academic charter

Our Academic Charter:

“Our teaching aims to provide specialist knowledge of the principal alcoholic beverages of the world in combination with commercial factors. The excellence of the teaching transmitted to our students is enriched by a variety of practical and theoretical exercises.”

Unpacking the Mission Statement / Objectives :

1.     All our courses have been designed so that the students:

• are able to attain a high level of quality and internationally recognised; be it on an academic, professional or vocational level.
• Have access to the latest developments – be they scientific or statistics
• Are able to benefit from the national and international communities of which we are active members.
• Are supported by efficient teaching methodologies that encourage and favour learning and research through the appropriate technology and pedagogical approach.
• Support our students on an academic, as well as personal level with advice given as needed privately should the need arise.
• Our students are encouraged to become innovative persons who contribute to their sphere of influence (work or other) and are more efficient.
• Develop careers that are both intellectually stimulating and rewarding.

2. Our teaching methodology is founded on:

• Specialised subject knowledge and its application
• An informed practice ”founded in evidence” and “innovative”
• Small classroom groups (maximum of 10 to 15 participants depending on course location)
• A modern educational approach based on experiential learning
• Applied research to pertinent problems and their solutions
• Our continual questioning approach and not taking anything for granted prior to entering the classroom with the fixed objective of self-improvement

3. Our applied research includes:

• A close partnership with partners from all sectors – public, private and voluntary
• Making use of our knowledge and capabilities with a view to understanding and solving existing problems that could be beneficial on an economic, commercial, environmental, cultural or social level
• Individual and group research projects
• Tailor-made courses to encourage the transfer of knowledge
• Serving on competition juries both in Switzerland and abroad
• Working with professionals from different disciplines/backgrounds whose discipline possesses common elements and where the objective is the exchange of knowledge.

The future:

In the next 10 years, we should:

1. Have successfully designed pertinent courses on the vocational level that are, at the same time both innovative and creative where the objective is the improvement of the student’s learning process
2. Have increased our number of students
3. Have raised our students’ level of satisfaction to the level of “very satisfied”
4. Have improved the career opportunities for our graduates
5. Have improved the level of satisfaction amongst our staff using appropriate external tests
6. Have raised the number of students attending our courses in the Cantons where we are currently active, added other Cantons to our sphere of operations and established ourselves with a reputation for quality
7. Be recognised and benefit from a reputation with both individuals and with companies in Switzerland for offering quality further education in the specialised field of alcoholic beverages and the production thereof

Values

1. We operate on the principle of academic freedom
2. We contribute to economical prosperity, cohesion and social well-being
3. We are motivated by a constant search to stimulate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship amongst our students, our staff and the organisations we work with
4. We aim to work in long-term partnerships, with external organisations, and we encourage teamwork within our institution
5. We firmly believe that we improve ourselves and become stronger by listening and learning from all who make use of our services
6. We pursue the continual improvement of our services, and do everything possible to be more client oriented and use the advances in technology in an appropriate manner
7. As an organisation we respect one another and value the diversity and equality of opportunity which are available to us
8. We value our staff and strive to support them in the development of their knowledge, experience and skills for their professional well-being and the institution’s benefit
9. We aim to respect the environment and the communities we are active in
10. We strive to raise the awareness of all our students and staff of the implicit responsibility and the dangers of working in a domain with alcoholic beverages