EQUIS assessing NHH

It's 15 years since NHH was accredited by EQUIS, the European Quality Improvement System, for the first time. On 2 and 3 February an EQUIS accreditation team will pay a new visit to NHH to check the quality of NHHs activities.

- We look forward to meeting the representatives from EQUIS. Continuous feedback is important to develop the quality of NHH, and we will use the input actively in our forthcoming strategy process, says Deputy Rector Sunniva Whittaker.

- EQUIS is the touchstone when it comes to accreditation of business schools, so this is very important to us, says Deputy Rector Sunniva Whittaker. Together with James Hosea, she has managed the preparations for the EQUIS visit. NHH was EQUIS accredited for the first time in 2001 and re-accredited in 2006 and in 2011.

Special re-accreditation

- Since we have earned full accreditation three times consecutively, we have the chance to opt for a new and slightly less comprehensive special re-accreditation. Special re-accreditation is offered to institutions that has proven to have high quality over very long time. Nonetheless, the quality check of NHH is comprehensive. Strategy, leadership, students, programme quality, research, arrangements, internationalisation, ethics and the school's role in society are among the areas evaluated by EQUIS.

The peer review visit will and a self-assesment report, form the basis for a "peer review" of the schools activities. The evaluation will be followed up with a decision in EQUIS Awarding Body where NHH can be re-accredited for five years, or receive a conditional re-accreditation for three years. There is also a risk of not being re-accredited.

Important to develop quality

As a part of the re-accreditation process EFMD will also provide NHH with concrete areas of improvement to strengthen the school's position further. This time, the EQUIS-team has announced that they will look specifically into the implementation of NHH's strategy on internationalisation, executive education/external relations and educational technology. NHH was encouraged to strengthen these areas after the re-accreditation in 2011.

- We look forward to meeting the representatives from EQUIS. Continuous feedback is important to develop the quality of NHH, and we will use the input actively in our forthcoming strategy process, says Whittaker.

ABOUT EQUIS

European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is an independent international evaluation of business schools conducted by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).