The 10th Anniversary of the CEE Network
The Central and Easter European Network of Quality Assurance in Higher Education held its biennial general assembly in Sofia May 28, 2010, where it celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Network. The annual workshop attached to the yearly Steering Committee meeting took place on 29 May in the city of Plovdiv. The meetings were generously and efficiently hosted by the National Accreditation and Evaluation Agency of the Republic of Bulgaria (NEAA).
General Assembly
At the meeting, the CEE Network accepted five new members:
· Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance (ADHEQA), Bosnia and Herzegovina
· Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA)
· National Centre of Public Accreditation (NAA), Russia
· Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance and Career Development (AKKORK), Russia
· European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA), registered in The Netherlands.
Another applicant, the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance (CAQA) of Serbia, was not able to attend the meeting, therefore their admission was postponed.
The CEE Network elected a new Steering Committee, whose membership was extended from five to seven member agency representatives, including a new chair and vice-chair. The chairperson is
· Aurelija Valeikiene, Deputy Director of the Lithuanian CQAHE
· and Iring Wasser, Managing Director of ASIIN, Germany, is vice-chair.
The members of the new Steering Committee are
· György Bazsa, President of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee
· Dhurata Bozo, Director of PAAHE, Albania
· Jasmina Havranek, Director of the Croatian Agency for Science and Higher Education
· Todor Shopov, International Affairs Councilor, of NEAA, Bulgaria
· Marek Wasowicz, Chairperson of the University Accreditation Commission of Poland.
Members unanimously re-named Christina Rozsnyai as Secretary General.
Workshop
The second day of the meeting was devoted to a workshop titled “Quality Assurance in a Changing World”. The presentations were by Josep Grifoll, Board member of ENQA; Colin Tück, Acting Director of EQAR; and Fabrice Henard from OECD, who spoke about projects in their respective organizations. The CEE Network will participate in some of them. A brief roundtable discussion was introduced with presentations by Radu Damian, Pavol Navrat, Slovkia, Dhurata Bozo, Albania. Radu Damian presented a “Comparison between QA in Eastern and Western Europe – problems and perspectives” and Pavol Navrat and Dhurata Bozo reflected on the “Quality assurance of private and public higher education institutions”.
Additional information about the CEE Network can be found at www.ceenetwork.hu .
TEAM II conference: Accreditation of Joint Master's Programmes
The European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA) will organise the conference Joint Programmes: Too many cooks in the kitchen? Problems and solutions associated with the accreditation, recognition, and transparency of joint programmes will be dealt with. The conference is relevant for agencies, higher education institutions, students, recognition authorities and governments, and will be held in Graz (Austria) on 10 and 11 June 2010. You're cordially invited to look at the programme and register on line: http://www.ecaconsortium.net/main/events/detail/joint-programmes:-too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen/4
General Assembly and Workshop 28-29 May 2010 in Bulgaria
The Central and Eastern European
Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education will hold its biennial
General Assembly meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria on 28 and 29 May 2010. Linked to
this event will be a workshop "Quality Assurance in a changing world"
celebrating the double anniversary of the EHEA and the CEE Network. The CEE
Network held its initial meeting in 2000 although it was formally established in
2002. Workshop topics will focus on issues important for CEE Network members in
the Bologna process.
The event will bring together representatives from the member agencies and
participants from European organizations operating in the field of higher
education, with speakers from ENQA, EQAR and the OECD. Further information can
be found on the event website at
http://www.neaa.government.bg/en/events/future
ISQM Conference Call
The 2nd International Conference on Institutional Strategic Quality Management (ISQM 2010) will to be held from 14-16 October 2010, in Sinaia, Romania, organized by the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education - ARACIS. For more information please click here.
International Quality Assurance Networks in Higher Education - Conference
Organized by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) and hosted by the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance of the Republic of Serbia, a conference on International Quality Assurance Networks in Higher Education was held in Belgrade on 29-30 October 2009. Secretary General Christina Rozsnyai gave a presentation about the CEE Network (see the ppt. presentation). For additional information about the conference, please go to the HRK website link. The Serbian and Bosnian Commissions expressed interest in joining the CEE Network at the 2010 General Assembly.
CEE Network represented at the ENQA General Assembly
At the ENQA GA in Barcelona on 28-29 September 2009, the CEE Network was represented by Prof. Ivan Panaiotov, president of the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency of Bulgaria, member of the Steering Committee of the CEEN.
His report can be read here.
CEEN Participation at the INQAAHE Regional Networks meeting
On 9 July 2009, György Bazsa, member of the CEE Network Steering Committee, participated in the first full-day special-purpose meeting between INQAAHE and the regional networks. The representatives of the networks discussed capacity building activities and the organisation of the networks. For more information please link here
The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) is organising, jointly with the European Association of Universities (EUA), a European Conference focused on the topic: Institutional Strategic Quality Management: From Minimum Requirements to Overall Quality Improvement. 15-17 October 2009, Bucharest, Romania.
