EQAR NEWSLETTER - MAY 2022
News: Annual Report 2021 pubished | New projects | General Assembly update | Call for students to join the ESU Quality Assurance Student Experts’ Pool
Annual Report 2021 published
We are pleased to announce that our Annual Report 2021 has been published on our website. .png)
The year 2021 was another year of many on-line meetings and a lot of teleworking. A few hybrid meetings here and there (one of them a Register Committee meeting) kept our hopes up and, in combination with everyone’s improved computer skills, overall patience and perseverance, many things got accomplished.
You can read about it in our Annual Report, which includes a comprehensive overview of the work of the Register Committee, DEQAR (project) milestones and activities, EQAR's contribution to the development of the EHEA, EQAR’s external evaluation, webinars, events, publications, finances, organisational updates etc.
Check out the Annual report on our website.
New projects
EQAR is project partner in three exciting new projects that recently have been approved for EU co-funding:
1) Implementation and Innovation in QA through Peer Learning (IMINQA)
This is an umbrella project, coordinated by the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, to support the work of the Bologna Thematic Peer Group C on Quality Assurance, focusing on the implementation of the key commitment on quality assurance in all EHEA countries.
What to expect?
- Three Peer Learning Activities, organised by EQAR. The first one will tackle the alignment of the legal frameworks with the ESG. The second one will focus on cross-border QA and the QA of transnational education. The third and final PLA will address the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes.
- Staff mobility opportunities.
- Three thematic topics: the QA of micro-credentials, the QA of European Universities and the digitalisation of QA procedures and processes.
Working groups on these topics will contribute to drive the EHEA policies further in those areas. All outcomes of the project will feed into the work of the Bologna Follow Up Group and eventually into the next ministerial communiqué in 2024.
2) Quality Assurance Fit for the Future (QA FIT)
One of the main questions that will be addressed during the QA-FIT project, coordinated by ENQA, is whether the ESG are ready for the future, and if not, how to make sure they are. Various stakeholders have appealed to make further revisions to the ESG in order to reflect recent developments in higher education, allow more room for innovation in quality assurance in the future and facilitate a more flexible application of common standards.
What to expect?
- Comprehensive mapping exercise to collect concrete evidence on the scope and implementation of internal and external quality assurance policies and practices.
- Showcase transferable case examples of how the ESG can be used more flexibly and innovatively by stakeholders in different contexts.
- In-depth stakeholder consultation.
- The development of policy messages to be taken up further in national, European Union and EHEA policy discussions.
EQAR will be responsible for preparing, analysing and disseminating (via webinar and other means) the surveys for, and handling the consultation with, ministries of higher education. EQAR will additionally organise the final policy event that will disseminate the key policy messages, also considering the outcomes of the Bologna Process Ministerial Conference.
3) The TPG-LRC Constructing Recognition in the EHEA (TPG-LRC CoRE)
The TPG (Thematic Peer Group) - LRC (Lisbon Recognition Convention) Constructing Recognition in the EHEA is an umbrella project, coordinated by CIMEA (the Italian ENIC-NARIC) and aims at supporting the implementation of the Bologna Process, focusing on key commitment 2: national legislation and procedures compliant with the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
Among others, three open seminars will be organised as multiplier events respectively on alternative pathways, automatic recognition and digitalisation (the last two co-organised by EQAR) to share knowledge and build ownership.
The final event is meant to disseminate the Tirana Communiqué (2024) and showcase the results of the project as well as the results of other initiatives for the implementation of the Bologna Process.
General Assembly update
After two long years of online meetings, EQAR members got together in person for the 18th General Assembly (GA) in Strasbourg on 13 April 2022, in conjunction with the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) on 11-12 April.
We thank the Council of Europe for hosting the GA, as well as the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for their much-appreciated logistical support.
After a thematic session on quality assurance of micro-credentials and alternative providers, presented by Magalie Soenen (Flemish Ministry of Education and Training), EQAR members approved the accounts, the budget, the work plan, the annual report and elected a number of committee members. Special topics under consideration included the war on Ukraine and the status of Russia in the EHEA as well as the follow-up of the External Evaluation of EQAR.
Being there with our members gave us a much-needed energy boost (#exit screen-fatigue). We hope to see more of our members and other stakeholders this year!
Read all about the EQAR General Assembly.
Call for students to join the ESU Quality Assurance Student Experts’ Pool
The ESU’s Quality Assurance Student Experts Pool has been established to promote student engagement in quality assurance and to contribute to the improvement of higher education provision in the European Higher Education Area.
High quality higher education is a constant goal for all higher education stakeholders. Quality assurance, the formal tool that helps higher education institutions to achieve this ambition, gathers experts from different stakeholder groups and includes students. They play an important role in both external and internal quality assurance. 
Criteria for selection:
- Registered higher education student (at any level) or recently graduated (within 1 year) - only if continuing membership.
- Previous experience in various levels of quality assurance in higher education, especially participation in reviews or review-like activities.
- Demonstration of motivation to join the ESU QA Pool and contribute to promote student participation in quality assurance of higher education.
- Experience in student representation.
- Excellent command of English.
Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your horizons, learn new skills, meet new people, but most of all to let the students' perspective count; submit your application until 15 May to join the ESU quality assurance student experts' pool.
