Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance explained

Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) (formerly: Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education or OAQ) (French: Organe d'accréditation et d'assurance qualité des hautes écoles suisses) is an organization that carries out institutional accreditation procedures in Swiss higher education institutions in accordance with the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Higher Education Sector (HEdA).^[1]

AAQ is responsible for reviewing the quality of teaching and research in Swiss Universities, Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences and Swiss Universities of Teacher Education. It carries out quality assurance of education and internal services procedures. When accrediting an institution, AAQ follows the procedures in accordance with the guidelines approved by the Swiss University Conference (SUC).^{[2] [3]}

History

Founded in 2001, the OAQ was renamed Agency for Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ), as a consequence of the entry into force of the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector (Higher Education Act, HEdA 414.20) on January 1, 2015.^[4]

• 2001: Official creation of the OAQ. OAQ was part of the Swiss Accreditation Council (SAR) which selected the director of the OAQ.^{[5] [2] [1] [6] [7] [8]}
• 2006: OAQ was granted full membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) in December.^[9]
• 2007: Agreement on mutual recognition of accreditation results between the Commission des titres d'Ingénieur (CTI) and the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (OAQ) is signed in Barcelona.^[10]
• 2011: ENQA's committee renews OAQ membership.^[11]
• 2015: OAQ is renamed AAQ.^[12]

International recognition

AAQ is a member of the ENQA.^[12] The latest external review of the AAQ for the renewal of the agency's ENQA membership and renewal of EQAR registration was undertaken in November 2020.^[13] It is part of the founding members of ECA and listed by the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Standard procedure

OAQ's evaluation and accreditation procedures are made out of 3 main steps being Auto-evaluation, External evaluation and Publication.^[14]

External links

• AAQ Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: AAQ • Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance. enqa.eu . The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education . June 26, 2022.
2. Web site: Mandate and functions. https://web.archive.org/web/20140915050402/http://www.oaq.ch/pub/en/02_01_00_auftrag.php. oaq.ch . Organe d´accréditation et d´assurance qualité des hautes écoles suisses . September 15, 2014 . June 26, 2022.
3. Web site: Accreditation Council | Swiss Accreditation Council - Schweizerischer Akkreditierungsrat .
4. Web site: Agency .
5. Web site: Akkreditierung. shk.ch . Schweizerische Hochschulkonferenz . June 26, 2022.
6. Web site: OAQ - Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education. ecahe.eu.
7. Web site: Etude de législation comparée n°237 - juin 2013 - L'assurance qualité externe des universités. www.senat.fr. 3 April 2023 .
8. Web site: La qualité à l'université de Genève - Contexte règlementaire suisse et européen. www.unige.ch.
9. Web site: OAQ External Review Report 2011. www.eqar.eu. 2 September 2011.
10. Web site: Agreement on mutual recognition of accreditation results between CTI and OAQ. www.cti-commission.fr.
11. Web site: L'OAQ membre à part entière de l'ENQA. www.oaq.ch.
12. Web site: AAQ - Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance • ENQA .
13. Web site: External review report. backend.deqar.eu.
14. Web site: Infographic - OAQ's evaluation procedures. www.oaq.ch/pub/fr.