Supporting the enhancement and development of quality assurance in higher education

On 15 June, Wittenborg proudly hosted the first online re-kick-off meeting for project 619477-EPP-1-2020-1-NL-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP ''Enhancement of internal quality assurance of education in teaching, learning and assessment in HEIs of Azerbaijan and Russia'' (IQAinAR). Earlier in June, Wittenborg, as project coordinator, received formal notification of the decision of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) that the works on the project can resume, which began in January 2021 but were paused in February 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This 're-kick-off' meeting was the first time that all members of the newly formed IQAinAR consortium came together to discuss the project plan, timeline and works distribution. The consortium is now made up of seven partners from three countries: Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences and 456 International BV from The Netherlands, Fundación Universitaria San Antonio from Spain, and Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Nakhchivan State University, Azerbaijan Technical University and the Education Quality and Assurance Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the project re-design, IQAinAR now has a national focus on assurance of quality education in higher education institutions in Azerbaijan and the project duration has been extended until 14 January 2025. The meeting consisted of an introduction of the consortium, in particular the two new Azerbaijani partners, and the changes to the project were then discussed, which included the new project scope, redistribution of the works, the role of new partners, as well as the project budget and financial administration and the timeline for the tasks and deliverables. Initial plans were also discussed in relation to project dissemination and media promotion as well as the first physical meeting of the consortium members in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is scheduled to take place in October.

Overall, the online meeting was a success and all members of the international project partnership were eager to recommence the project works to enhance and develop quality education in Azerbaijan.

For more information on the IQAinAR project, please visit the official project website, the project Facebook page and Twitter page.

WUP 19/07/2023
by Selina White
©WUAS Press