KAUT European Accreditations Accreditation Commission of Universities of Technology will be awarding European quality certificates.
After several years of efforts, the Accredutation Commission of Universities of Technology (KAUT) has obtained the right to confer – along with its accreditations – the European quality certificate EUR-ACE® Label.
What is EUR-ACE® Label? It is a type of accreditation created by European engineering organisations. The accreditation system was developed by the European Network for Engineering Accreditation (ENAEE). This network brings together many European organizations involved in training engineers, such as the British Engineering Council (EngC), the French Commission des Titres d’ Ingénieur (CTI), Fédération Européenne d’ Associations Nationales d’ Ingénieurs (FEANI), Société Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs (SEFI) and The International Society for Engineering Education (IGIP). One of the main activities of the ENAEE network is the EUR-ACE accreditation program – European Accredited Engineer label – which involves granting a certificate to engineering degree programmes thus confirming their high quality as well as compliance with accepted European standards and principles. The accreditation system is closely linked with the Bologna process, and is based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance, which is “the Bible” – the key text on the subject of quality and accreditation.
Since 2013 KAUT is that has been authorized to confer the EUR -ACE® Label certificate. Obtaining the said authorisation is neither easy nor obvious. The whole procedure is very time- and labour-intensive. Thus the fact that KAUT is now authorised to award EUR -ACE® Label certificates is an even greater achievement, worth appreciating.
What benefits does the right to award EUR -ACE® Label certificates bring? The benefits are considerable, and valuable for everyone: for the university and its organisational units, the accreditation committee itself, for employers, but most of all – for students.
The accreditation commission joins the European network of professional engineering organizations, gains the opportunity to carry out accreditations in other European countries – and even further in the world, as well as confirmation that the accredited engineering degree programme is formed around learning outcomes.
The university obtains additional verification and confirmation of the high-quality of its engineering degree programme, and that training is carried out in accordance with the standards set by professional organizations. It serves also as a good testament to the quality of the completed 1st cycle studies programme when qualifying 2nd cycle studies, and later on testifying to the quality of the completed 2nd cycle studies programme when qualifying doctoral programmes.
Employers gain assurance that the competences of the candidates (job applicants) in terms of knowledge, understanding and practical skills are in line with international standards in the field of engineering degree programmes.
And finally, the students – they, in turn, gain certainty that the programmes having the EUR- ACE® Label certificate meet international standards, and are recognized by employers throughout Europe. In countries with a regulated engineering professions, the programmes holding the EUR-ACE® Label meet the conditions necessary to obtain the title of Chartered Engineer (CEng) and FEANI automatically includes programmes marked with EUR-ACE® Label as eligible for obtaining the title of European Engineer (Eur Ing).
Bohdan Macukow
President of KAUT