Considering the importance and the necessity of accreditation which leads to the international accreditation of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), the participation of university in the accreditation process is a must. To do so, there are prerequisites and conditions that should be met and paving the way for this process requires the active cooperation of all the existing units of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
This cooperation involves the offices of Vice-Chancellor and Schools of the university. The very first step to materialize this cooperation is to collect the required information according to the instruction of the accreditation body. These documents involve all the existing units.
The second step is to conduct self-assessment process which is performed according to the plans that accreditation body presents or the current plans in the university. This stage of accreditation is very sensitive and crucial since the accurate presentation of information plays a significant role in the accreditation decision taken by the accreditation body. At the final stage, after the site-visit of peer-reviewers from the university, receiving improvement advices and correcting the missing points, the accreditation decision is announced.
With the consulting and studies that were conducted in the office of vice Chancellor for Global Strategies, and even before that in International Campus (2011-2012), about choosing a recognized accreditation body that is accepted by world accreditation organizations in quality assurance and accreditation, the accreditation committee of TUMS chose Accreditation Services for International Colleges (ASIC) to evaluate TUMS according to the standards that ASIC had defined beforehand. Factors such as the possibility of being in Asia and Iran, The recognition of the accreditation body, its registration as an accreditation organization, universities which have been accredited by this accreditation body and etc. have been considered. Finally, TUMS was able to receive this accreditation certificate in 2013. This certificate is valid for four years. After four years, TUMS presents its improvement plans and shows the efforts it has made has removed the weaknesses of the quality and declares its readiness for reaccreditation. The plan of TUMS for this period of four years is as shown in the table.
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Scheduling
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Plans
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First year
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Conducting self-assessment and providing improvement plans
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Second and third year
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Employment of policies and performing the plans
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Fourth year
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Re-conducting Self-assessment before external evaluation
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After getting the accreditation certificate from Accreditation Services for International Colleges (ASIC), TUMS, specifically office of Vice Chancellor for Global Strategies and International Affairs decided to establish the International Quality Assurance and Accreditation Network in order to apply amendments, improve and monitor the weaknesses of the university.
Along with this, the plan of International Accreditation of TUMS (IQAAN) was prepared and approved on January 20th, 2015. This document introduces the international accreditation network of TUMS. The international accreditation network consists of headquarter of international accreditation network, the committee of vice chancellors in international accreditation and an international accreditation working group which are the three main layers of it.