For more information please write to:
Mihai FLOROIU Mariana Domnica STANCIU
Deputy Manager of Project Asistent Coordinator
mihai.floroiu@aracis.ro mariana.stanciu@aracis.ro
proiecte@aracis.ro stanciumarianad@yahoo.com
Tel: +0040728982691
Tel: +0040758075858
CEE Network Workshop in Vilnius
The CEE Network held its annual workshop on 30 May. It was perfectly, attentively and thoughtfully hosted by the Lithuanian agency CQAHE. The title was “External Reviews of Agencies: Lessons learned” and Giedrius Viliunas, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science of Lithuania, set the motivating tone of the workshop with his opening words.
Invited speakers were the Director of the hosting Lithuanian agency Eugenijus Stumbrys, who described his agency’s preparations for their external review; Mieczyslaw Socha of PKA Poland, who raised a number of questions agencies should ask themselves when embarking on their review; the President of ENQA, Bruno Curvale, and the Acting Director of the European Register EQAR Colin Tück, who shared their respective organizations’ experiences with external evaluations; Karl Dittrich, Chariman of NVAO, who gave a thought-provoking presentation about the role of agencies in the European context; Todor Shopov from the Bulgarian agency, who spoke about the external review of the Bulgarian agency; and András Bohák who presented the student view about the external review of the Hungarian agency.
To introduce the discussion, Dhurata Bozo, Director of APAAL Albania, presented the results of her survey on CEEN agencies’ participation in external reviews and their purposes. Very generously, the Albanian agency also produced a “Directory” on CEEN agencies, which may be requested by e-mail from Christina Rozsnyai, CEEN Secretary General (rozsnyai@mab.hu).
Following the closing discussion, Ivan Panayotov gave a short presentation as an invitation to the CEEN to hold its next General Assembly in Bulgaria on 28-29 May 2010.
Sightseeing at Vilnius University
Please click here for the Program of the workshop and the Minutes of the Steering Committee meeting.
Presentations:
Eugenijus Stumbrys, director, CQAHE, Lithuania
Bruno Curvale, President of ENQA
Colin Tück, Acting Director, EQAR
Todor Shopov, member of standing committee of NEAA, Bulgaria
András Bohák, student member of external team evaluating HAC, Hungary
Karl Dittrich, Chairman, NVAO, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flemish)
Dhurata Bozo, Director, APAAL, Albania
The President of the CEE Network, Professor Pavol Navrat, participated at the INQAAHE Conference 2009 in Abu Dhabi held on 30th March – 2nd April. Please click here to read the President's report. Attached to the conference was a meeting of the regional networks affiliated with the INQAAHE, where the President represented the CEE Network. Look at the group photo here.
The CEEN is holding its annual workshop on 30 May 2009 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The focus of the workshop is on the external review of agencies from various perspectives: the agency, the team member and the student member of the team, ENQA and the European Register EQAR.
You can link to the program here and practical information here.
Several excellent speakers have agreed to participate, including the president of ENQA, Bruno Curvale, and the acting director of EQAR in addition to the chair of NVAO.
Please note that you should register as soon as possible at http://193.219.135.180/Lists/Registracija/registracija.aspx or by e-mail at registration@skvc.lt. The deadline for registration is 30 April 2009.
The Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education held its biennial General Assembly meeting in Durres, Albania on 24 May 2008, with a Workshop on “Cooperation of accreditation agencies towards mutual recognition of accreditation decisions”held on 23 May.
Link to the Programme, Minutes of the meeting and Participants list.
The event brought together representatives from the member agencies, non-members from the Balkan Region and participants from European organizations operating in the field of HE. Information on the event is available on the website at http://www.aaal.edu.al/pagesEN/pages/Conferences_train.htm
CEE Network member co-opted to INQAAHE Board
At the 3 April 2007 meeting of the INQAAHE Board, held attached to the General Assembly, in Toronto, Canada, Prof. As. Dhurata Bozo, director of the Public Accreditation Agency of Higher Education in Albania, a CEE Network member. At the INQAAHE Board she is representing the CEE region.
For more information on the upcoming CEE Network cooperation project under the Global Initiative for Quality Assurance Capacity (GIQAC) of the World Bank please go to www.inqaahe.org
ECA Dissemination Conference
The European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA) is holding its dissemination conference in Barcelona on 10 and 11 December 2007. The conference will bring together representatives of governments, institutions, students, employers, recognition authorities, and accreditation and quality assurance agencies to discuss the benefits of mutual recognition of accreditation and quality assurance decisions in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The possibilities to apply mutual recognition of accreditation decisions to other quality assurance decisions, other countries and continents will also be discussed. The conference is cofunded by the European Commission. You can find the programme and register on line through: http://www.ecaconsortium.net/conference/
Next General Assembly and workshop in Albania on 23-24 May 2008!
