Accreditation Procedure

With the decree of 04.09.2009, the state of Hesse introduced accreditation and re-accreditation as a mandatory procedure for the introduction and conversion of all study programs in the state of Hesse. The Hessian Higher Education Act as amended on 14.12.2009 requires successful accreditation or re-accreditation for all study programs. New study programs must be accredited before students are admitted. This eliminates the need for the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts to review the degree programs. State-controlled accreditation agencies, with the help of expert assessors, carry out structural audits as well as expert assessment with regard to the achievement of minimum standards of new and transformed study programs. On the basis of an expert opinion, the Accreditation Council decides on the award of the accreditation seal.

The procedure

The basis for the procedures are the accreditation reports of the applying departments or universities. During the on-site visit of a group of expert assessors, the issues presented in the accreditation reports are discussed with the university management, the persons responsible for the study programs and the teaching staff as well as the students. At the end of the assessment an expert opinion is prepared. This expert opinion, together with the documents of the self-report, is submitted to the Accreditation Council for the final decision on accreditation.

The Accreditation Council provides current information on accreditation, decisions and the duration of accreditations.

Accreditations are currently possible in the following procedural forms

• Program accreditation - assessment of a single study program
• Cluster accreditation - joint assessment of related study programs
• System accreditation - accreditation of the entire quality assurance system for studies and teaching of a university with individual program samples.

  The University of Kassel itself is not system accredited.

   

Possible results

The following decisions may be made at the end of an accreditation process:

1. The accreditation of a study program must be pronounced if the quality requirements are met.
2. Accreditation should be granted subject to conditions if there are deficiencies that can probably be remedied within nine months.
3. Accreditation shall be refused if there are deficiencies which are not expected to be remedied within nine months.
4. In the cases referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, the accreditation council may, after receiving comments from the institution of higher education, suspend the accreditation procedure once for a period of not more than 18 months if the institution of higher education is expected to remedy the deficiencies within that period."