CHE Accreditation & Programme Design

Summary

The CHE module helps higher-education providers manage Council on Higher Education accreditation end to end. This guide walks you through setting up your institution, building Self-Evaluation Reports (SERs), recording governance and policies, running review cycles, designing HEQSF programmes with the Curriculum Design Studio, and measuring accreditation readiness.

Who This Guide Is For

• Quality assurance and accreditation managers at higher-education institutions
• SDP administrators preparing CHE submissions
• Academic staff responsible for programme design and self-evaluation

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• An SDP Admin role with CHE access on your tenant
• Your institution’s CHE and DHET registration codes
• Governance structure details (Senate, Academic Board, committees)
• Programme information for any qualifications you are accrediting

Step 1: Set Up Your Institution Profile

Navigate to CHE → Institution.

Complete the institution profile:

• Basic Info — name, type, delivery mode, website
• Registration — registration number, CHE code, DHET code
• Address — physical and postal
• Key Personnel — Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, QA Director

This profile feeds every downstream SER, review cycle, and accreditation pack.

Tip: Capture your CHE and DHET codes exactly as they appear on your registration certificates — they are reused across reports.

Step 2: Open the CHE Dashboard

Navigate to CHE → Dashboard.

The dashboard surfaces key metrics (Programmes, Active SERs, Reviews, Staff, Documents, Action Plans) and quick links to every CHE area. Use New SER or Upload Document to jump straight into common tasks, and review the recent activity feed.

Step 3: Build a Self-Evaluation Report (SER)

Navigate to CHE → Self-Evaluation Reports.

1. Click New SER and choose a template.
2. Work through the report sections, attaching evidence as you go.
3. Track status as it moves Draft → In Progress → Submitted → Approved.

Use the status and year filters to find existing SERs, and export an approved SER when you are ready to submit to CHE.

Step 4: Record Governance and Policies

Navigate to CHE → Governance.

Create governance bodies (Senate, Academic Board, Faculty Board, Programme Committee, Quality Committee, and others) and record their meetings and decisions with Record Meeting.

Then navigate to CHE → Policies to log institutional policies by category (Assessment, RPL, Language, QA, Teaching & Learning, Research, and more). Each policy carries a status of Draft, Under Review, Approved, or Expired.

Tip: Link minutes and approved policies into your evidence portfolio so they are ready to cite in an SER.

Step 5: Run Review Cycles

Navigate to CHE → Review Cycles.

Create a cycle for the relevant accreditation event (New Accreditation, Re-accreditation, National Review, Improvement Plan Review, Candidacy, or Audit). The cycle tracks progress through Planning, Preparation, Submitted, Under Review, Site Visit, Awaiting Decision, Decided, and Closed.

Record CHE feedback under CHE → Reviews, where each review carries a type, priority, status, and action-item progress.

Step 6: Design a Programme

Navigate to CHE → Programmes.

1. Click New Programme to register a HEQSF programme (status moves Design → Internal Review → Submitted → Accredited).
2. Open a programme and launch the Curriculum Design Studio to work through the nine design steps: Programme Overview, Qualification Structure, Module Design, Exit-Level Outcomes, Assessment Criteria & Evidence, Assessment Strategy, Resources & Staffing, Compliance Check, and Accreditation Pack.
3. The studio includes a Bloom’s Taxonomy verb library and a live compliance score to keep outcomes well-formed.

Use the Programme Engine tabs (Overview, Curriculum Map, Outcomes, Staffing, Governance, Risks) to review and refine a programme over time, and the Programme Wizard for a guided, step-by-step build.

Tip: Run the Compliance Check step before generating an Accreditation Pack so any gaps in outcomes or evidence are resolved first.

Step 7: Check Readiness and Manage Evidence

Navigate to CHE → Readiness to create institutional or programme readiness assessments scored against a selected framework, giving you a RAG view of where you stand.

Navigate to CHE → Evidence and CHE → Documents to maintain your evidence portfolio and document library, verifying and categorising items so they are inspection-ready. For larger accreditation efforts, use CHE → Implementation to track multi-phase projects with per-phase scores.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Incomplete institution profile — missing CHE/DHET codes break downstream packs.
2. Unverified evidence — evidence that is not verified will not stand up at review.
3. Skipping the Compliance Check step — exit-level outcomes and assessment criteria must align before submission.
4. Stale governance records — record meetings and decisions as they happen, not retrospectively.
5. Treating the SER as a one-off — keep it updated across the review cycle.

Verification Checklist

Before submitting to CHE, verify:

• Institution profile complete with CHE and DHET codes
• Relevant SER(s) approved and exported
• Governance bodies, meetings, and decisions recorded
• Institutional policies approved and current
• Programme design passes the Compliance Check step
• Readiness assessment shows acceptable RAG scores
• Evidence portfolio verified and categorised

Next Steps

• Multi-Campus Accreditation — Track accreditation across sites
• DHET Reporting & HEMIS — Submit statutory institutional data
• Audit Trail & Compliance Enforcement — Keep governance evidence intact
• Audit Readiness Checklist (QCTO) — Prepare for inspections