V.A.E. Validation of acquired experience

V.A.E. (Validation of experience gained or admission to dossier) is a new way to obtain the title and then adds to the classical university one and has the same value.
All those who practice a professional activity for at least 3 years at a managerial and / or professional level preferably in the private sector, can get the title by recognizing their professional experience and the acquired skills. For this they must deposit an application for admission to the VAE for the validation of the acquired skills.

V.A.E. takes into account the professional skills developed in wage, non-salariate and volunteer activities, in relation to the content of the title.

Experience validation is a faculty and does not constitute an obligation. It is done at the request of the person. There are privacy clauses on the confidentiality of the information communicated in the application pursuant to the federal law on the protection of personal data.

Who can get the title with the VAE
Those who have a minimum experience of a minimum three years at an managerial and / or professionals, entrepreneurs can obtain the validation of the acquired experience.

They can present themselves:

  • The unemployed, employed adults, with a work experience, but without a professional qualification of at least 3 years or with a qualification unsuitable for the offer of the labor market;
  • Young people without professional qualifies but having a professional experience of at least 3 years;
  • The salaries of the private contract with an indefinite duration, a certain, temporary duration contract, which justify a professional experience in the disciplinary field of the selected Faculty of at least 3 years;
  • The non-wage: liberal profession, artisans, traders, entrepreneurs, managers etc… who can justify a professional experience in the disciplinary field of the selected Faculty of at least 3 years;
  • The volunteers who have an associative experience and that can justify a professional experience in the disciplinary field of the selected Faculty of at least 3 years.

What experience is taken into account
The experience of which one is taken into account for the VAE must be 3 years minimum. These three years of experience are justified by a salary, non-salariate or voluntary activity, exercised continuously or not (interim) in Switzerland and / or abroad, full-time or part-time, in relation to the degree course to which you intend to sign up at a managerial level.

Whatever the position of the applicant will be excluded from the calculation of the useful experience the initial or continuous training periods and the internships in the professional field carried out for the preparation of another diploma or title. It is up to the evaluation nucleus to evaluate the professional character of competences. To evaluate the competences of the candidate, the Commission also takes into account university studies carried out even if partial.

How the Vae procedure takes place

The principle of validation consists in assessing the competences acquired by the candidate through his professional experience and compare them to the needs of the chosen degree course studies. There are 2 main and subsequent stages in the validation procedure of the acquired experience:

  1. The admissibility of the application

VAE APPLICATIONS CAN BE DONE AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR, EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE. The candidate who wants to validate his skills must first obtain the admissibility of his question. For this he must imperatively forward an application for online admission, at any time of the year,

  1. The actual assessment of competences and any complementary training

The assessment of the personal and professional experience of the candidate allows:

  • A) Both to obtain admission directly to the preparation of the degree thesis: If the competences evaluated by the VAE Commission correspond to the totality of the competences of the respective degree course.

In this case, and without exceeding profit exams, the candidate must enroll in order to automatically obtain, by Commission decision, admission directly to the preparation of the thesis

  • B) Both to obtain partial exemption from some profit tests in waiting for complementary training: If the VAE Commission believes that the assessed competences do not cover all the diploma fields, but only a few parts. In this case, the Commission is pronounced on the competences which, within 3 years of the notification of its decision, for the three-year degree and 2 years for the Master, must be the subject of complementary training and evaluation necessary for obtaining the title . The candidate must therefore register and follow the necessary training modules by exceeding the relevant profit tests.

When and how to evaluate

The following methods are implemented to carry out, at any time of the year, the assessment of the candidate according to the profile and documents provided. There is therefore a particular period for this assessment that is carried out by chance according to a planning adapted to the candidate:

  • In all cases, a dossier evaluation is carried out. The dossier consists of three parts: a personal presentation, a description of the loans carried out – functions exercised, instructors made -, certificates or the justifications. The candidate will have to highlight the specificities of the activity, and the work context. Academic evaluation devices can accompany the candidate in his validation path. At the request of the candidate or of the VAE commission, meetings can be organized to explicit or provide more information.

The evaluation is always carried out by the VAE evaluation core of whose composition and designation are fixed by the Title Rules. The judgment is unquestionable.

Directives on the validation of the experiences acquired (VAE)

Art. 1 These directives establish the framework conditions for the VAE procedure.

Art. 2 Admission to the VAE procedure takes place voluntary.

Art. 3 Candidates for a VAE procedure must possess the following cumulative conditions:

  1. be in possession of a high school diploma;
  2. demonstrate a professional experience in the disciplinary fields similar to those concerning the chosen degree course of a minimum 3 years;
  3. minimum age 23 years at the time of question Vae.

Art. 4 The candidate for the VAE procedure can deposit a single request for Procedure Vae at a time per academic year.

Art. 5 The VAE procedure is free.

Art. 6 The candidate who satisfies the admission conditions is officially considered and which receives the official Vae evaluation.

Art. 7 The dossier VAE precise:

  1. the knowledge to do (experience acquired passed and current);
  2. justifies the skills acquired by the candidate explicitly.

Art. 8 The VAE evaluation core is composed of at least 3 members (2 belonging to the teacher body of the course of studies affier and 1 external).

The external member must belong to the professional world exercising a main activity relating to that concerning the assessment and competent to evaluate the candidate.

Art. 9 The VAE core evaluates the application based on the Dossier (Curriculum Vitae and Studiorum of the candidate accompanied by the related documents) presented by the candidate.

It determines the knowledge, competences and attitudes acquired by the candidate in relation to the chosen course of study.

It determines the number of ECTS receivables recognized within the framework of the Vae equivalent procedure, with regard to those of the chosen course of study.

It recommends, if appropriate, a supplementary training plan according to the skills to be acquired from the candidate in relation to the chosen course of study.

Art. 10 The experiences acquired and recognized to give the right to ECTS credits (European credit system). Recognized credits have a maximum limit of 170 ECTS.

Art. 11 The VAE nucleus is pronounced on the candidate’s question. It transmits to the Director of the Institute its motivated decision that sends it to the candidate. The decision (assessment of credits) indicates the number of recognized credits and the individual path of studies.

In the event of refusal of the application of a candidate, a new application for procedure VAE can be re-proposed by the same candidate for the same course of study not before 1 month from the previous one.

Art. 12 Registration for the chosen studies must take place at the latest within 1 month from receipt of the VAE assessment by the candidate, elapsed the candidate must request an update of the VAE procedure with a new evaluation or integration of the previous one, if necessary.

Art. 13 In the event of fraud during the VAE procedure, the decision to interrupt and cancel the procedure is taken by the director of the Institute. It cancels all previous decisions concerning that candidate.

Art. 14 These directives come into force on 1 March 2006. They were adopted by the hochschule’s academic senate in the session of 1 March 2006.

 

Reference:

Swiss Conference of Public Education Directors

Directives des commissions de reconnaissance de la CDIP pour la validation des acquis de formation formels et de niveau haute école Les présentes directives sont applicables à partir du 1er janvier 2020

Berne, le 2 décembre 2019, 350-27