The TedQual Certification establishes a quality assurance system for tourism education, training and research programs worldwide.  The certification, effective March 2002 to March 2006, recognizes the TIM School’s quality management processes, structure and organization in providing quality education.  With an overall goal of building toward standardization of quality management, structure and organization in tourism education and training systems, the TedQual Certification also aims to more-specifically define the teacher-student relationship, increasing productivity in tourism. Universities, business schools, training centers and research institutions with permanent tourism programs, are eligible for certification.

The Certification process, which took place in January at the TIM School, included an audit by an independent auditing agency that examined the School’s processes for quality operations and management.  Administrators, faculty and students were interviewed along with the presentation of documentation of quality processes in the School.  The TIM School received an overall rating of 98% and received between a 94-100% rating in six audit process areas, including the employers (society and industry), students, curriculum, faculty, infrastructure and management.  The TIM School, along with George Washington University, received the highest overall rating score of any certified institution. 

The TIM School joins an elite cadre of over 20 institutions worldwide with this certification, strengthening its international reputation.  These institutions include institutions in Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.  The TIM School is the first institution in Hawaii to receive the TedQual certification.  An additional 80 institutions have applied for and are awaiting certification.

The certified institutions form the WTO Education Council, an active policy-making body working in conjunction with the WTO Human Resource Development program to contribute to the global strategy of WTO in the areas of tourism education, training and academic research as well as representing and fostering the views of the academic stakeholders in tourism.  It meets periodically to discuss issues in tourism education and training at a global, regional and local level, and the TIM School is Vice Chair of this Council.

About the TIM School
The TIM School is a leading professional institution in the development and dissemination of knowledge on all aspects of the travel industry in the Pacific. It is well known for its diverse and highly published faculty, who are very involved in research and service in addition to their teaching activities. The School specializes in the Asia-Pacific region, however its student body and faculty come from all over the world.  The School offers quality degree and professional educational programs including a Bachelor of Science Degree with emphasis on hospitality management, tourism management or transportation management, a Master of Science Degree and the e-TIM On-line Graduate Certificate Program.  The School also offers the Executive Development Institute for Tourism (EDIT) and the Hawaii International Hotel Institute (HIHI), professional training programs for travel industry executives and professionals.  The School is accredited through 2007 by the ACPHA (Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration) and has received the TedQual (Tourism Education Quality) certificate designation by the WTO (World Tourism Organization).