Accreditation

ABSTRACT

This assignment deals with the concepts related to the process of accreditation in academic institutions. The initial chapter describes the types of accreditation, various norms for the accreditation, the goals and objectives of the accreditation process and also the guidelines specified by the government for getting accredited. The next chapter explains in detail, the various organizations that are involved providing accreditation. These organizations include CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation) of the United States, ECA (Accreditation in the European Higher Education Area of Europe, EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) of Europe and CEEA (Council of Educational Evaluation-Accreditation). The ten year cycle of the accreditation process involves the preliminary study, self report, team visit, decision regarding accreditation and the subsequent procedures have also been dealt in detail. The last chapter deals with the higher educational accreditation processes in Cyprus. The establishment and functions of the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation (CyAQAAE) in Education have also been explained. Finally, the operation of the Cyprus Council of Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications – KYSATS is discussed along with the types of recognition by KYSATS like Equivalence and Equivalence and Correspondence.

The reason that I have mentioned the Accreditation in Higher Education in Cyprus is to show to the reader that accreditation process is different from other accreditation organizations.