Swissuniversities (stylised as swᴉssunᴉversᴉtᴉes) is the umbrella organization of universities and colleges in Switzerland.
Swissuniversities has 36 member institutions, including the two federal institutes of technology, ten cantonal universities, nine universities of applied sciences, and fourteen universities of teacher education.
History
The Higher Education Act of 2011 called for the creation of a unified organization for Swiss higher education institutions. This led to the merger of the previous organizations, that is CRUS (universities), KFH (universities of applied sciences), and COHEP (universities of teacher education). Swissuniversities was founded in 2012 and officially began operations on January 1, 2015 when the Higher Education Act went into effect.[1]
Organization
Swissuniversities has the following governing bodies:
Plenary Assembly
Three chambers representing universities, universities of applied sciences, and universities of teacher education
Executive Board
Delegations and delegates
Networks and representatives
Secretary General's Office
Responsibilities
The main purpose of Swissuniversities is to deepen and promote cooperation among higher education institutions in Switzerland. It represents the interests of Swiss universities and colleges at national and international levels. Swissuniversities can take on mandates from the federal government as well as lead programs and projects. It also operates the Swiss ENIC office for academic recognition of domestic and foreign credentials.
Swissuniversities has the following key responsibilities:
Providing input to the Swiss Conference of Higher Education and making proposals on behalf of higher education institutions
Representing the interests of Swiss universities and colleges at national and international levels
Taking on mandates from the federal government and leading programs and projects
Operating the Swiss ENIC office for recognition of academic credentials
Handling applications and admissions for medical studies in Switzerland
Swissuniversities works closely with the Swiss Conference of Higher Education, the main political body for higher education in Switzerland.
