Procedures for Accreditation of Programs

 

 

Incorporates all changes approved by the Accreditation Council on November 12, 2016
Effective as of the 2017 Academic Year
     Article 1 The Accreditation Council, hereafter called the Council, authorizes its accreditation commissions to enact the Procedures for Accreditation of Programs and to plan and execute accreditation in accordance with Article 5 of the Policies for Accreditation of Programs for the purpose of governing all matters concerning accreditation.
Chapter 1 Registration
     Article 2 The Council promulgates accreditation timetable and related documents annually on the IEET website: http://www.ieet.org.tw .
     Article 3 Request for Review
  • Program seeking accreditation must officially submit a complete Request for Review before deadline using the Accreditation Management System, hereafter called the AMS, at http://ams.ieet.org.tw . Upon completion of the request, the program is to submit an official letter with its official program name, criteria to be accredited by to the Council and paid the registration fee.
  • Based on its characteristics and domain knowledge, a program should choose the Commission to apply to accordingly. If there are different concentrations within the program, provided all have graduates, all applying for the same accreditation criteria, the Council shall review all the concentrations as one unit and require all to satisfy the accreditation criteria. If differentiation exists between the concentrations as presented on diplomas and each applying to different accreditation criteria, the Council shall view each concentration as separate program.
  • Once Request for Review is accepted, the Council shall issue letter to the university stating the deadlines for submitting further documents and the date of the on-site visit. The program must then submit a self-study report with the on- site visit fee paid before the deadline and prepare for the on-site visit accordingly.
  • Newly established program or program that has yet to produce the first class of graduates may also request for accreditation in accordance with Section 1 of this Article.
  • If a program cannot continue the review with cause after having request for review, the Council should be officially notified. The Council shall decide whether to refund fees in full or partially.
  • For program under review, the program chair must attend at least one accreditation workshop during the year or the year prior to a general review.
     Article 4 Composition of accreditation team and editors
  • Upon accepting the Request for Review from a program, Chair of an accreditation commission shall nominate the accreditation team which is composed of one team chair and additional one to four program evaluators who have expertise in the professional domain of the program. Should there be two or more programs from one university seeking accreditation during the same academic year, the accreditation commission Chair shall nominate an accreditation team convener to coordinate consistencies among the teams; for ten programs or more, an accreditation team co-convener shall be nominated along with the convener. In special cases, the number of program evaluators in a team may be exempted from the restrictions above.
  • Office of the Executive Director (OED) shall assign a liaison to each university to handle administrative matters.
  • To ensure consistency in accreditation actions, accreditation commission members shall serve as editors to edit drafts of the Accreditation Statement, level of compliance with the criteria and Accreditation Action Recommendation. Editors must communicate with the accreditation teams in order to reach consensuses on wording and action recommendations.
Chapter 2 Review and on-site Visit
     Article 5 Desktop review for first time applicant
  • For first time applicant, once the initial draft of the self-study report has been received by deadline, the OED shall forward the report to the accreditation team for desktop review.
  • Having reviewed the initial draft of self-study report, the accreditation team may request for additional information to be included in the final report by early August. The program is required to submit a revised copy with the requested information before specified deadline. Procedures for further review will follow those listed from Article 6 to 8.
     Article 6 Review of the self-study report
  • The OED shall verify the self-study report and related documents of the program and forward them to the accreditation team for review.
  • Having reviewed the self-study report, the accreditation team may request for additional information to be presented upon the on-site visit.
     Article 7 Preparation for the on-site visit
  • The OED shall notify the program officially list of the accreditation team two weeks before the on-site visit and assist in the process to finalize the on-site visit itinerary and list of interviewees.
  • The program must display supporting documents during the on-site visit to support its self-study report and to demonstrate its compliance with the accreditation criteria. For the content and organization of the supporting documents, the program should refer to the Accreditation Criteria Supplement.
  • The OED is responsible for the overall arrangement of and expense by the accreditation team associated with the on-site visit.
     Article 8 On-site visit
  • The accreditation team and the program under review must follow discreetly the on-site visit Itinerary during the visit.
  • The accreditation team must convene for a pre-departure meeting the night before the on-site visit to review findings from the self-study report and reach consensus on the key issues to be assessed.
  • The accreditation team members must compile collaboratively the Exit Statement during the on-site visit and to announce it at the end of the visit. The announcement marks the completion of the on-site visit. There would be no discussion on the Exit Statement after its announcement.
  • If there is error of fact in the Exit Statement, the program could submit a Response to Exit Statement within two weeks after the on-site visit.
  • Program during the on-site visit must ensure that all unrelated personnel are not present. It must also ban all forms of activities that may disrupt the visit, including but not limited to recording, videotaping, photographing, and transcribing. Both the accreditation team and the program under review must abide by the conflict of interest principles, avoiding all forms of improper reception, gifts, and lobbying.
