DEQAR Conference and EQAR Members' Dialogue

From Quality to Automatic Recognition and Mobility

The DEQAR Conference was organised on 7-8 October, in conjunction with the annual EQAR Members’ Dialogue, an event that serves as a forum to discuss current policy developments in quality assurance. The event was hosted by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and thanks to the Crue Universidades Españolas.

  • Presentations
  • Conference Report
  • Call for Proposals
    EQAR launched a call to researchers and practitioners inviting them to submit a paper or poster contributing to the conference. The selected proposals were by Marta van Zanten, Ignas Gaižiūnas, Nathan Ono de Carvalho, Anna Klampfer and Liv Teresa Muth

Monday, 7 October 2019

9:30 Registration and welcome coffee
10:00 Opening session (Salón de Grados)

  • Juan Romo, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, President and Crue Universidades Españolas, Board
  • Karl Dittrich, EQAR, President
  • José Manuel Pingarrón Carrazón, Secretary General of Universities, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain
10:15 Quality at your fingertips

Brief introduction to the new DEQAR interface, advanced search and key figures by:

  • Kathryn Mathe, EQAR, Database Analyst
  • Colin Tück, EQAR, Director
10:30 European Universities, Automatic Recognition and Digital Student Data – New Frontiers for Quality Assurance? How can EQAR and DEQAR Support the Ambitious Goals?

Keynote by Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, European Commission, DG EAC, Head of Unit Higher Education

Respondents:

  • Karl Dittrich, EQAR, President
  • Fernando Miguel Galán Palomares, ARQUS, Consortium Manager

Moderator: Gohar Hovhannisyan, EQAR EB & ESU, Vice-President
@go_go_gohar, @ESUtwt
11:45 Coffee break (Balconada)
12:15 Translating the ESG into practice – analysing evidence from quality assurance reports in DEQAR (Salón de Grados)
Presentation by Maria Manatos, Gent University, ResearcherRespondents:

  • Tia Loukkola, EQAR EB & EUA, Director of Institutional Development
  • Michal Karpíšek, EQAR EB & EURASHE, Secretary General

Moderator: Melinda Szabo, EQAR, Policy Analyst
13:30 Lunch (Balconada)
14:30 Parallel sessions (Aulas 1.A.09, 1.A.15 and 0.A.09)
Parallel session protocol: Each participant can visit one session. Please register for your choice of session at the registration desk.
Each session has a maximum amount of participants, visible on the registration list: full is full!
1. Studies and research on QA, made possible with DEQAR (Aula 1.A.09)
Presentations:

  • Marta van Zanten, Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), USA
  • Teaser presentations from poster sessions

Moderator: Melinda Szabó, EQAR, Policy Analyst
2. Joining forces with DEQAR (Aula 1.A.15)
A guided discussion on the possibilities of linking up the larger constellation of projects which support recognition, cooperation and mobility in the EHEA. Panelists:

  • Klara Engels-Perenyi, European Commission, DG Education and Culture, Policy Officer Higher Education / Quality Assurance
  • Koen Nomden, European Commission, DG Employment, Team Leader Recognition Tools
  • Tauno Ojala, European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Information Systems Architect
  • Laureano Gonzalez-Vega, Universidad de Cantabria & Suomitech Soluciones Innovadoras, Spain
  • Chiara Finocchietti, CIMEA, Deputy Director
  • Colin Tück, EQAR, Director

Moderator: Anthony Camilleri, Interoperability Expert for the Europass Digital Credentials Infrastructure
3. European Universities and Quality Assurance (Aula 0.A.09)
Presentations:

  • Mark Frederiks, NVAO, Manager of the EuniQ project – possibility of joint institutional audit/accreditation
  • Carmela Calés Bourdet, Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE)/Vice-Rector, Autonomous University of Madrid – quality assurance processes in one European University (CIVIS)

Moderator: Peter van der Hijden, Independent expert
15:30 Coffee break (Balconada)
16:00 World Café: DEQAR use cases and potential (Balconada)
World  Café etiquette: There will be 4 rounds of 20 minutes each, each participant can thus visit 4 tables.
The maximum of “visitors” per table is 10: full is full!

  • Research poster: “Cross-country comparison in quality assurance”, Ignas Gaižiūnas (Lithuania)
  • Research poster: “Cross-Border External Quality Assurance in Europe”, Nathan Ono de Carvalho (Portugal), @ono_nathan
  • Research poster: “Student as expert in review panel members”, Anna Klampfer (Austria) and Liv Teresa Muth (Germany)
  • DEQAR as a Tool for Student Experts, Jakub Grodecki, ESU
  • Using DEQAR data to inform research and policy, Benedetto Lepori, ETER, and Tauno Ojala, European Commission, JRC, Knowledge Hub for Higher Education
  • Linking Digital Credentials with QA, Anthony Camilleri and Koen Nomden, European Commission, DG EMPL, Europass
  • Embedding QA information in digital student data systems, Tor Fridell, EMREX
  • Facilitate Automatic Recognition using DEQAR, Chiara Finocchietti, CIMEA
  • Western Balkans Information System – DEQAR as example and reference, Vanja Ivošević, RCC
  • Promoting DEQAR – brainstorming the next steps, Annelies Traas, EQAR
17:30 Closing
20:30 Dinner: Restaurant NuBel, Calle Argumosa 43

Tuesday, 8 October 2019

9:30 Welcome coffee (Balconada)
10:00 World Café: Current policy developments in European QA (Balconada)
World Café etiquette: There will be 4 rounds of 20 minutes each, each participant can thus visit 4 tables.
The maximum of “visitors” per table is 10: full is full!

  • Legal frameworks for QA, Inese Lusena-Ezera, Latvia
  • Irish Quality Review, Orla Lynch, Department of Education, Ireland
  • Review of national QA system, Kyra de Korte and Carlijn Braam from Research.nl, Netherlands
  • Peer Support on Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Staff Mobility in QA,  Magalie Soenen (Co-Chair, Belgium – Flemish Community)
  • European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes in practice: European Master in Law and Economics, Wicher Schreuders, Erasmus University of Rotterdam
  • European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes in practice: MSc European Forestry, Timo Tokola, University of Eastern Finland
  • TPG Stakeholder Project, Radu Damian, ARACIS
  • BLOOM – the European hub for online and blended learning, mobility and networking (OpenU project), Saskia Weißenbach, DAAD
  • QA of Work-Based Learning, Jasmina Poličnik, Skupnost VSŠ
DEQAR Agency Hub (Aula 1.A.15)
Session for QA agencies to discuss feedback and future needs, chaired by:

  • Kathryn Mathe, EQAR, Database Analyst
  • József Gábor Bóné, Database Developer
11:30 Coffee break
12:00 Key messages from the parallel sessions (by session chairs),  Salón de Grados
Panel discussion: How can the European Quality Assurance Framework and DEQAR support Automatic Recognition and Mobility?

  • Birgitta Vuorinen, Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, BFUG Co-Chair
  • Luca Lantero, President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee Bureau, Head of the BFUG Secretariat
  • Jasmina Havranek, ASHE, Director
  • Jakub Grodecki, ESU, Executive Committee

Moderator: Maria Kelo, EQAR EB & ENQA, Director
13:15 Closing words

  • Karl Dittrich, EQAR, President
13:30 Farewell lunch (Balconada)
15:00 For stakeholder project partners: Advisory Group meeting (Meeting room: 1.B.03)