Category: News

On 18 September 2023, the last EASPA webinar took place, during which the General Secretary of the Alliance, Dr Wasser, presented the considerable extent to which the organisation, founded by ASIIN in 2011, unites European umbrella associations that deal with quality assurance on the basis of agreed transnational learning outcomes/professional competence profiles. After initially referring to the European Qualifications Framework and then to the respective national qualifications frameworks in the Single European Education Area, the networks belonging to EASPA have developed their own subject-specific criteria in a third step. Current initiatives of the European Commission are currently aiming to develop sub-disciplinary qualifications frameworks in a fourth step, particularly in booming areas such as artificial intelligence or software engineering.

The corresponding presentation can be found here.

The next EASPA General Assembly will take place on 4 December 2023. The corresponding agenda can be downloaded here.

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

During its General Assembly on 16 October 2020, EASPA members voted unanimously in favour of acceptance of three new member organizations. With EQ-Arts (concerned with quality assurance in arts programmes), ADEE (the association for dental education in Europe), and Iuventum (a UNESCO-associated organization for the promotion of global education), EASPA has significantly increased its multi-disciplinary perspective in professional and subject-specific quality assurance.

The president, the members of the executive board, and all other member organizations look forward to working with these new partners!

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

On 27^th 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 29^th 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)

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.