Chapter 3 Accreditation Action Decision Making
     Article 9 Composing Accreditation Statement and Accreditation Action:
  • The accreditation team chair, upon reading the Response to Exit Statement, shall produce a draft of the Accreditation Statement, compliance of the criteria, and Accreditation Action Recommendation. These statements are then edited by the editors.
  • The accreditation commission shall call for an Accreditation Action Meeting upon the completion of the editors’ review. After the Accreditation Action Meeting and confirmation of the Council, OED shall mail the Accreditation Action Statement and the Accreditation Statement officially to the university and the program under review.
     Article 10 Publishing of the Accreditation Action:
  • There are three types of accreditation actions: "Accredited," "Pending for Accreditation Action," and "Not to Accredit."
  • The accredited status takes effect from the academic year in which the program under review is accredited. For example, if a program requested for review on January 1, 2006, had the on-site visit on November 1st of the same year and was accredited for the duration of six years, then graduates of the program between the academic years 2006 and 2011 would be recognized by the Council.
  • For provisionally accredited program, the accredited status shall take effect from the academic year when the first class of graduates is produced. The six- year period cycle, however, starts with the year when the program first registered for accreditation.
  • For program receiving “Pending for Accreditation Action,” the accredited status shall take effect from the academic year when the program is officially accredited. The six-year period cycle, however, starts with the year when the program first registered for review.
  • Each program shall be given its own individuals accreditation action. Actions of all programs under the same department shall be listed on the same accreditation certificate.
  • Should a program receive “Not to Accredit” action and object, it may appeal to the Council according to the Policies and Procedures for Appeals within two weeks after receiving the action.
  • The Council shall confer the accreditation certificate and publish the name of the accredited program on the IEET website and in related media forms upon receiving the annual accreditation maintenance fee.
Chapter4 Annual Accreditation Information Submission:
     Article 11 Accredited program and program pending for accreditation action must submit annual accreditation information online using AMS.
Chapter 5 Interim Review
     Article 12 Accredited programs scheduled for Interim Review must register for review before deadline.
     Article 13 Program must submit the Interim Review Self-study Report, which demonstrates the improvement made on the weakness identified from the last review and other areas of continuous improvement. For program that must undertake an on-site visit, the visit itinerary shall be decided based on the extent of the weakness identified from the last review.
     Article 14 After the review, the accreditation commission shall call for an Accreditation Action Meeting to deliver actions for the next review.
Chapter 6 Action Pending Review
     Article 15 In accordance with Article 6.2 of the Policies for Accreditation of Programs, program receiving “Pending for Accreditation Action” must be reviewed within two years. Program must register for review with the Council before deadline. The council shall decide if additional fees are needed.
     Article 16 Program pending for accreditation action must submit a self-study report demonstrating its compliance with the criteria with sufficient supporting documents before deadline and undertake a general review on-site visit.
Chapter 7 Subsequent Review of Provisionally Accredited Programs
     Article 17 In accordance with the Article 6.1 of the Policies for Accreditation of Programs, provisionally accredited program must submit an official letter to the Council three months before its first class of graduates is produced.
     Article 18 Within two months after the first class of graduates was produced, the program must submit a self-study report to the Council. The self-study report should be about compliance of the accreditation criteria with focus on assessing the achievement of the program educational objectives, the outcomes of the graduate attributes, and continuous improvement.
     Article 19 If a program is to produce its first class of graduates immediately after the general review, the subsequent review will be a desktop review only. For all other cases, an on- site visit shall be conducted.
Chapter 8 Name Change
     Article 20 Accredited program that underwent name change or re-organization must inform the Council by mail upon obtaining approval from the Ministry of Education. Related documents must be submitted along with the Ministry’s approval. Review shall be conducted to certify that the program continues to comply with the accreditation criteria.
     Article 21 The accreditation team that conducted the last review shall be called upon to verify the program’s accreditation status. The OED shall inform the program with the review decision. Should an on-site visit deemed required, the accreditation team shall revisit the program. The council shall decide if additional fee is needed.
     Article 22 If a program under review has a name change during the same semester when the accreditation visit takes place, it must provide both old and new curriculum designs for the accreditation team's reference. If accredited, the accreditation certificate will be issued with the new name.
     Article 23 Should a name change, or reorganization render an accredited program without graduates under the new program name, the program shall be reviewed as a program seeking provisional accreditation. Otherwise, it will be considered just as a program seeking accreditation. Accredited program with name change must submit evidence clarifying the curriculum correspond with the new program name.
Chapter 9 Supplementary Provision
     Article 24 Should an arranged on-site visit be prevented by earthquake, flood, typhoon, or other force majeure circumstances, accreditation commission shall re-schedule the on-site visit. The OED must notify the accreditation team and the program under review in due time of the contingency measures.
     Article 25 This document and any revision thereto shall be approved by the Council and promulgated for implementation by the Council Chair.