Approved by the Director’s order Non-profit institution "Independent agency for accreditation and rating" №33-16-OD as of 01.09.2016
Regulations on the Appeals and Complaints Commission Independent agency for accreditation and rating 1. General Provisions 1. For the purpose of protecting the interests, guarantees and rights of educational institutions, as well as for consideration of appeals and complaints, if any, filed by educational institution, undertaking the procedure of institutional and specialized accreditation by the Independent agency for accreditation and rating, Appeals and Complaints Commission shall be established (hereinafter - the Commission). 1. Terms and definitions used in these Regulations: An appeal - a substantiated written complaint by the educational institution on disagreement with the results of the decisions of a recommendatory nature made by the external expert panel (hereinafter - EEP) and with the decision of the Accreditation Council (hereafter - AC) of an Independent agency for accreditation and rating (hereinafter - IAAR). An applicant - an educational institution in the form of a legal entity filed the appeal or complaint. Complaint – an expression of dissatisfaction, the requirement of a party to rehabilitate and protect the violated rights or legitimate interests related to the quality of services, or the IAAR employees’ actions, or that of the EEP members throughout institutional or specialized accreditation. 2. The Commission considers the applicant's appeal and complaints received in written form on official letterhead, signed by the head of the educational institution to the name of the IAAR Director: 010000, Astana city, 2 B.Momyshuly Str., 4d, which is recorded in the incoming information book and is submitted to the Commission Chairman. Oral applications shall not be accepted. 2. Composition of the Commission 4. The Commission operates as a collegiate body of IAAR. The Commission in its operations is guided by: 1) The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 2) The Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 3) other laws and regulations of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
4) international treaties and agreements in the field of accreditation of educational establishments; 5) these Regulations and IAAR regulatory documents. 5. The Commission shall consist of five (5) independent members, on a voluntary basis, including 2 permanent members (the Chairman and Vice-chairman) and three non-permanent members (including Masters or doctoral graduates). 5.1. Permanent members of the Commission are formed on the basis of proposals from professional associations of employers and are approved by the decision of the IAAR founder. If the Commission Chairman cannot attend the meeting, his powers shall be performed by his deputy. The term of office of the permanent members of the Commission shall be equal to three years. In the event the term of office of the Commission permanent members is expired, the new permanent members of the Commission shall be elected according to the principle above, or in the case of the proper performance of duties the term of the current permanent members of the Commission shall be extended by the IAAR founder's decision. 5.2. Irregular Commission members (including those undertaking Masters or doctoral studies) shall be formed by the Chairman of the Commission from the number of employers, representatives of other educational institutions as highly qualified specialists based on the profile of educational institutions to comprehensively and objectively consider appeals and complaints, as well as that pledged by other interested parties either not members of the AC nor IAAR experts to be identified by the IAAR Director orders. Prior to inclusion in the composition of the Commission, the member shall inform the IAAR Director on the existence of circumstances preventing its participation in the work of the Commission, if any. Non-permanent members of the Commission who have a conflict of interest when considering the appeal or the applicant's complaints are not involved in making decision to appeal or complaint. The term of office of non-permanent members of the Commission is the same as for consideration of appeals or complaints. 6. Administrative support for the Commission (the Commission Permanent Secretary) is provided by IAAR officer, legal adviser, not being involved in the assessment procedures of the educational programs or educational organizations. 7. The Commission members shall comply with confidentiality. 8. Members of the Commission may be exempted on the basis of: - Personal application; - If the activity of the Commission members is contrary to the regulatory documents referred to in paragraph 4 hereof, the IAAR Charter and other internal documents of the IAAR.
