Polish Accreditation Committee – project leader
The Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA) is an independent institution working within the higher education system in Poland for the improvement in the quality of education. The primary task of the Committee is to support Polish public and non-public higher education institutions in the development of educational standards matching the best models adopted in the European and global academic space. PKA is the only statutory body entrusted with the responsibility of evaluation the quality of higher education in Poland, its opinions and resolutions have a legally binding effect. PKA conducts obligatory assessments of quality of education and giving opinions on the applications for the authorization to provide degree programmes submitted by higher education institutions. PKA is registered in European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). PKA is also a full member of Central and Eastern (CEENQA), European Consortium for Accreditation (ECA); International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE); European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).
European Consortium for Accreditation in Higher Education
The European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA) is an association of recognised accreditation and quality assurance agencies in Europe. The vision of ECA is to act as an internationally acknowledged driver of innovation in accreditation and quality assurance in higher education. With its expertise, networking and services ECA contributes to the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), promotes internationalisation of higher education and “state of the art” activities of its members.
European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) is a voluntary association of European quality assurance agencies and it comprises 48 members and 46 affiliates. Its aim is to contribute significantly to the maintenance and enhancement of the quality of European higher education at a high level, and to act as a major driving force for the development of quality assurance across all the Bologna signatory countries.
ENQA disseminates information, experiences and good practices in the field of quality assurance (QA) in higher education to European QA agencies, public authorities and higher education institutions (HEIs). Its activities – which comprise events such as conferences and workshops as well as transnational quality assurance projects, production of publications dealing with developments in European quality assurance, and cooperation with stakeholders – are designed to facilitate the implementation of the ESG.
AQAS – Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes
AQAS is an independent non‐profit organisation, supported by more than 80 member institutions, both higher education institutions and academic associations. AQAS was founded in 2002 and has accredited more than 4,600 degree programmes at universities and universities of applied sciences so far, including numerous programmes outside of Germany. AQAS offers accreditation procedures for study programmes in all academic disciplines. AQAS provides training for experts and higher education institutions concerning a wide range of issues that are related to issues of quality assurance and teaching and learning (e.g. national and international criteria for accreditation, process orientation, competence orientation, dual study programmes (VET and Higher Education) distant learning and further education. AQAS also organizes conferences on quality assurance in Germany. As AQAS gained special expertise in the accreditation of Joint Programmes by accrediting a comparably high number of them in Germany, AQAS currently also is part of a working group introduced by the Germany Accreditation council reviewing the German approach towards the Accreditation of Joint Programmes.
Unibasq – Agencia de Calidad del Sistema Universitario Vasco
Unibasq – the Basque University System Quality Assurance Agency is a public entity regulated by private law, dedicated to promote the innovation and improvement in the Basque University System (BUS), satisfying international quality standards and attending the society interest in higher education. For that aim, Unibasq advices, evaluates and guarantees the quality of the institutions of the system (University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Deusto University and Mondragon University), their study programmes (bachelor, master and doctoral programmes) and the activity of their teaching staff, independently and objectively. Likewise, Unibasq wants to be recognized up to international level as an advisory and assurance agency of the university quality, mainly by European and Latin-American countries of major interest for the Basque universities, in order to support their internationalization.
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) is one of the largest academic centres in Poland. In addition to its facilities in Poznań, it has campuses in Gniezno, Kalisz, and Słubice. With the staff of around 3000 lecturers and 39,000 students, our University ranks among the biggest academic centres in Poland. Nearly 1,800 members of supporting staff ensure the smooth functioning of AMU. The University has fifteen faculties organized into institutes and departments, offers instruction in well over 100 disciplines and specializations, as well as several dozen of degree programmes to choose from. AMU has well-developed foreign relations and co-operates with about 350 universities across the world under bilateral agreements. AMU is a member of: EUA – European University Association, EUCEN – European University Continuing Education Network, The Compostela Group of Universities, The Santander Group – European University Network, European Chemistry Thematic Network and other European Research Network.
The University of Deusto
The University of Deusto (UD) is one of the oldest universities in Spain, 130 years old, non-profit university with 15% international students. UD is one of 18 accredited to become an International Campus of Excellence in 2015. Deusto is internationally renowned for its capacity in the Social Sciences and Humanities, in particular, law, economics and business administration, Engineering, education and psychology as well as sociology and social work, culture and tourism, languages and communication and international Studies. 12 research institutes are spread in six main Faculty units UD combines a high level of internationalization with excellence in teaching and research. UD has a well-established set of International Official Master programmes, including 3 Erasmus Mundus (EM) MSc programmes. Moreover, UD has developed an International Research School, which is one of the flagships of the International Campus of Excellence.
Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
The Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management is a university business college that prepares graduates for work in the field for the recreation and management of tourism and recreation companies. The Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management is an international university. We provide education in both Polish and English language. Our university brings together students from over 40 countries around the world. The University’s mission is to conduct high-quality education in the fields related to the well-known leisure sector, the meetings industry and the management of the different organisations operating in these sectors, such as hotels, restaurants, sports and recreation centres and events agencies. The University is also known as a thriving centre dealing with dissemination of knowledge in the field of tourism. This is reflected by annual symposia Meetings Week Poland – promoting industry meetings, or conferences on corporate social responsibility, which are co-organized by our university. University’s students are winners of international competitions, for example, IMEX University Challenge for organizers of events, Hard Rock International Scholarship for future leaders of business tourism or 24 Schedule devoted to solving a specific problem of the development of tourism cities.
The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg was founded in 1973, making it one of Germany‘s young universities. Its goal is to find answers to the major challenges society faces in the 21st century – through interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research. The University cooperates closely with more than 200 other universities worldwide and is also affiliated with non-university institutes in the areas of research, education, culture and business.The University of Oldenburg is preparing over13,700 students for professional life. It offers a broad range of disciplines, from language studies, cultural studies and the humanities to educational sciences, art and musicology, the economic and social sciences, mathematics, computer science, the natural sciences and the new medicine and health science programmes established in 2012.
Associated partner
European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education
EQAR’s mission is to further the development of the European Higher Education Area by increasing the transparency of quality assurance and thus enhancing trust and confidence in European higher education. EQAR seeks to provide clear and reliable information on quality assurance provision in Europe, thus improving trust among agencies.
To achieve its mission EQAR, through its independent Register Committee, manages a register of quality assurance agencies operating in Europe that substantially comply with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG).
