ÖAR (Austria)
Accreditation procedure
The Austrian Accreditation Act stipulates the following accreditation requirements and refers to “international standards”: The standards are set by the ÖAR while the definition of the subject-specific standards is done by the experts.
The accreditation procedure consists of the following steps:
- submitting the application according to the guidelines of the ÖAR
- scrutiny of the application by the ÖAR members and the ÖAR office
- site visit by an expert panel (consisting of experts, a ÖAR member and a member of the ÖAR office)
- the expert report
- a statement of the applicant on the expert reports
- accreditation decision by the ÖAR
- approval by the incumbent minister
Accreditation is a yes or no decision. There is no possibility to attach conditions to a yes decision.
The ÖAR may review accreditation at any time and the outcome of such a review can be withdrawal of accreditation in case that one of the conditions on which accreditation was granted has not been met for a period of six months.
The accreditation decision is made independently by the ÖAR. To come into force the decision must be endorsed by the Federal Minister of Science and Research. The Minister has the right to refuse the approval if the decision goes against the interests of national education policy but the Minister cannot turn a negative into a positive decision.
| Links |
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| Website of the Österreichischer Akkreditierungsrat (ÖAR) |
