In response to the requirements of the legislation and the invitation of the HQA (now HAHE), the Institution submitted, on July 20, 2018, the file for the Accreditation of the Internal Quality Assurance System of the Institution with all the documents and supporting documents according to the Standards and Guidelines. The whole process was carried out in a systematic way, with the close cooperation between the Rectoral Authorities and the Quality Assurance Unit of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, but also with the significant contribution of the administrative authorities, the management, faculty members, students, researchers, alumni, and social partners.
Prior to the completion of the accreditation process, corrections and additions to the IQAS of NKUA file were made for its resubmission, based on the comments of the HQA (15/9 - 28/09/2018). In collaboration with the executive members of HAHE and the Senior Management of the Institution, the QAU supervised the organization of the visit of the International Accreditation Committee. Its main actions included the drafting of the programme for the on-site visit, the supervision for its compliance, the securing of space in the Athens Centre for the organization of the individual meetings of the Committee with members of the Academic Community of NKUA, ensuring the immediate provision of additional information requested by the committee during its stay in Athens, while also taking care of issues related to the committee's tour of the Central Building, with a special cultural presentation of the frieze of Propylaea Arch, the committee's lunches and the provision of commemorative gifts.
The quality accreditation of the IQAS of NKUA was carried out by HQA and was an external evaluation process, based on specific, predefined, internationally accepted and, pre-published, quantitative and qualitative criteria and indicators, in alignment with the Principles and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The audit of the NKUA's Internal Quality Assurance System was carried out by a five-member Committee of University Professors and experts in Management and Quality Assurance, which was composed by HQA. The members of the Committee work in universities and institutions of renowned value in Great Britain, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus. The process of the accreditation of NKUA took place between 13 and 19 October 2018.
The result, as reflected in the committee's multi-page report, was excellent for the National and Kapodistrian University, as it received the highest possible rating ('fully compliant'). Subsequently, the HQA Council accepted the Report of the Accreditation Committee, according to which the IQAS of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens fully complies with the principles of the Quality Standards and Guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
In its letter to the Rector of the Institution, the HQA congratulates the Institution for its excellent response to the accreditation process of the Internal Quality Assurance System (relevant documents are attached).
"We are pleased to inform you that the Board of the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQA), at its 70th (2/11/2018) Meeting, decided to grant certification to the Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for a period of four years, from 2/11/2018 to 1/11/2022."
The awarding of the IQAS certification to NKUA by HQA took place with full solemnity at a special event on Friday the 11th of January 2019 at the Old University building Tholou Street, Plaka.
IQAS Accreditation report of NKUA
IQAS Accreditation letter of NKUA