St. Petersburg workshop 2007
The CEE Network held its annual workshop and Steering Committee meeting in St. Petersburg 25-26 May. The aim of the workshop was to determine to what extent the region’s QA agencies have adopted the European Standards and Guidelines, or in how far they believe that some of the standards cannot be adopted in full but need to be changed to reflect the region’s specific concerns and practices. An in-depth study – on student involvement in QA and appeals procedures of agencies – will be produced in the coming months.
The Minutes of the Steering Committee meeting can be read here.
St. Petersburg workshop
Our next workshop, hosted by the National Accreditation Agency, Federal Service of Supervision in Education and Science, and The Herzen University, will take place in St. Petersburg on 25-26 May. As it will be immediately following the biannual meeting of Ministers, now in London, the theme of the workshop is “The European Standards and Guidelines in the Central and Eastern European Context after London”. You can find the program here.
In preparation for the workshop and for the ensuing publication, please fill out the questionnaire on your agency's state of preparation with the European Standards and Guidelines and return to be no later than April 16. You can download the questionnaire here.
For more information on the workshop, visit the workshop website at www.nica.ru/ceenet.workshop, or write to to the local organizers at ssm@herzen.spb.ru or edu@nica.ru .
The late Dr. Stefanie Hofmann represented the CEE Network at the conference in Spain titled "Implementing Quality Assurance standards in the European Higher Education Area. The way forward" on 3-4 July 2006, organised by ANECA. You can view the presentation, dealing with the CEE Network survey, at
http://www.aneca.es/actividades/docs/eventos/uimp06_hofmann.pdf
(05.10.2006)
The CEE Network held its annual workshop together with its biennial General Assembly on 29-30 May 2006 in Schloss Retzhof near Graz, Austria. Peter Williams, president of ENQA, gave a presentation about that organisation in anticipation of the CEE Network joining ENQA as an affiliate organisation. In addition to CEE Network members, Emmi Helle, ENQA acting secretary general, and Katja Kamsek of ESIB also attended.
The aim of the workshop was to discuss the developments of member agencies toward attaining the European Standards since the CEE Network Survey was taken. The main outcome of the discussions was that all participating agencies meet most of the European Standards, with the greatest deficits being in the area of foreign experts, student participation, independence, and the external evaluation of agencies.
The General Assembly elected Pavol Navrat, Slovakia, as its new chairman and steering committee members Galina Motova, Russia, Ivan Panayatov, Bulgaria, Aurelija Valeikiene, Lithuania (also Treasurer), and Marek Wasowicz, Poland.
The Austrian agency AQA was given full member status, and a formal co-operation with the European Consortium of Accreditation ECA was approved. The General Assembly also voted to draw the limit of the CEE Network at the Ural Mountains.
The
minutes and
programme can be read by clicking on the links.
(3.07.2006)
“Mapping external quality assurance in
Central and Eastern Europe. A comparative survey by the CEE Network” by Stefanie
Hofmann, ACQUIN, was published in the series ENQA Occasional Papers, No. 8. A
limited number of copies may be ordered free of charge by writing to
Christina Rozsnyai at
rozsnyai@mab.hu, or by linking to
www.enqa.eu/pubs.lasso
(3.07.2006)
The next General Assembly of the CEE Network, together with a workshop titled “The CEE Network as a Player in the European Higher Education Area“, will be held in Schloss Retzhof near Graz, Austria on 29-30 May 2006. The meeting will be organised by the Austrian Accreditation Council in collaboration with the Fachhochschulrat and AQA. The General Assembly will elect a new Steering Committee and Chairman, and discuss the Network’s affiliation with ENQA.
(12.01.2006.)
The CEE Network held is biennial General Assembly on 23-24 October 2004 in Prague, hosted by the Czech Accreditation Commission and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic.
The meeting was preceded by a workshop. The Vice-Minister for Education of the Czech Republic, Dr. Petr Kolar, welcomed the participants. The workshop theme was the survey of CEE Network member agencies, begun by Dr. Stefanie Hofmann. The survey is a stocktaking exercise on the basic practices and the procedural and legislative frameworks of member agencies, the expected outcome of which is to identify possible pathways to mutual recognition. The frame of reference, and thus the focus of the two discussion groups, were the proposed ENQA criteria for membership.
Two applications for new CEE Network membership were discuss: the Austrian Fachhochschulrat (FHR), established in 1993, was approved as a full member of the CEE Network by unanimous vote, while the Austrian Quality Assurance Agency (AQA), which began operating only in the beginning of 2004, was granted observer status until the next General Assembly in 2006. The Minutes of the General Assembly can be read
here.