The quality management system for studying and teaching at the Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) has been successfully certified by the Accreditation Council of the German federal states. The positive assessment was made without any conditions and forms the basis for the HSNR to complete the change from programme to system accreditation. This means that it is now authorised to evaluate and certify its study programmes independently and to award them the quality seal of the Accreditation Council. System accreditation is valid for a period of eight years.

"In order to offer our students a high quality of study, we have invested a great deal of commitment in the expansion and further development of our quality management," explains Professor Dr Gudrun Stockmanns, Vice President for Studies and Teaching at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. "The system accreditation is an important milestone for us. It enables us to ensure the quality of our degree programmes independently and sustainably."

System accreditation is a procedure for quality assurance at universities. In contrast to programme accreditation, in which individual degree programmes are reviewed externally, the focus here is on the university's internal quality management system. An independent accreditation agency checks whether the internal structures and processes ensure that all study programmes meet academic standards and legal requirements.

"In the university development plan, we set ourselves the goal of achieving system accreditation by 2025. The fact that we have now been able to successfully realise this project shows the strength of our university. The HSNR is now one of around 25 per cent of German universities that have an accredited quality management system," said a delighted University President Dr Thomas Grünewald.

The experts emphasised that the Hochschule Niederrhein has established a well thought-out and structured quality management system that is ideally suited to safeguarding and further developing studies and teaching. The close dovetailing of the long-term eight-year development and accreditation cycle with a shorter evaluation cycle, which enables additional agility, was particularly convincing.

The HSNR has been working on the expansion of the quality management system in teaching and learning, which is the basis for system accreditation, since 2021 and has successfully completed all the steps required for a decision by the Accreditation Council.

The system accreditation was initiated by Professor Dr Berthold Stegemerten, long-standing Vice President for Studies and Teaching at the HSNR. "Our quality assurance in teaching and learning bears the hallmark of Berthold Stegemerten, who, as my predecessor as Vice President, established the system at our university over many years. I would like to thank him on behalf of our university for the success we are celebrating today," says Gudrun Stockmanns.

The Accreditation Council, appointed by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), is the central body for quality assurance in the German higher education system. Its task is to ensure that universities and study programmes meet academic standards and legal requirements.