The Swiss University Conference (SUC) is the joint organisation of the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

s and the

Swiss Confederation ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

for university coordination and quality control.

Formal basis and history

The legal basis for the organization was laid down, on the one hand, in the University Funding Act of 8 October 1999 and, on the other, in the Intercantonal Convention on Coordinating University Policy of 9 December 1999. With

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

signing the

Bologna declaration The Bologna declaration (in full, Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education convened in Bologna on 19 June 1999) is the main guiding document of the Bologna process. It was adopted by ministers of education of 29 European countries ...

leading to a comprehensive reform of structures; the Swiss University Conference is in charge of leading out the

legal doctrine A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, Procedural law, procedural steps, or Test (law), test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about w ...

for the introduction of the Bologna Reform at the

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. It succeeded the former University Conference on 1 January 2001 under the Cooperation Agreement between the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

and University Cantons on Matters Relating to Universities. Since 1 January 2015, with the entry into force of the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector (Higher Education Act of 30 September 2011), the Swiss University Conference includes the seven universities of applied sciences (in addition to the ten universities and the two institutes of technology). Its German, French and Italian names were changed from ''Schweizerische Universitätskonferenz'', ''Conférence universitaire suisse'' and ''Conferenza universitaria svizzera'' to ''Schweizerischen Hochschulkonferenz'', ''Conférence suisse des hautes écoles'' and ''Conferenza svizzera delle scuole universitarie''.

Organisation before 2015

Roles

It has the power to enforce a number of decisions in defined areas and has the following tasks: * Issuing directives on the length of studies and recognition of previous studies and qualifications binding on the partners to the agreement; * Awards project-specific grants; * Periodical assessment of how National Centers of Competence in Research are allotted with respect to distribution of tasks among universities throughout Switzerland; * Recognition of academic bodies and courses; * Issuing directives on evaluation of teaching and research; * Issuing directives on knowledge transfer in research. Further, the conference makes recommendations on

Cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

, on plans for the future and on balanced division of tasks within the universities; it informs parties affected by current projects and consults them.

Administrative structure

The Swiss University Conference consists of the nine ministers of public education of the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

with universities, two representatives of cantons without a university, the Secretary of State for Education and Research and the President of the

ETH Board The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Board, German: ''Rat der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschulen'', French: ''Conseil des écoles polytechniques fédérales'') is the strategic unit elected by the Federal Council (S ...

. The President of the Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities also has a seat in a consultative capacity as do the director of the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology, the vice-director of the State Secretariate for Education and Research and the secretary general of the Swiss University Conference. Day-to-day business of the conference is cared for by its general secretariat, which also assists various commissions such as: the Conference of Chief officers at the ministerial departments for university education, the Agency for University Buildings as well as the steering committees for equal opportunities, for the Consortium for University Libraries and for cost calculation.

Accreditation role

A close partner of the Swiss University Conference is the Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS), which is entrusted with supervision of academic affairs. The accreditation process is conducted by the Body of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (OAQ).Guidelines of the Swiss University Conference for Academic Accreditation
(page visited on 5 April 2014).

Organisation since 2015

Since 2015, the Swiss University Conference includes the universities of applied sciences and is chaired by the

Federal Councillor The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state ...

heading the

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; french: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; it, Dipart ...

. It includes the cantonal ministers in charge of education. It also has a smaller council including only the

s with a higher education institution. Nicolas Dufour
"Universités, EPF et HES ont désormais leur conférence nationale"
''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

'', Friday 27 February 2015. The conference is in charge of coordination and quality control.

Notes and references

External links

Official website (since 2015)

Official website before 2015
{{authority control Higher education in Switzerland