Types of programme accreditation procedure

ASIIN e. V. currently offers the following types of procedure:

Individual procedure

This procedure is conducted for individual Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programmes and/or consecutive Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes.

The accreditation certificate applies to the degree programme. A final individual decision takes place for each degree programme.

Cluster procedure

The procedure is conducted for a cluster of degree programmes of related disciplines. An Audit Team evaluates several degree programmes within the same procedure.

The accreditation certificate applies to one degree programme. A final individual decision takes place for each degree programme.

Whether or which degree programmes are joined in one procedure is applied for by the HEI and evaluated in each individual case by the pertinent Technical Committees of ASIIN e. V.

Two-step procedure

• 1st step: Preliminary review of university- and faculty-wide structural features or models (e.g. teacher training education)
• 2nd step: Cluster procedure for a package of related degree programmes or by packages of subjects based on the report from the 1st step.

The accreditation certificate applies to the degree programme. After the 2nd step, there is a final individual decision for each degree programme.

In the two-step procedure, an Audit Team created especially for this purpose first reviews university-wide structures for the degree programme or degree programme model (1st step). ASIIN e. V. may work together with another accreditation agency and form a joint team to cover disciplines outside of the specialisation area of ASIIN e. V. The results of the 1st step are summarised in an evaluation report, which forms the basis of the expert assessment – as a basic rule in the form of degree programmes or disciplines joined in clusters – conducted in the 2nd step. The procedure of the 2nd step then contains the steps common for a programme accreditation procedure. The decision concerning the accreditation of the individual degree programmes takes place upon completion of the 2nd step.

The option of the two-step accreditation procedure is recommended in particular if an accreditation is applied for degree programmes featuring similar structural characteristics and backed by several departments or faculties of the same HEI – e.g. in the case of teacher training education or degree programmes with two majors. Compared to uncoordinated individual or cluster procedures, the two-step accreditation procedure offers the opportunity to avoid unnecessary expenses in providing and processing information for same/similar issues of the HEI or agency/agencies.