About ZEvA

Welcome to ZEvA!

Evaluation and accreditation in teaching and learning, higher education governance and management are ZEvA’s main fields of activity. Since 1995, we have also been active in the field of quality assurance in higher education, on which we have successfully cooperated with higher education institutions in Germany, Europe and beyond.

The success of our work is ensured by experienced project officers and a large number of nationally and internationally renowned experts. Currently, our database comprises more than 1.500 higher education teachers from all academic disciplines who have contributed their expertise to our evaluation and accreditation procedures.

Since the year 2000, ZEvA has accredited more than 1,200 study programs at universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of cooperative education. The procedures applied by ZEvA are based on the regulations and structural guidelines of the Accreditation Council and the Standing Conference of State Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and are geared to international standards. Repeatedly, ZEvA has been subject to external evaluation and reaccreditation by the Accreditation Council, most recently in 2006.

Among ZEvA’s boards and organizational bodies are the office in Hanover with approximately 15 staff and the Standing Accreditation Commission (SAK), which counts 26 professors, representatives of the professional world and students among its members. Furthermore, there are the Standing Evaluation Commission (SEK) whose members coordinate the evaluation procedures, as well as the Commission System Accreditation (KSA).

The independent association EIQA is responsible for the appointment of the commission members. ZEvA has the legal form of a foundation under civil law. It comprises three independent departments which are in charge of evaluation, program accreditation and system accreditation respectively.

Transparency, reliable procedures, the best possible professional support and the competent assessment of teaching, learning and quality assurance contribute to the high standard of the external evaluation services provided by ZEvA. Our work is based on a process-oriented and formalized quality assurance system which guarantees for efficient procedures and adherence to schedules.

ZEvA contributes significantly to the advancement of evaluation procedures through its participation in national and international cooperations. ZEvA is a founding member of the European Consortium of Accreditation (ECA) and a member of ENQA (European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education). Also, the agency participates in the Joint Quality Initiative (JQI), which, among other things, has developed common European quality criteria for Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs (BaMa-descriptors)

The organisational structure of ZEvA for download (these documents are only available in German language):

Organigramm_ZEvA_Stand_03.05.2012.xls