The Accreditation Council is the central decision-making body of the Accreditation Council Foundation, a joint institution of the federal states for quality assurance in teaching and learning at German universities. It decides on the accreditation and re-accreditation of study programmes, universities' own quality assurance systems (system accreditation) and alternative procedures. The members of the Accreditation Council are appointed for a period of four years.

University Rector Prof. Dr Birgitta Wolff is delighted with the positive news at the beginning of the year and congratulates: "The reappointment of our long-standing University Council Chairman to the Accreditation Council, the highest quality assurance body for academic teaching in Germany, shows that Josef Beutelmann is held in the highest regard not only at state level, but also at national level at the interface between politics, science and business."

The Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching, Prof Dr Susanne Buch, adds: "With his nationwide insight into all accreditation procedures at German universities, Josef Beutelmann is also a particularly valuable advisor to the University of Wuppertal on issues relating to the quality of studies and teaching. We are delighted to continue to be part of this valuable knowledge network through him."

Josef Beutelmann has been a member of the University Council of the University of Wuppertal since 2007. Since 2023, Beutelmann has also been the spokesperson for the Conference of University Council Chairmen of Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia (KVHU). In 2006, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate from the then Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.

Further information can be found in the press release on the new term of office of the Accreditation Council from 5 January 2026