15 years student accreditation pool in Germany: achievements, failures and future challenges
Abstract
Student participation on equal terms as partners in higher education assurance was a novel concept in the year 2000. Since its founding in 2000-08-12, the German Student Accreditation Pool (GSAP, [9]) has been established as a central body for student participation in QA. The GSAP trained over 1200 students, participated in over 4000 program accreditations, 30 accreditation bodies, handles frequent discussion and interview requests.
Representing over 2 million students with different expectations about quality assurance, a substantial lack of funding and the natural fact of limited time and experience of students in managing complex structures raised more than once questions about the future existence of the GSAP. New and ongoing challenges include the decentralization of accreditation in Germany, cross border activities of accreditation agencies, ensuring the participation of students with diverse backgrounds, QA for the GSAP itself and sustainability in processes and funding of the GSAP.
This paper was presented at EQAF and reflects the views of the named authors only.
