EASPA Webinar: New Developments in European Professional Accreditation

EASPA hereby cordially invites all current and potential new EASPA members to participate in its webinar on December 2 nd , 2021, from 10.30 -12.00 o´clock (CEST).

You can join the meeting via computer, tablet or smartphone by simply clicking on the following link: https://asiin-de.zoom.us/j/92371494150?pwd=YlVtdnlSVFZCV2k4SXFWQ00rd1NRdz09 shortly before 10.30 o´clock on the meeting day.

The Webinar entails presentations (from 10.30-11.00 c´clock including discussion) by:

  1. Gustavo Alonso, who will speak about current and future activitivies of the European Aerospace PEGASUS network:
    Gustavo received a Master in aerospace engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in 1990, an MBA from IESE in 1998 and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from UPM in 2005. He is currently Professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering of UPM, where he has been Deputy Director. Prof. Alonso lectures in Space Systems Engineering and Air Transport subjects. He has participated in some 50 research projects funded by public institutions and private companies. Gustavo is the programme director of the microsatellite UPMSat-2 (University-class micro-satellite launched in 2020) and Principal investigator of research projects in scientific missions of ESA and NASA (ExoMars, Solar Orbiter, Ariel, etc.). He coordinates the H2020 ALTERNATE project, on the development of sustainable aviation fuels.He is a visiting professor at several Universities in Europe, America and Asia, and a member of the Physical Sciences Working Group of the European Space Agency (ESA) between 2017 and 2021. He is currently Chairman of PEGASUS, the association of European aeronautics and space Universities, member of the board of ALICANTO (International Association of Aviation and Aerospace Education) and member of the Standing Council of BRAIA (Belt and Road Aerospace Innovation Alliance). Before joining the University in 2005, he was working for ESA, Airbus and different engineering companies for 15 years.
  2. Secondly, we will hear (from 11.00-11.30) a contribution from Linda Messas, “Searching for new approaches to strengthen subject-specific QA” – the case of the European MUSIQUE network:
    Linda Messas is the Director of MusiQuE – Music Quality Enhancement, the EQAR-registered Foundation for Quality Enhancement and Accreditation in Higher Music Education since its establishment in 2014. She is also General Manager / Deputy CEO of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) since 2011. Linda has played a key role in the development of AEC’s quality assurance activities since she joined AEC in 2007 and in the establishment of MusiQuE as a separate foundation in 2014. She has gained a deep knowledge of the sector through her role of Review Team secretary in several review visits in Europe. Linda has also been conceiving and managing several large-scale European projects and networks aiming at innovating higher music education and strengthening its relevance.
  3. And last but not least I have invited a presentation (from 11.30-12.00 c´clock) of Oliver Olsen, Director of European Operations of a perspective future EASPA member, the Accreditation council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
    Oliver W. Olson was appointed Director of European of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) in September 2021. An American citizen (born and raised in California) has his Bachelor’s in International Business from Cal State Fullerton and his MBA from UT Dallas. He started his professional career at Salamander Shoes in Germany in the 90’s. He then moved to the USA where he worked his way up in banking for more than a decade with NationsBank, Bank of America and Providian Financial, with a final stint as CIO of a community bank near Dallas, Texas. In 2004, Oliver switched to academia where he was the MBA Director for CEU Business School in Budapest, Hungary and then founded Maastricht School of Management Romania and was that school’s first Dean and Academic Director. Since 2014 Oliver has been with Maastricht School of Management (MSM, an ACBSP and ATHEA accredited institution) filling a variety of administrative and faculty roles, most recently as a Senior Lecturer of Marketing and Strategy. Professor Olson currently teaches Marketing and Strategy to MBA students in almost a dozen countries, consults and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. In addition to his faculty role at MSM, Oliver is the Executive Director of ATHEA, consults for a variety of European start-ups and serves on the Advisory Board of MERIT.

Dear Colleagues, the idea of EASPA webinars is, to strengthen the case of Disciplinary Accreditation in Europe and on a Global level and to learn from new ideas and best practice within our network and beyond. We are looking forward to seeing many interested participants on the occasion of the Second EASPA Conference 2021.

