EQAR NEWSLETTER - JULY 2022

Registration of five agencies renewed

Register Committee members gathered in Lausanne on 27-28 June, hosted by Lausanne University for their 35^th meeting. Discussions on ESG compliance of agencies resulted in the following renewals of registration:

AEQES – Agence pour l'Evaluation de la Qualité de l'Enseignement Supérieur
AEQES reports in DEQAR
ASHE – Agency for Science and Higher Education
ASHE reports in DEQAR
FINEEC – Finnish Education Evaluation Centre
FINEEC reports in DEQAR
HCERES - High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education
HCERES reports in DEQAR
IAAR - Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating
IAAR reports in DEQAR

Apart from applications, the Committee also discussed various substantive change reports as well as guiding principles for the separation between an agency’s activities for the Use and Interpretation of the ESG.

The full decisions of the Register Committee on all applications and change reports can be found here.

We're hiring: Policy and Project Officer

We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced Policy and Project Officer to join our team. You would be working on managing the Register, supporting the EQAR Register Committee and contribute to EQAR's activities aimed at supporting the implementation of the EHEA, primarily within the IMINQA, QA-FIT and TPG-LRC CoRE projects.

We offer a dynamic and international workplace, closely linked to current policy developments in the Bologna Process and European cooperation in higher education.

Would you like to join our team or know someone who might be interested? More details can be found in the full job advertisement on our website.

IMINQA Staff Mobility Programme: first call for applications

In the context of the ‘Implementation and Innovation in QA through Peer Learning’ (IMINQA) project, staff mobilities will be organised among the partner countries of the Bologna Thematic Peer Group C on Quality Assurance (TPG C on QA) providing an opportunity to further develop QA competencies through job shadowing, observation periods and/or training at a partner QA agency /ministry /organisation abroad.

The project will fund up to two members from every country/organisation of the TPG C QA group for a mobility period taking place between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023. The duration of the exchange should be three days minimum, and may be funded up to six days (but can be extended on a self-funded basis for to a longer period of time).

All flows and directions of staff mobility between ministries, QA-agencies and stakeholder organisations are possible. Every staff mobility will have to focus on specific needs of its home country covering one, or a combination of the following topics:

Legislative framework in line with the ESG
Internal QA
Enhancement-oriented use of the ESG
European Approach for the QA of joint programmes

Cross-border QA Applications should be sent before 31 July 2022.

More information about the call and project here.

Peer-learning activity for the EHEA Thematic Peer Group on Quality Assurance

1 September 2022, 10:00 - 18:00

In the context of the Implementation and Innovation in QA through Peer Learning (IMINQA) project, three peer learning activities will be organised dedicated to supporting the EHEA policy priorities in quality assurance as part of the work of the Bologna Thematic Peer Group (TPG) C on quality assurance (QA).

The first PLA on Aligning the legal frameworks with the ESG is coordinated by EQAR in cooperation with ENQA and will be hosted by the Flemish Government in Brussels (Belgium) on 1 September 2022 (10:00 - 18:00). Registration is open until 15 August, (only) to members of TPG C and limited to one registration per country/organisation.

The following peer learning activities will delve into two other priorities identified by the Rome Ministerial Communiqué (2020), namely cross-border QA (CBQA) and QA of transnational education (TNE) and the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes.

Stay tuned for more info on: http://www.ehea.info/page-TPG-C-on-QA-Meetings-2021-2024

DEQAR CONNECT update

After more than two years of DEQAR CONNECT, the project has now finished. Starting the project at the beginning of the pandemic was certainly different, but a lot was accomplished despite the on-line environment (which is not ideal, especially for workshops).

The project focused on two of the EHEA key commitments, supporting quality assurance and recognition inside the EHEA, and was directed at expanding coverage to EHEA countries under-represented in DEQAR and at enhancing the connectivity.

Both of these objectives haven been met, thanks also to the work of our project partners. We thank them for their dedication and perseverance!

Even though the project finished, work to improve, expand and further connect the database will continue. DEQAR is here to stay for all your external quality assurance enquiries.
DEQAR: Quality at your fingertips!

Check out the connections that have been established through DEQAR.

Find out more about the DEQAR CONNECT project (goals, project partners, activities and achievements).

Bologna with Stakeholders Eyes FORward

The final Project Paper of the BWSE FORward Erasmus+ Project, "Bologna Process commitments: a way forward", is out. EQAR was associate partner in this project and presented one of the three breakout sessions on Quality Assurance as part of the BWSE FORward Final Conference.

This paper proposes recommendations to different crucial players of the higher education community that need to work hand in hand in order to achieve the desired outcomes: governments, higher education institutions, student representative bodies, quality assurance agencies and ENIC-NARIC centres.

Based on the results of the Bologna with students’ eyes (BWSE) publication and the outcomes of two Peer Learning Activities (PLAs), the following areas were identified as presenting challenges that hamper the advancements in the implementation of Bologna Process commitments:

student participation in internal quality assurance;
student-centred learning;
implementation of ECTS;
recognition of prior learning;
internationalisation and mobility.

Have a look at the publication.

New Application Procedures

Changing the Procedures for Applications (for quality assurance agencies wishing to apply for registration on EQAR) was one of the recommendations originating from EQAR’s self-evaluation and external review. Most of the changes were introduced to either streamline, clarify or simplify the application process. The main modifications include, but are not limited to:

Reducing the time in the consideration of review reports.
Providing clarity on when Substantive Change Reports should be made and to what possible decisions they can lead.
Introducing more explicit regulations on suspension of registration.
Simplifying the provisions on publication.

Check out the new Application Procedures on our website.