For new degree programs

If a new degree program is introduced, it will have gone through all the quality assurance procedures required by the accreditation process:

• Peer Consultation process as a means of integrating external expertise in relation to the conceptual and content-related aspects of the degree
• Assessment of available resources in terms of personnel
• Assessment of the degree program structure and formal requirements
• Assessment of compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements

Once the above procedures have been completed and fully documented and the relevant study and examination regulations have been published in the Amtsblatt, the degree program will be accredited with no further conditions attached by the Executive Board. The accreditation decision will be published as the “Accreditation Report” on the website of the German Accreditation Council.

Existing Degree Programs

An internal accreditation process is carried out every eight years for established degree programs. A quality report compiled by the relevant department must show that it is meeting official quality requirements. If a degree program has been developed further since the last accreditation cycle, the report must document that the changes have been re-evaluated and approved in terms of resources, design, and legal requirements.

This is used as a basis to show that the department is responding appropriately to the findings of the required monitoring instruments, and that where a need for improvement has been identified, it is putting measures or has already put measures in place to improve and/or develop areas of the program further. The accreditation decision will be published as the “Accreditation Report” on the website of the German Accreditation Council.

Key steps in the process:

• Generation of a quality report for the degree showing the results of the peer consultation, central and decentralized evaluations, key indicator analysis, and compliance with current framework requirements (“traffic light” system)
• Response to the quality report from the Quality Management Office, with amendments/recommendations where necessary
• Preparation of the reaccreditation proposal by the Quality Management Office
• Conditional or unconditional accreditation decision by the Executive Board

A detailed description of the process (German) can be found in the Academic Affairs Process Portal.