Here you can download the presentations of the speakers:

Presentation given by Gustavo Alonso from ACBSP

Presentation given by Linda Messas from MusiQuE

Presentation given by Oliver Olsen from ACBSP

Third Global Conference for Specialized and Professional Accreditors in cooperation with ASPA

New Initiatives in Quality Assurance based on field-specific Learning Outcomes

Berlin, Germany – Monday, 2 May 2016

Pre-Conference workshop to the 2016 ASIIN Interntional Conference “Quality Assurance in Higher Education – the unsolved Mystery of its untapped Potential” How can we jointly tackle the five remaining grand challenges? on 3-4 May 2016.

Location

Steigenberger Hotel, Location and Directions

Target Group

  • Representatives of international Quality Assurance Agencies
  • Representatives of Recognition Authorities
  • Representatives of the national and international higher education community
  • Representatives of the professional organizations

Theme

The pre-conference workshop will explore the current state of affairs in subject-specific and professional accreditation.
In some regions such as in Africa, further steps are taken towards making harmonization of higher education quality and quality assurance a reality. A new initiative financed by the European Commission is set to support these developments which will be complemented by an overview of other world regions. In Europe the next phase of external quality assurance is initiated. A new project will determine whether achieved learning outcomes can be measured and compared in a number of disciplines. This will be viewed in light of the AHELO project results. All of these developments will be analyzed against the backdrop of current developments in the US.

Presentations

The presentations are available below.

Agenda

From 09:00
Registration

10:00 – 13:00
Possibility to participate in morning pre-conference workshops


14:00 – 14:15
Introduction to the Third Global Conference
Dr. Iring Wasser, President EASPA


14:15 – 14:45
Development of the Quality Assurance system for Aerospace Engineering in Europe
Prof. Franco Bernelli, Politecnico di Milano

14:45 – 15:15
Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Europe (CALOHEE Project)
Robert Wagenaar, Director International TUNING Academy, University of Groningen

15:15 – 15:45
Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes – What comes after the AHELO-Project?
Hamish Coates, University of Melbourne

15:45 – 16:15
Coffee break


16:15 – 16:40
Specialized Quality Assurance in other World Regions – An overview
Jagannath Patil, President International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education

16:40 – 17:00
State of Play of Specialized and Professional Accreditation in the US
Joseph Vibert, Executive Director, Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA)

17:00
End of the conference

Possibility to join Tour of Berlin

“Professional Higher Education Accreditation – why does it matter more than ever?”

4th ASIIN/EASPA Global QA Conference in Higher Education 2017

This is the official website for the 4th ASIIN/EASPA Global QA Conference 2017 which took place on 11 December 2017, in the beautiful city of Düsseldorf, Germany.

The 4th Global Conference on “Professional Higher Education Accreditation: Why does it matter more than ever?” united leading higher education QA experts from around the globe and presented the state of research with regard to the following topics:

  • Measuring and comparing achievement in Higher Education systems: Holy Grail or Curse?
  • Impact and value added of subject specific and professional accreditation.
  • Professional accreditation as a strategic priority in global HE and QA agendas (e.g. United States, Arab Region as well as Africa)
  • Combining professional Learning outcome based QA systems with national institutional and program accreditation schemes
  • New developments in the field of European and global disciplinary accreditation and quality assurance

On 12 December 2017 the EASPA General Assembly was organized.

5th Global Conference in cooperation with ASIIN

“The dawning of a new era of HE quality assurance – what can we expect from the future?”

The 5th Global Conference in cooperation with ASIIN took place on 10 – 11 December 2018 in the Crown Plaza Hotel in Berlin.

Agenda

The agenda included plenary sessions, presentations, forum discussions and workshops that will stimulate in-depth discussion between the participants.

Conference Program

Foto of the Participants

“Professional Higher Education Accreditation – why does it matter more than ever?”

4th ASIIN/EASPA Global QA Conference in Higher Education 2017

The 4th ASIIN/EASPA Global QA Conference 2017 took place on 11 December 2017, in the beautiful city of Düsseldorf, Germany.

