Between October 25 and 27, 2023, the General Assembly -with participation that surpasses anything before- was held for the assembly of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), which brings together quality assurance bodies in the European Higher Education Area. The event took place in Dublin and was hosted by one of the most respected organizations practicing in the field, the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). The Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB) was represented by Valéria Csépe, the President of MAB, and Péter Levente Lakatos, Director of International Affairs.
In the framework of the programme accompanying the ENQA General Assembly, several important and current topics were discussed, such as the relationship between recognition and quality assurance, the review and enhancement of the ESG, academic integrity, and the possibilities and tasks of cross-border quality assurance. In line with the high importance of the topic, the participants worked in depth on the ENQA’s message for the Tirana Ministerial meeting scheduled in May 2024.
Presentations from the event are available here .
It is a special recognition and significant news even for Hungarian higher education that ENQA General Assembly elected the MAB’s nominee, Péter Levente Lakatos, Director of International Affairs as a member of the ENQA Board for a three-year term, which marks his first full cycle in this role. As a new member, Marilena Maniaci (ANVUR, Italy), a member of MAB’s Strategic and Planning Committee, will participate in the work for one year term. MAB has a successful bilateral cooperation agreement with ANVUR.
One of the important items on the agenda of the General Assembly was the organization’s work plan, which highlights the development of standards and guidelines suitable for assessing the quality assurance of research, development, and innovation in higher education institutions, complementing the ESG. Valéria Csépe, the President of MAB, is a member of the working group appointed by ENQA (ENQA WG on ESG-R) and actively contributes to this work.
The representatives of quality assurance bodies of the Global Academic Integrity Network (GAIN) also organized a separate meeting, engaging in meaningful discourse on the challenges of academic integrity and possible means of effective action. MAB is one of the founding members of GAIN, alongside the Irish agency (QQI).
In response to an honourable request, MAB will host the next meeting of the SEQA-ESG II project (Supporting European QA Agencies in meeting the ESG) in Budapest, in February 2024, which was originally planned to take place in Ukraine. The project’s goal is to support Azerbaijan, Bosnia -Herzegovina, Serbia, and Ukraine in the implementation of the ESG compliance system, the development of internal quality assurance systems in higher education, and the establishment of external, independent quality assessment and accreditation activities to support these systems.
Through its dedicated tasks, the MAB’s mission to support the quality culture in higher education is fulfilled in the international area, in the effective support of higher education in Hungary furthermore in the higher education quality development and implementation efforts of the EHEA member states.
Photo: Representatives of GAIN member agencies at the ENQA General Assembly in Dublin
Source: QQI X site (@QQI_connect)
