Rules of conduct for members, deputy members and permanent guests of the Accreditation Council
The German Accreditation Council has the central task of accrediting study programmes and internal university quality assurance systems.
In fulfilling their tasks, the members* of the Accreditation Council observe the following principles:
- Members of the Accreditation Council act and decide as experts in the field of quality assurance at higher education institutions (HEIs) solely on the basis of quality aspects and are not bound by the instructions of third parties.
- Members of the Accreditation Council act and decide in good faith and to the best of their knowledge and belief in the interest of the Foundation.
- Members of the Accreditation Council shall maintain confidentiality towards third parties.
- Members of the Accreditation Council shall not use their membership to assert their own interests or the interests of third parties and shall exclude any misuse of information obtained during their activities.
- Members of the Accreditation Council and deputy members declare a conflict of interest or their partiality with regard to an agenda item to be dealt with to the chairperson without delay, at the latest however after the opening of the meeting. In such a case, they shall not participate in decisions of the Accreditation Council on the matter. Members on the part of the Länder do not vote in decisions concerning HEIs in their own Länder.
- Membership of the Accreditation Council is incompatible with the simultaneous activity
- in agencies approved by the Accreditation Council, or for an organisation which is legally, institutionally, organisationally, financially or personnel related to one of the above mentioned agencies, as far as quality assessments in the German accreditation system are concerned
- in or for organisations that carry out quality assessments of HEIs in the German accreditation system, such as in the context of alternative procedures. Participation in internal assessments at system-accredited HEIs is compatible with membership of the Accreditation Council.
- Since permanent guests participate in the meetings in a purely advisory capacity, i.e. without voting rights, it is not excluded that this group of persons may also work in agencies at the same time.
- Members of the Accreditation Council only accept gifts or hospitality services from third parties if they are appropriate to the occasion in terms of reason, type and scope and if neither parties involved nor third parties can be given the impression of being influenced or expected in return. The corresponding regulations for its officials of the state North Rhine-Westphalia, in which GAC is seated, shall apply analogously.
* if not otherwise described, members, deputy members and permanent guests are included.