3. Grounds for appeal: 3.1.
appeals
9. Consideration of the applicant's appeal shall not be construed as re-conducting the procedures of institutional and / or specialized accreditation of educational institution. 10. If the educational institution, on the basis of institutional and specialized accreditation does not agree with the decision of the IAAR AC or the timeframe of the accreditation period, it is entitled to apply to the Commission within 7 (seven) business days from the date of written notification to the educational institution on the decision adopted by the IAAR AC. 3.2.
complaints
11. Consideration of the applicant's complaint shall not be construed as reconducting institutional procedures and / or specialized accreditation of educational organization. 12. The object of the complaint may be any decisions, actions or failure to act by IAAR employees and external experts, if as a result such decisions and actions have violated the applicant's rights and obligations. 4. Documents, procedure for consideration and decisions: 3.3.
on appeals
13. The educational institution receives a decision on accreditation / refusal of accreditation by IAAR AC within 7 (seven) working days from the date of accreditation. 14. An appeal shall be filed within the next 7 (seven) working days from the receipt of a written notice by the educational institution on the decision adopted by the IAAR AC. 15. An appeal shall be submitted in the form of a written application in the name of the IAAR Director on official letterhead of educational institution, signed by the chief executive officer, stating: - the name of the educational institution and / or educational program being accredited, the outcomes of accreditation being disputed; - substantiations. 15. The Commission within 30 calendar days after the receipt of the appeal shall make a decision containing recommendations on an appeal for the IAAR AC, which shall be submitted to the next meeting of the IAAR AC. Resolution of the IAAR AC is final; it shall be made in writing and recorded in the minutes. Re-appeal shall not be carried out. Claims on the appeal results shall not be considered.
16. The meeting of the Commission is closed and can be conducted using interactive means of communication (video conferencing, Skype and others.). 17. Meetings of the Commission is legally qualified if it is attended by at least 50% of the Commission members. 18. A decision on the appeal is made on the basis of a majority of the Commission members and registered in the minutes signed by the Chair of the Commission and its members. In the event of equality of votes, the Commission Chairman’s vote is decisive. 19. Based on the application results the Commission may recommend the IAAR AC the following: - to make a new decision. 20. The Commission's recommendations to be discussed at a meeting of the IAAR AC, must be reasonable and include specific facts to refute or confirm the applicant's arguments explaining their right to appeal the adopted decision. 21. IAAR AC decision shall be communicated to the applicant in writing by IAAR within 14 (fourteen) calendar days after the decision adopted by the IAAR AC. 22. In the event AC decision is amended, IAAR takes the necessary procedures for its implementation. 23. The decision made by the Commission and the IAAR AC may be appealed by the applicant in the court according to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 4.2. on complaints 24. The complaint shall be filled in any form (with the name of the educational institution, its location, the exact postal address, the reference number and date, the essence of the appeal, explicit requirements on the subject of the dispute, signed by the head or deputy head of the educational institution). 25. The complaint of educational institution is registered and submitted to the IAAR Director, which is passed to the Commission Chairman. IAAR Director sends the educational institution concerned a written confirmation on the receipt of the complaint by the Commission. 26. The complaint may be submitted in any period of time during the process o f institutional and / or specialized accreditation of educational institution. 27. If the educational institution is not satisfied with the services provided by IAAR, it must inform the supervisor or Chairman of the external expert panel, who are visiting the educational institution. If the educational institution was unable to resolve the problem on the spot, it shall have the right to write a complaint to the Commission. 28. In consideration of the complaint by the Commission the confidentiality of information representing trade secrets and personal information shall be duly observed.
29. The Commission requests the copies of all documents that were used during the accreditation process, including the materials prepared by IAAR, the organization of education itself and by external expert panel. If necessary, the Commission may request additional information (including in oral form) from the Chairman and members of the external expert panel. 30. In the event of incorrect information by the educational institution, the complaint shall not be accepted. Also the applicants' complaints filed anonymously, with no indication of the name, first name, without signature, and not containing the essence of the issue, or conditions that gave a rise to the complaint, and those that were subsequently corrected on the spot shall not be accepted. 31. The Commission within 30 calendar days after receipt of the complaint shall make a decision with recommendations on the complaint to the IAAR Director. 32. The meeting of the Commission is closed and can be conducted using interactive means of communication (video conferencing, Skype and others). 33. Meetings of the Commission are legally legitimate if it is attended by at least 50% of the Commission members. 34. The decision on the complaint shall be made on the basis of a majority of the Commission members and registered in the minutes signed by the Chair of the Commission and its members. In the event of the vote’s equality, the Commission Chairman’s vote is decisive. 35. As a result of the application the Commission may recommend IAAR Director the following: - to take appropriate measures. 36. The decision made by the Commission and IAAR Director can be appealed by the applicant in the court according to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.