A First In Turkey by THEQC: Two of our Universities are Accredited!

The institutional accreditation decision of two universities has been approved within the scope of the “Institutional Accreditation Program” implemented for the first time in the field of higher education in Turkey by the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC).

Nearly 60 institutions applied to the Institutional Accreditation Program, which started for the first time in 2020, and 11 institutions (Akdeniz University, Ankara University, Atatürk University, Ege University, Erciyes University, Gaziantep University, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, Istanbul Technical University, Koç University, Ondokuz Mayıs University and TED University) were involved in the evaluation process. Following the evaluation program carried out by the independent evaluation teams based on the institutional self-evaluation report of the institutions, it was decided to grant Institutional Accreditation to 2 universities unanimously at the Council Meeting held on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. The evaluation processes of the other universities are in progress.

The Institutional Accreditation Program, which enables universities to be evaluated in the quality assurance system, learning and teaching, research and development, service to society and administrative processes, aims to increase the contribution of universities in Turkey at the national level and their visibility in the world.

“We aim to make our universities integrated with the world”

THEQC President Prof.  Dr. Muzaffer Elmas congratulated the universities granted the Institutional Accreditation for their devoted work and stated that THEQC is a young organization that has been working independently since 2017. Stating that their aim is for graduates to have the expected qualifications, find jobs easily and contribute to R&D and society, Prof. Dr. Elmas, emphasized that THEQC carries out all its works for this purpose. President Elmas stated that two universities were confirmed as a result of the evaluations made in the Institutional Accreditation Program, which they started to implement as a first in the field of higher education in Turkey, and that the accreditation decisions will be announced to the public with ceremonies to be organized by the relevant universities.

In the first ceremony held within this scope, Ege University has become one of the universities entitled to receive “full accreditation” for 5 years within the framework of the Institutional Accreditation Program. The THEQC President Prof.  Dr. Muzaffer Elmas presented the full accreditation certificate to Ege University Rector Prof. Dr. Necdet Budak.

What is the Institutional Accreditation Program?

The Institutional Accreditation Program consists of evaluations that are performed in three stages; the preliminary visit, the remote visit and the face-to-face visit as well the meeting held within the evaluation team formed by THEQC. In these evaluations, universities are evaluated against 22 criteria and 56 sub-criteria under the headings of Quality Assurance System, Learning and Teaching, Research and Development, Service to Society and Governance System. As a result of the review of the evaluation team, the Institutional Accreditation Report is prepared and submitted to THEQC. The maturity level of the quality assurance system in institutions is evaluated by the Council, and universities are given “full accreditation” for 5 years or “provisional accreditation” for 2 years.