The background to the merger is the new regulation of the accreditation system in Germany, in which decisions on the Seal of the Accreditation Council Foundation (AR) are no longer made by the agency's own Committees, but by the AR itself. However, FIBAA also awards its own FIBAA seal for programme accreditations, continuing education courses at higher education institution level and institutional processes at home and abroad, which continue to be decided by its own Committee and whose standards go beyond the national minimum criteria, in particular with regard to internationality and employability. It also awards a Premium Seal for outstanding programmes and higher education institutions.

FIBAA Foundation Board expects the restructuring to bundle all of the expertise that was represented in the individual FIBAA Committees and is now continuing their work in the F-ACC in order to generate synergy effects and create even greater efficiency in the decision-making process for accreditation and certification issues.

Mag. Diane Freiberger, MBA, Managing Director of FIBAA, highlights: "By bundling all forces, some of which have been accompanying FIBAA for years as assessors as well as Committee members, and developing their work professionally, FIBAA is forearmed for future challenges, especially in the areas of digitisation and eLearning, which are becoming more important in these times. I look forward to working with our new Committee."

Further information can be found at www.fibaa.org.