On Friday, 26 February 2021, the newly created FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee - F-AZK for short - met for the first time.

In the constituent meeting, the election of the new board of the Committee and its representatives was made. The Committee elected Prof Weigand, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, unanimously to the board of the F-AZK and Dr Tomaschitz from AVL List GmbH, Graz, Prof Thuy of the IUBH International Higher Education Institution as well as Prof Trossmann of the Hohenheim University as substitute board members.

In addition to the new board of the F-AZK, a new Assessor Committee was elected. To form this Committee, the Committee elected two scientific representatives, one representative from professional practice and one representative from the student body, as well as one substitute for each position.

This likewise unanimous election resulted in the following members of the new Assessor Committee:

• Science: Prof. Schneider, formerly Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Széll, University of Osnabrück, substitute: Prof. Altmann, University of Innsbruck and MCI Management Centre Innsbruck and Prof. Remdisch, Leuphana University in Lüneburg
• Student body: Mr Weibezahn, doctoral candidate in industrial engineering at TU Berlin, substitute: Ms Ekhardt, student at TU Munich
• Professional practice: Mr Abt, IHK CEO, ret., substitute: Ms Wagner, Deutsche Bahn AG

After the Committee was constituted, the operational business was next on the agenda. This was followed by discussions and resolutions on national and international processes, both in the area of programme accreditation and institutional accreditation. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the "Accounting and Auditing" (M.Sc.) study programme of the Ruhr University Bochum and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster was able to receive a positive accreditation notification. This type of accreditation process is rather rare in practice, as it combines the classic programme accreditation of a study programme with the determination of the special suitability of the study programme for the training of auditors in accordance with § 8a Public Accountants Act.

Furthermore, FIBAA is pleased to announce the System Accreditation (according to the law valid until 2017) of the UE - University of Europe.

Another interesting point, which should not be missing in the consideration of the first meeting of the F-AZK, is certainly the number of international processes for awarding the FIBAA seal. Also, 17 international study programmes and one international higher education institution were accredited.

The Managing Director, Ms Diane Freiberger, thanked the Committee members for the efficient and effective meeting and looks forward to future cooperation.

The next meeting of the F-AZK will take place on 28 May 2021.