonomous powers of decision no accreditation system for public universities

Aims

    to open the university sector to private suppliers to ensure quality in the private sector and to maintain general standards to ensure transparency and security for the suppliers, students and the employment market to promote innovative forms of training and further education

Main Tasks of the AAC

 to carry out accreditation of institutions and study programmes  to supervise accredited private universities

Main features of the AAC

 not advisory but decision making body  independent body, not bound by any directives  non Austrian majority

Composition of the AAC

 eight members  acknowledged experts in the field of international higher education  appointed by the federal government

The Accreditation Process

Expert panels

    As a rule experts are not Austrian and have international and interdisciplinary background Experts are appointed by the council One member of the council chairs the expert panel Applicant institution can veto the nomination of an expert in case of bias

Expert reports

    Experts elaborate separate reports Applicant institution gives a statement to the reports The council member that chairs the expert panel prepare recommendations for the decision Reports are not published

Accreditation decision

     Decision is made by the council No conditional accreditation Accreditation with time limit Decision with a short explanation is published Decision needs to be approved by the minister of education

Subjects of Assessment

       Aims, objectives, mission Content and structure of the programmes Facilities and provisions Staff quality Research Internal Quality Assurance Output

Frame of reference 1

     The Austrian Accreditation Act stipulates the following accrediation requirements and refers to “international standards”: legal form and headquarters suitable range of studies comparable study standards Teaching staff and equipement Principles of education/ Code of ethics

Requirements stipulated by law

Legal form and headquarters: The educational establishment applying must be a legal person based in Austria.

A suitable range of studies:

- The educational establishment applying must offer at least two study courses, - The study courses must result in an academic degree, in accordance with international standards for full-time courses of at least three years, - The study courses must be offered in one or more academic or artistic discipline(s), or follow on from other academic study courses (i.e. postgraduate courses).

Requirements stipulated by law

Comparable study standards: If a private university intends to award the same academic degrees as those awarded at state universities, the private courses must be comparable to the corresponding state-funded courses in terms of their overall educational result. Teaching staff and equipment: The qualifications of teaching staff at private universities must correspond to international academic and artistic standards. At the time of application, the necessary proof of personnel, space and material equipment must be supplied .

Requirements

stipulated by law Principles: The educational establishment must carry out its activities according to the following principles: - The freedom of the sciences and their teaching - The freedom of the arts, the propagation of the arts and their teaching - The interrelationship of research and teaching - The diversity of artistic and academic theories, methods and schools of thought.

Frame of reference 2

Regulations set by the Austrian Accreditation Council:   

Basic Criteria Guidelines for applicants Guidelines for expert teams

Basic Criteria

1. The institution must have permanent staff who are contractually bound for a minimum of two years. Permanent staff must be able to cover at least 50% of the teaching of each study course, and should normally have a doctoral degree. In accordance with international standards, each study course or discipline on offer requires at least three members of permanent staff whose minimum capacity is half-time employment. This minimum is aimed at assuring academic discussion and exchange.

Basic Criteria

2. The institution must carry out research. To do this, it needs a critical mass (see point 1) to assure the institutionalised production of knowledge and corresponding feedback from its research into its teaching activities.

Basic Criteria

3. The selection process for all academic personnel must be transparent, competitive and quality-based.

4. Curricula (in detail) and examination regulations must meet material, specialist and formal requirements in accordance with international standards. The institution’s minimum entrance requirements must be in accordance with Austria’s general requirements for university admissions.

Basic Criteria

5. Space and material resources will be judged according to the international standards for adequate academic resources.

6. The institution should be in a position to offer a reasonable range and variety of study courses.

7. The institution must be able to prove that its medium and long-term financing is assured

Supervision

Measures/Instruments  Annual reports   Inspection Revocation of accreditation

Applications since March 2000

   16 institutions, 8 accepted 11 new programmes, 4 accepted 1 revocation of accreditation

Private Universities in Austria

 6 institutions  offering programmes in: theology, law, social sciences, business, cultural studies, public health, medicine, information technology   about 1500 students study fees between 1.000 – 44.000 Euro / programme

Private Universities in Austria

      Catholic Theological University Linz www.kth-linz.ac.at

Webster University (Vienna) www.webster.ac.at

IMADEC University (Vienna) www.imadec.ac.at

University for Health Informatics and Technology (Innsbruck) www.umit.at

PEF University for Management (Vienna) www.pef.at

Private Medical University Salzburg www.pmu.ac.at

Contact and further information: Austrian Accreditation Council Teinfaltstr. 8 1090 Wien [email protected]

www.akkreditierungsrat.at