The background to the workshop is the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 17 February 2016, which made it necessary to comprehensively reorganise the accreditation system for study programmes at German Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

As a result, The Interstate Study Accreditation Treaty entered into force on 1 January 2018, which together with the specimen decree, agreed upon by The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affair (KMK), forms today the legal framework.

The workshop speakers, among them Dr. Olaf Bartz, CEO of the Accreditation Council, Professor Dr. Kerstin Fink, CEO of FIBAA, and Dr. Tino Shahin, project manager for FIBAA-Consult, presented the current status of the new accreditation system to the participants. The representatives of the HEIs received a detailed overview of the changes compared to the previous legal situation as well as the new operational procedure. This includes, among others, the consideration of the time frame, the requirements for self-documentation as well as the division of responsibilities of the stakeholder HEI – agency(s) – Accreditation Council. The workshop was characterised by a very lively interest of the participants and enabled a direct dialogue with all three stakeholders.

FIBAA was extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Olaf Bartz, CEO of the Accreditation Council, and Professor Dr. Marcelo da Veiga, VPH Board Member with a guest seat on the Accreditation Council, in the head office and to discuss the new developments in the German accreditation system together with the representatives of the HEIs.

The next workshop on the new accreditation law will take place on 21 May 2019 at the FIBAA office in Bonn.