AQA awards official accreditation to the academic programs of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan

июня 30, 2011

June 21, 2011 – The Certification and Accreditation Commission of the Austrian Agency for Quality Assurance (AQA) held its final meeting. 

AQA is a full member of the European Register for Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAR) and operates in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG). 

The meeting was dedicated to consideration of the final AQA agency review team report on international accreditation of Master programs at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan. Consequently, on June 27 this year the Academy has received official confirmation of the AQA certification signed by Dr. P. Findlay, the Chairman of the Certification and Accreditation Commission and A. Kohler, Managing Director of the AQA. The Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan has secured the certificate for international accreditation of Master programs valid for 5 years in the majors: 

• Law (2 years);
• Public and Local Administration (2 years);
• International Relations (2 years). 

The international accreditation of the Academy was acquired further to the task set by the Head of State for a comprehensive integration with the global academia following the Bologna process and evidences the compliance of the Academy’s academic programs to the European and international standards of quality in education. 

The Academy has been working on international accreditation since October 2010. 

In October 2010 the Rector of the Academy A. Orsariyev met A. Kohler, the Managing Director of the AQA agency in Almaty. They discussed the terms of international accreditation and signed a Memorandum of Understanding in recognition of the parties' intention to accredit academic programs of the Academy. 

From October to December 2010 the Academy prepared self-documentations on each of the three academic programs following the guidelines provided by the AQA. 

Self-documentations describe study programs for compliance with 10 established criteria, including: 

1. Qualification objectives of the study programme concept. 
2. Conceptual integration of the study programme into the system of studies. 
3. Study programme concept. 
4. Academical feasibility of studies. 
5. Examination system. 
6. Facilities. 
7. Transparency and documentation. 
8. Quality assurance and development. 
9. Study programmes with a special profile. 
10. Diversity, gender justice and equal opportunities. 

Prepared self-reports formed the basis for an AQA external expert group's visit to the Academy in March 2011. During the visit AQA conducted interviews with the various groups involved in the Academy (management, board of trustees, faculty, students, qualified staff, etc.), examined the educational infrastructure and material facilities of the Academy drawing on the previously provided self-reports. 

The expert group was appointed by the AQA and included the following representatives: 

• Ambassador Dr. Hans WINKLER, Expert Team Leader - Director, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, served as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, as well as State Secretary, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria;
• Professor Paolo CALZINI - Associate Professor of the Department of European Studies, Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University;
• Professor Richard CAPLAN - Director, Center for International Studies, Oxford University;
• Mag. Renate Deininger - Program Director, FH Campus Wien Study programme “Public Management”;
• Dr. Theo van der KROGT - Secretary General / Treasurer of the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA);
• Mag. Christina Maria BERGER - a student-expert from the Vienna Diplomatic Academy;
• Mag. Dietlinde Kastelliz - Officer, AQA. 

Summarizing the visit, the AQA external expert group prepared a report that underlay the decision on the part of AQA Certification and Accreditation Commission’s to confer the Academy international accreditation of its study programs.

Department of External Relations