Rules of conduct for members, deputy members
and permanent guests of the Accreditation Council
In fulfilling their tasks, the members* of the Accreditation Council observe the following principles:
- Members of the Accreditation Council, as experts in the field of quality assurance at higher education institutions, act and decide exclusively on the basis of quality aspects and are not bound by instructions from third parties.
- Members of the Accreditation Council act and decide in good faith and to the best of their knowledge and belief in the interests of the Foundation.
- Members of the Accreditation Council maintain confidentiality towards third parties.
- Members of the Accreditation Council do not use their membership to assert their own interests or the interests of third parties and rule out any misuse of the information obtained in the course of their activities.
- Members of the Accreditation Council and Alternate Members shall declare a conflict of interest or their bias with regard to an agenda item to be discussed to the Chairperson immediately, but no later than after the opening of the meeting. In such a case, they do not participate in decisions of the Accreditation Council in this matter. Members from the Federal States do not vote on decisions concerning higher education institutions in their own Federal State.
- Membership of the Accreditation Council is incompatible with the simultaneous activity
- in an Accreditation Council-approved Accreditation Agency or for an organization that is legally, institutionally, organizationally, financially or personally affiliated with one of the aforementioned Agencies, insofar as quality assessments in the German Accreditation system are concerned
- in or for organizations that carry out quality assessments at higher education institutions in the German Accreditation system, for example within the framework of Alternative Procedures. Participation in internal assessments at system-accredited higher education institutions is compatible with membership of the Accreditation Council.
- As regular guests attend the meetings in a purely advisory capacity, i.e. without voting rights, it is not excluded for this group of persons to work in an accreditation agency at the same time.
- Members of the Accreditation Council shall only accept gifts or hospitality from third parties if they are appropriate to the occasion in terms of reason, type and scope and if neither the impression of influence or expected consideration can arise for those involved or third parties. The corresponding regulations of the country in which the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation is based shall apply by analogy.
* Unless otherwise stated, this refers to members, deputy members and permanent guests.
