First CeQuInt Steering Group meeting

The European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA) decided to develop a European certificate for the assessment of internationalisation. The first meeting of the CeQuInt project Steering Group took place in NVAO premises in the Hague on 13 November 2012.
Today internationalisation itself is perceived as an indicator for the quality of higher education, but so far only few European-wide approaches have assessed the quality of internationalisation. The current national accreditation systems do not explicitly include international and intercultural learning outcomes and a commonly agreed assessment methodology is lacking. Therefore, the European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA) decided to develop a European certificate for the assessment of internationalisation. In October 2012, a consortium of quality assurance agencies from eleven countries, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) started the development of a Certificate for the Quality of Internationalisation (CeQuInt). This ECA project is funded by the EU and coordinated by the Accreditation Organisation of The Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). The overall aim of the project is to assess, reward and enhance internationalisation.
A positive assessment by an assessment panel will lead to the award by ECA of the Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation. This certificate confirms that a programme or institution has successfully included a significant international and/or intercultural dimension in the purpose, function and delivery of its education. The Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation is intended to lead to a substantial improvement in the transparency and level of internationalisation.
The first meeting of the CeQuInt project Steering Group took place in NVAO premises in the Hague on 13 November 2012. The project partners have given specific attention to the further definition of assessment methodology, the identification of candidates for the pilot procedures, the specific roles and profiles of experts in the assessment panels and the commencement of dissemination activities. The immediate agreed actions include a stronger involvement of experts from the professional field in the assessment panels, the introduction of a core group of experts that will take part in several pilot procedures and the reporting of national and international dissemination activities. The next Steering Group meeting is foreseen to take place in Slovenia in March 2013.
For more information please visit the CeQuInt project website.