About

International Accreditation

Universidad de Lima, true to its vision and quality policy, is focused on continuous improvement of its processes keeping up international quality standards, as demonstrated by the revalidation of the IAC institutional accreditation, which is a division of the Centro Interuniversitario de Desarrollo (Cinda), Interuniversity Development Center, for a period of five years, term that ends in 2017. Our Degree Programs are also being accredited individually by the IAC.

Institutional Accreditation

Accreditation is a voluntary process of rigorous analysis, conducted by external agencies that have no relation with the institution of higher education, which aims at supervising public faith regarding compliance with:

  • Clarity in defining mission and goals. 
  • Will and solvency to do what is promised. 
  • Consistency between processes, mission and achievements. 
  • Setting of quality standards consistent with the policy of accreditation
  • Continuous improvement of processes.

The following are benefits of institutional accreditation:

  • Allows setting improvement plans and raising the level of institutional competitiveness.
  • Increases the chance that graduates get better jobs in their careers. 
  • Provides public assurance of professional competence of graduates, facilitates the recognition of degrees, the exchange of students, faculty and graduates at national and international levels.

1. Accreditation Process Steps

2. Background of institutional accreditation

Since its foundation, our University has had a permanent interest in providing quality service. Thus, both the institution and the degree programs have been assessed through various processes of self-assessment and external assessment, obtaining international accreditations and international certifications that attest to the effectiveness with which Universidad de Lima provides academic and administrative services:

2007: Certification of quality management system according to ISO 9001: 2000 awarded by Bureau Veritas (all 17 processes accredited). 

2008: Institutional Accreditation of Universidad de Lima, granted by the IAC for a period of three years.

2012: Institutional reaccreditation of the university granted by IAC, during five years, ending in 2017.

Every accreditation must be made with reference to a number of predetermined standards. IAC standards allow assessing the quality of an institution taking into account the information contained in the self-assessment report, the external assessment report and other background information provided by the institution.

Accreditation by Degree Program

1. Accreditation Models Standards

In the case of Degree Programs, under the accreditation process that IAC leads, three standards with their respective criteria apply, which are a tool to guide the processes of self and external assessment.

AACSB International Accreditation for Business Degree Programs

The Management Degree Program is preparing to pursue the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) international accreditation, which is an international organization established in 1916, involving institutions, businesses and other organizations for the purpose of enhancing instruction on business management.

2. Accreditation Processes

Our University also works for a specific accreditation for each Degree Program. In this regard, we have obtained the following IAC recognitions:
2015: Revalidation of Accreditation of Business Administration, Economics, Accounting, Communication, Industrial Engineering and Systems Engineering Degree Programs, granted by IAC for a period of four years (2015-2019)

The revalidation process of accreditation started in early 2014 by forming accreditation teams of the Degree Programs, under the leadership of the Planning Office. These teams wrote the Self-Assessment Report that details compliance with international standards, and the improvements carried out in every degree program during the recent years.

In December 2014 a team of international experts came to our University in order to assess our degree programs, had meetings with authorities, faculty, students, graduates and staff. They also perused reports and procedures. This allowed them to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in each of our degree programs

The result of such hard work is international recognition of the quality of the Degree Programs offered by Universidad de Lima.

2015: Revalidation of international accreditation of the Degree Programs in Law and Degree Program in Psychology 

The Degree Program in Law and the Degree Program in Psychology are in the process of self-assessment in order to renew the IAC accreditation that ends in December 2015.

Self-assessment process of Degree Programs

The Degree Programs in International Business, Marketing and Architecture are in the process of self-assessment in order to achieve for the first time the IAC international accreditation in 2016.

Coordination Program of the self-assessment process of three Degree Programs according to standards of Sineace (Sistema Nacional de Evaluación, Acreditación y Certificación de la Calidad Educativa, National System for Evaluation, Accreditation and Certification of Educational Quality).

In 2016 Degree Programs of Management, Communication and Industrial Engineering will begin the process of self-assessment according to Sineace standards, in order to achieve their national accreditation.

Maintaining the Accreditation

Among other duties, Universidad de Lima Planning Office manages institutional and Degree programs accreditation processes, and has a team formed of quality and accreditation coordinators for all Degree programs. In this way, it ensures that the quality standards established by accreditation models are maintained, and promotes teamwork, facilitating continuous improvement.

QS Stars Certification

The QS StarsTM rating system is operated by the QS Intelligence Unit, the independent compiler of the QS World University Rankings® since 2004. This system evaluates universities across a wide range of important performance indicators as set against pre-established international standards. By covering a broader range of criteria than any world ranking exercise, QS Stars™ shines a light on both the excellence and the diversity of the rated institution.

This year, Universidad de Lima has been awarded with three stars which internationally validates the quality of its educational offer.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a British company founded in 1990 that specializes in education solutions, and publishes one of the most prestigious world university rankings. In 2010, QS launched a world university rating system: QS Stars which rates over 275 higher education institutions in around 45 countries after a thorough assessment based on over 50 indicators.

Continuous Improvement

5S program

The 5S program is a Japanese technique that improves productivity and optimizes the tasks that are performed in any work environment. This philosophy is based on five Japanese words that promote practice of five habits:

  • Seiri (sort): remove unnecessary items
  • Seiton (organizing): sort the elements. 
  • Seiso (clean): keep clean spaces and objects
  • Seiketsu (standardize): prevent the onset of the disorder and dirt. 
  • Shitsuke (instill discipline): promote efforts and continuous improvement on what is learnt.

The Planning Office is coordinating the training, implementation and monitoring of the 5S program in laboratories, workshops, warehouses and offices of the University. Currently, 19 areas participate in the 5S Program. The activities carried out are:

Training provided to staff on 5S tools in order to implement the Program.

Supervision and advising on implementing 5S.
Training to 5S team of evaluators.
Planning and conducting audits to the 5S Program.

In October, the Planning Office organized the first event of recognition of continuous improvement projects submitted in 2013 by the various departments of the University, as well as the areas implemented outstandingly by 5S.

Eight 5S program environments and seven improvement projects were recognized.

The Planning Office is organizing now the event for Recognition to Continuous Improvement 2015.

Information

For inquiries and more information, write to:
Planning Office
oplanul@ulima.edu.pe