Aleksandar Šušnjar to be the new EQAR Director

Aleksandar is also the YUFE (European Universities Alliance) Institutional Coordinator, where, for the last year, he coordinated one of the European degree pilot projects (FOCI). Since 2019, he has also coordinated the work of all YUFE staff at the University of Rijeka and also facilitated engagement of other university staff members and faculty with the YUFE initiative.

In addition to the position of Institutional Coordinator, he primarily worked on developing the YUFE educational programmes, including the design of an ambitious YUFE joint programme, soon to be accredited via the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes. His other work included setting up frameworks for mutual automatic recognition, student mobility and YUFE micro-credentials. Aleksandar is also a former member of the ESU QA Student Experts Pool and represented ESU in various bodies and groups related to quality assurance, and conducted trainings on QA methodology.

Aleksandar has thus ample experience in higher education and quality assurance, ranging from facilitating automatic recognition, developing joint programmes and supporting the accreditation process, planning and conducting internal quality audits to piloting the European degree concept. Being a member of the EQAR Register Committee means of course that he is an expert in the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and the interpretation thereof.

“Ever since I first got involved in higher education quality assurance and European policies on higher education, I considered EQAR as an organisation with a special position in the European Higher Education Area and in the landscape of European higher education in general. Its role in fostering trust and transparency among diverse higher education systems is absolutely indispensable and I am very much looking forward to becoming a part of the EQAR team that continuously works on this. Making EQAR’s vision of  a coherent quality assurance framework for the European Higher Education Area a reality is something worth striving for” says Aleksandar.

Aleksandar will move to Brussels towards the end of summer to be able to join the rest of the team in time for his induction and introduction.

“I am thrilled that Aleksandar will be our new director”, says Annelies Traas, current Acting Head of the Secretariat. “I have known him for a number of years now, in his capacity as Register Committee member, and I have found Aleksandar to be a very dedicated, knowledgeable and perceptive person. He doesn’t shy away from hard work and, what’s more, is someone with integrity. My current role in EQAR was always meant to be temporary, trying to keep the boat afloat and steering it into calmer waters as it were, and I will be very pleased to pass the “paddle” to Aleksandar. EQAR will be in very capable hands with him at the helm!” Annelies added.