Commission

The Accreditation Commission of Universities of Technology (Komisja Akredytacyjna Uczelni Technicznych, KAUT) has been established by the Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities (Konferencja Rektorów Polskich Uczelni Technicznych) on 17 February 2001 in Opole, as an accreditation agenda, for the purposes of carrying out accreditations of faculties of technical universities.

Documents signed by rectors in Opole, i.e. the Agreement (Porozumienie) as well as Accreditation Rules and Procedures (Zasady i Tryb Postępowania Akredytacyjnego) provide for aspects pertaining to the broadly understood quality of education and express concern of university authorities towards the following problems:

• improvement of quality of education,
• development of clearly defined procedures of assessment of conditions and methods of education as well as curricula, taking into account systems developed in other countries, especially EU countries
• creation of conditions facilitating national and international student exchange,
• promotion of fields of study meeting high quality standards.

The Agreement has been signed by 24 rectors, Agreement signatories, expressing the will of each of the 24 universities mentioned below to participate in the accreditation process:

During the KRPUT meeting on 17 February 2001, Prof. Piotr Wach, PhD Eng., Rector of the Technical University of Opole, was appointed representative of the Conference of Rectors to the KAUT, and Alicja Konczakowska, PhD Eng., Prof. and Vice-Rector for Education of the Technical University of Gdansk, was appointed Chairman of the Kaut. The University of Science and Technology of Krakow was chosen as the seat of the Committee. At a later date, the Rectors-signatories of the Agreement, appointed their representatives to the KAUT, mainly Vice-Rectors for Education. The first Accreditation Committee of Technical Universities acted from 15 March 2001 to 14 March 2003.

The first meeting of the KAUT was held at the University of Science and Technology of Krakow on 2 – 3 April 2001. During that meeting, Vice-Chairmen and the Secretary of the KAUT were nominated.

There is two Channels of Accreditation of Engineering Programmes in Poland: State - founded  Polish (State) Accreditation Committee (PKA) performing obligatory accreditation and Community - founded established by the rectors conferences of different type of HE`s (Medical Universities, University Accreditation Commission, Schools of Economy) and also  Accreditation Commission of Universities of Technology (KAUT)  Voluntary accreditation   PKA evaluates quality of education in a specific fields of study and at a specific level and profile of studies (programme assessment) and - within a framework of institutional evaluations  - basic activities of units of higher education institutions. It is the kind of state licencing.   Accreditation Commission of Universities of Technology (KAUT) was established by the Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities (KRPUT) in 2001. The Commission members represent each of the 24 universities (mainly technical ones) signatories to the "Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities (KRPUT) Agreement on ensuring the quality of education" and one representative of KRPUT. The registered office of the Commission is AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. KAUT domains of activity puts the emphasis on improving the quality of education, drawing up of clear procedures for assessing the learning conditions and teaching methods and study programmes, creation of conditions facilitating national and international exchange of students, and promoting engineering degree programmes that meet high standards of quality. The main objective is to identify these organisational units of universities that offer education of the highest order, i.e. measures aimed at creation of academic elite of universities. To reinforce the importance of community accreditations, it has been agreed with the Chapter of the "Perspektywy" Ranking organization that the results of such accreditations are to be included in their ranking. In December 2013, we signed an agreement with the Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers to develop common requirements and accreditation standards for the civil engineering degree programme, which will help graduates to obtain professional qualifications in the future. In September 2013, the Committee has been authorised by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE) to confer, along with standard KAUT accreditation, the European EUR -ACE® Label certificate. In longer perspective, we want the KAUT accreditation to be significantly different from the accreditations granted by Polish Accreditation Committee. It should complement the PKA activities with novel aspects, emphasize the specificity of education in technical sciences, as well as allow universities to present their own vision of development and identity, and own recipes for diversity, originality, creativity, but also competitiveness. Our accreditation should allow the universities to "show off" and even brag about their most significant achievements.  

Professor Bohdan Macukow
President of KAUT