ACQAHE signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, United Kingdom (QAA). The aforementioned Memorandum resulted from successful cooperation during the last several months between the two agencies, whose initiative began during a study visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, in March of this year.
QAA is a leading, national institution with two decades of experience in the field of quality assurance of higher education, responsible for conducting evaluation procedures with an active contribution to the improvement of mechanisms for strengthening the quality culture on the territory of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
With the mutual belief that ACQAHE and QAA have compatible missions and that they share the same values, the aforementioned Memorandum was signed with the aim of establishing continuous and stronger cooperation between the two parties.
The Memorandum defines the following specific areas of cooperation: 1. Mutual understanding approach to assuring quality in higher education, the respective systems in place for quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, 2. Information exchange and offering professional advice about each other’s activities and processes, about developments in their respective country’s higher education systems, 3. Staff development and capacity building of employees through activities such as staff exchange, workshops and training, 4. Use of each other’s reviewers to strengthen the international dimension of each other’s review processes, as well as 5. Collaboration in mutually-agreed projects and activities for the benefit of both parties.
Bearing in mind that QAA has been a full member of ENQA since 2000 and that it recently went through the process of renewing full membership, therefore the experience, the challenges it faced, as well as the advisory support that QAA can offer, especially in the context of current challenges concerning changes in the legislative framework and compliance with European standards and guidelines will be essential for reaching the quality of the Montenegrin higher education system, which is equivalent to ENQA requirements.
Finally, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Agency, which operates in a system that traditionally holds the title of the most prestigious educational system in Europe, is also confirming the quality of ACQAHE’s international activities and practices.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on behalf of their institutions by Milica Kavedžić, Deputy Director of ACQAHE, and Eduardo Ramos, Director of International & Professional Services of QAA, on June 27 in London, England.
You can download the agreement at the following link.