Accreditation & Certificates

The Salzburg University of Applied Sciences recently underwent in 2010-11 the legally prescribed institutional evaluation, with the aim to promote quality assurance and development as well as to implement the educational mission.

The evaluation process was based on the Evaluation Regulations of the Austrian UAS Council (EvalVO 08/2009) coordinated by the Office of Quality Management and Organizational Development and supported by independent and internationally-recognized quality assurance agency the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA).

The international referees of the Peer Review Team from management & direction, quality management, teaching and research as well as the student body reviewed the areas of strategy and organization, quality management, the performance areas of teaching and research as well as the HR, financial and infrastructure at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences as extremely positive.

The assessors concluded that "the SUAS manages its overall responsibility as an educational institution and meets its educational mission very well"!

It is emphasized that the Integrated University Quality Management System (IHQMS) of the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences is described in the evaluation report as a QM system that is "clearly oriented towards its principles and strategy and is impressive in its systematics!"

The range of courses offered by the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences has been positively accredited by FIBAA since November 2011.

The "universityandfamily" standard is a State seal of approval developed by the Federal Ministry for Family and Youth (now Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy) which specifically audits the compatibility of professional opportunities and family requirements in universities.

Salzburg University of Applied Sciences offers a family-friendly working and learning environment to students as well as employees and acquired this certificate for the first time in 2013. Within the framework of the audit, existing measures were evaluated as well as new approaches and strategies developed. The central family-friendly focus at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences is particularly on the children of students and staff, while as a result of demographic changes the care of close family members is also gaining importance.

Good compatibility of studies, research or teaching with family needs has been confirmed by the Federal Ministry for Family and Youth with the awarding of this "universityandfamily” State seal of approval and was re-approved in 2016.

For students and employees

For students there is a wealth of information on offers to combine studying with child-care, and in 2013 appropriate considerations in the examination regulations were newly developed (e.g. recognition of a child’s illness as a reason for non-attendance). On top of this, all students benefit from sympathetic understanding and binding agreements suited to their individual needs to make studying compatible with family life.

For employees, the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) offers flexible working time models, excellent maternity leave management, seminars and ongoing internal communication on the topic of work-life balance. The Hilfswerk Salzburg runs the KinderVilla Urstein (childcare facility, from the age of 1) at the SUAS Urstein location.

Compatibility of family and teaching, career or studies is completely consistent with the values of Salzburg University of Applied Sciences– social competence, avant-garde, performance and future. – These considerations contribute to the increased motivation and willingness to perform and therefore are an integral part of the overall success of our institution.

On 12 March 2015, Managing Director Doris Walter officially received the "Seal of Quality for Workplace Health Promotion (BGF)". The seal of approval is the highest Austrian award for exemplary and, above all, sustainable investments in the health of employees. The award was preceded by two and a half years in which the FH Salzburg initiated comprehensive and sustainable measures with the "Fit4Future" project.

The seal of quality is an award of the "Austrian Network for Workplace Health Promotion" and is supported by the Healthy Austria Fund. The criteria for the award are based on the quality criteria of the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion. The companies submit an application, the members and partners of the Austrian Network as well as an international advisory board decide on the actual recognition. The seal of quality is awarded for three years at a time, a new application is possible at any time.

In 2018, the certification was extended for another three years.

First certification 2016

On 3 November 2016, FH Salzburg was the first university in Austria to be awarded the ZukunftVIELFALT® diversity certificate. Since October 2015, the FH Salzburg has dealt with diversity management in a structured way and defined measures that will be worked on until 2019. The entire process was audited by TÜV AUSTRIA CERT on the basis of ÖNORM S2501 (guidelines for diversity management) and the recommendation for certification was made.

For this commitment, the FH Salzburg received the ZukunftVIELFALT® certification. Both staff and students were involved in the development and auditing of the process by TÜV Austria.

Re-certification in 2019 and 2022

In 2019 and 2022, the FH Salzburg successfully completed the re-certification for the diversity management process ZukunftVIELFALT®. The process was again audited by TÜV AUSTRIA CERT on the basis of ÖNORM S2501 (Guidelines for Diversity Management). As part of the re-certification, a separate workshop on the topic of teaching took place, in which measures were developed in small groups to take diversity into account in didactics, in the curriculum or in the organisation of studies in the future. Further measures that were decided upon in the course of the re-certification are, for example: The development of a process for dealing with mobbing and discrimination, gender and diversity events, and measures for gender and diversity-appropriate teaching.