The 4th Global Conference on “Professional Higher Education Accreditation: Why does it matter more than ever?” united leading higher education QA experts from around the globe and presented the state of research with regard to the following topics:

  • Measuring and comparing achievement in Higher Education systems: Holy Grail or Curse?
  • Impact and value added of subject specific and professional accreditation.
  • Professional accreditation as a strategic priority in global HE and QA agendas (e.g. United States, Arab Region as well as Africa)
  • Combining professional Learning outcome based QA systems with national institutional and program accreditation schemes
  • New developments in the field of European and global disciplinary accreditation and quality assurance

On 12 December 2017 the EASPA General Assembly was organized.

MoU with APQN

Creation of the Asian Alliance of Subject Specific and Professional Accreditation – Memorandum of Understanding between EASPA, ASIIN and APQN

On 27th of May 2016, an important milestone in promoting and aligning professional accreditation on the global level was reached.

The European Alliance of Subject Specific and Professional Accreditation (EASPA), represented by its president Dr. Iring Wasser, and the Asian Pacific Quality Assurance Network (APQN) , represented by its outgoing president Dr. Jonathan Patil, signed a cooperation agreement with the ultimate aim of creating an Asian Alliance of Subject Specific and Professional Accreditation (AASPA) in the presence of around 200 leading representatives of the Asian Pacific Higher Education and Quality Assurance Management Sector.

This important step constitutes a further breakthrough in the quest to foster academic and professional mobility for German and international students and graduates on the basis of agreed continental learning outcomes in the global HE sector and is a continuation of important developments which took place over the course of the past five years.

Under the leadership of ASIIN, EASPA was founded on November 29th 2011 in Düsseldorf. Today EASPA is the voice of most European disciplinary Networks in QA of HE in the European Higher Education Area, representing disciplines in practically all STEM areas as well as medicine, music, public administration and so forth. In its so called Düsseldorf Declaration, the political and educational aspirations are clearly formulated.

In 2013, EASPA and the American Alliance of Specialized Accreditors (ASPA), a network representing more than 60 professional accreditation networks in the United States reached a cooperation agreement, which in 2015 was supplemented by an M.O.U between EASPA and the Global TUNING Academy. On the basis of the present new MoU, the Asian continent will in the future join the existing agreements in and between Europe and the United States.

The MoU can be downloaded here.

For further information, contact: Dr. Iring Wasser, President EASPA (gf@www.easpa.org)

Third Global Conference for Specialized and Professional Accreditors in cooperation with ASPA

New Initiatives in Quality Assurance based on field-specific Learning Outcomes

Berlin, Germany – Monday, 2 May 2016

Target Group

  • Representatives of international Quality Assurance Agencies
  • Representatives of Recognition Authorities
  • Representatives of the national and international higher education community
  • Representatives of the professional organizations

Theme

The pre-conference workshop explored the current state of affairs in subject-specific and professional accreditation.
In some regions such as in Africa, further steps are taken towards making harmonization of higher education quality and quality assurance a reality. A new initiative financed by the European Commission is set to support these developments which will be complemented by an overview of other world regions. In Europe the next phase of external quality assurance is initiated. A new project will determine whether achieved learning outcomes can be measured and compared in a number of disciplines. This has been viewed in light of the AHELO project results. All of these developments have been analyzed against the backdrop of current developments in the US.

Presentations

Introduction to the Third Global Conference
Dr. Iring Wasser, President EASPA

Development of the Quality Assurance system for Aerospace Engineering in Europe
Prof. Franco Bernelli, Politecnico di Milano

Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Europe (CALOHEE Project)
Robert Wagenaar, Director International TUNING Academy, University of Groningen

Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes – What comes after the AHELO-Project?
Hamish Coates, University of Melbourne

State of Play of Specialized and Professional Accreditation in the US
Joseph Vibert, Executive Director, Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA)

MoU with TUNING

EASPA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Tuning Academy (TUNING).

On 1 September 2015, the two Directors of the International Tuning Academy and the President of EASPA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim of the MoU is to promote and guarantee the quality of higher education degree programmes respecting disciplinary requirements.

EASPA and TUNING set out to work together in the implementation of a disciplinary learning outcome approach in higher education, for example by jointly organizing conferences and workshops to that regard. The two organizations also plan to support each other and contribute to projects and studies in their respective areas of expertise, with TUNING focusing on the development of disciplinary and sectoral frameworks and profilse of reference points and EASPA focusing on external quality assurance.

The full text of the MoU can be viewed here.