Background and requirements of the quality audit

The reference point for the quality audit is section 14 of the 2002 Universities Act, which requires all Austrian universities to develop an internal quality assurance system. The purpose of the audit is the assessment of this quality assurance system.

The Act on Quality Assurance specifies the following assessment areas (section 22, para. 2; non-official translation):

1. Quality strategy and its integration into the management tools of the higher education institution;
2. Structures and procedures of quality assurance in the fields of studies and teaching, research or development and appreciation of the arts or applied research and development or scientific and professional research, organisation and administration and personnel;
3. Integration of internationalisation and societal objectives into the quality management system;
4. Information systems and stakeholder participation;
5. Structures and procedures of quality assurance of certificate programmes for further education according to § 56 UG, of courses for further education at universities of applied sciences according to § 9 FHG as well as of courses for further education, which are offered jointly according to § 3 para. 2 no. 11 of the University of Applied Sciences Studies Act, and of certificate programmes for further education according to § 39 HG;
6. Structures and procedures of quality assurance with regard to the support and advice of educational institutions by public colleges of education and recognized private colleges of education.

• In addition to these assessment areas, the educational institutions together with the auditing agency may choose an assessment area as an extension of the audit, if this is useful with regard to institutional profile and development and the further development of structures and procedures of quality assurance.

Audit procedure:

• The University presents a self-evaluation report on the internal quality assurance system and its effectiveness.
• An international group of experts carries out the audit.
• The agency conducting the audit makes a decision.

The agency conducting the audit decides on the certification:

• Certification without conditions (including, if applicable, recommendations for a revision/further development of the quality assurance system)
• Conditional certification (including recommendations, if applicable). If the certification is issued subject to conditions, the University has to fulfill these conditions at the latest 18 months after the certification and has to pass a follow-up procedure carried out by the certifying agency.
• No certification is issued. If no certification is issued, the University is re-audited by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria after two years.

According to the Act on Quality Assurance, the certification is limited to a 7-year period after which the University has to perform a re-audit.