UniDistance Suisse gained accreditation as a university institution from the Swiss Accreditation Council on 26 June 2020, confirming the recognition already received from the Federal Council in 2004.
The accreditation is valid until 25 June 2027. It is subject to conditions that confirm that the institution’s 2022 strategic direction and the developments undertaken to date have been correct and coherent.
UniDistance Suisse launched its first fully-fledged course of studies in 2005. Some fifteen years later, it has become an entity in Switzerland’s university landscape in its own right. It has been evaluated against the same standards applied to all Swiss universities and meets the demands of the external group of experts, the AAQ and the Accreditation Council.
A steering committee was put in place to ensure the involvement of all UniDistance Suisse stakeholders in the accreditation process. Following a critical and reflective analysis, the committee compiled a self-evaluation report, which the international experts were able to refer to for the purposes of their two on-site evaluation visits. During the site visits in February 2019, they had the pleasure of meeting over 50 individuals working in different departments of UniDistance Suisse. Informed by these in-depth discussions and the analysis of the self-evaluation report, the international experts arrived at their accreditation recommendation for the Swiss Accreditation Council.
In its report, the group of international experts stated that it was impressed by the reorganisation of UniDistance Suisse into a university institute with its own basis for teaching and research (process initiated in 2016).