Kalaidos FH successfully accredited for the second time
The Swiss Accreditation Council has once again granted institutional accreditation to the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences (KFH) and thus also to the Kalaidos School of Music. The report highlights "the efficient organization of processes" and the "high level of student satisfaction" as key strengths of the KFH.
Michael Bühler - In the retail trade, labels or quality seals such as IP-Suisse, ASC or FSC provide information about the quality, characteristics, compliance with safety requirements or environmental properties of a product or service. Such labels are therefore intended to create trust through transparency and comparability.
In the area of state-recognized education and training, it is not labels, but accreditation, with which a state wants to create trust. This is a formal recognition of the professional and organizational competence of a university or university of applied sciences, for example, which provides a specific service (e.g. research or training) as part of a performance mandate.
The Higher Education Funding and Coordination Act (HFKG) serves to ensure quality in the Swiss higher education sector. The law requires a regular review of the quality of teaching, research and services at all universities. Institutional accreditation gives the university the right to use the designation "university", "university of applied sciences" or "university of teacher education" in its name.
Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences received this accreditation again in September 2022.
Institutional accreditation is awarded by the Swiss Accreditation Council. The accreditation certifies that Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences meets the specified standards. It is a two-stage procedure consisting of a self-assessment by the university and an external evaluation by an accreditation agency.
Employees from all levels of Kalaidos UAS as well as students from all departments were involved in the preparation of the self-assessment report and gave their assessment of the 18 specified quality standards. They worked together for around a year on the 80-page self-evaluation report before submitting it in November 2021. The external assessment by the Swiss Agency for Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) followed in spring 2022. The accreditation application subsequently submitted by AAQ and the statement by the KFH formed the basis for the final decision by the Accreditation Council in September 2022.
Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences is the first university of applied sciences in Switzerland to successfully undergo institutional accreditation at overall institution level for the second time. In 2013, the Federal Council decreed the federal accreditation of the University of Applied Sciences for the first time on the basis of the Higher Education Funding and Coordination Act, which was passed in 2011 and came into force on January 1, 2015.
The main strengths of Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences highlighted by the expert group include the "organizational structure under higher education law for fulfilling the fourfold educational mandate", "the efficient organization of processes" and "the variety of communication platforms and vehicles for the stakeholder groups". We are also particularly pleased with the "high level of student satisfaction", "the high level of identification of the participants" with Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences and the shared understanding of quality.
The accreditation is granted for a period of seven years. This gives Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences the right to bear the seal "Institutionally accredited according to HFKG 2022-2029".
