Reflecting on the Values of Quality Assurance
IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!
As 2022 comes to a close, we recognize that the year has been quite eventful, laying the foundation for 2023. In 2022, CHEA/CIQG re-launched its Quality International Newsletter (QI News) utilizing a newer and more vibrant, multimedia platform. The periodical showcases scholarly articles, interviews, op-eds, video excerpts from international conferences, and so much more, from contributors across the globe. The diversity of offerings within has engendered increasing interest among readers and prompted more interest from potential contributors. It is our hope that you too will submit your work for consideration of inclusion in the next or subsequent issue.
This December 2022 issue of QI News features contributions from quality assurance experts including Dirk Van Damme (formerly with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development or OECD, France), Liviu Matei (Head of School of Education, Communication & Society, King’s College London, UK), and Debra Rowe (coordinator with Higher Education Sustainability Initiative or HESI, USA). We hope that you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed preparing it for you. We also wish you an enjoyable holiday season, and a prosperous and peace-filled New Year.
Does Higher Education Teach Students to Think Critically?
There is a discernible and growing gap between the qualifications that a university degree certifies and the actual generic, 21st-century skills with which students graduate from higher education. By generic skills, it is meant literacy and critical thinking skills encompassing problem solving, analytic reasoning and communications competency. As automation takes over non- and lower-cognitive tasks in today’s workplace, these generic skills are especially valued but a tertiary degree is a poor indicator of skills level. In the United States, the Council for Aid for Education developed an assessment of generic skills called the CLA+ and carried out testing in six countries between 2016 and 2021. This book provides the data and analysis of this “CLA+ International Initiative." READ MORE. The full report can be accessed on https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/publication/cc9fa6aa-en
Dirk Van Damme is the former Head of the Center for Educational Research and Innovation at the OECD, currently an independent consultant, and a former member of the CIQG Advisory Council.
A Study in the Relationship between the Fundamental Values of Higher Education and Quality Assurance
The present study looks at the use of quality assurance (QA) tools to safeguard the Fundamental Values of Higher Education in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), namely institutional autonomy, academic freedom and integrity, participation of students and staff in higher education governance, and public responsibility for and of higher education. This list of Fundamental Values was put forward in the EHEA Ministerial Communique’ adopted on November 19, 2020.1 On the same occasion, the same ministerial delegations of the 49 EHEA countries adopted a Statement on Academic Freedom, which can be seen as an attempt to establish common conceptual reference for academic freedom in Europe, framed as a fundamental value, rather than a legal right, regulatory principle of governance norm. READ MORE
Liviu Matei is a Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy, and Head of the School of Education, Communication and Society at King’s College London.
CHEA’s Dr. Michelle Claville Interviews HESI’s Dr. Debra Rowe
CHEA Hosts Delegation from Vietnam
On September 23, 2022, CHEA hosted a 25-member delegation from Vietnam. Convened at CHEA’s headquarters in Washington, DC., the meeting focused on CHEA’s recognition of U.S. accrediting organizations, and its role in assuring quality in higher education in the United States. Headed by the Vietnam Minister of Education and Training, Mr. Nguyen Kim Son, the delegation also expressed interest in CIQG, demonstrating interest in fostering continued cross-cultural conversations.
Participating in the meeting from CHEA were Cynthia Jackson Hammond, President; Jan Friis, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs; Loretta Waldron, Vice President for Recognition Services; Michelle Claville, Vice President for Research and Policy Analysis, who also directs the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG); Joél Espinoza, Special Assistant to the President; Ashley Corley, Data Management and Media Technology Administrator; Tim Willard, Senior Director of Communications; Megan Doyle, Administrative Assistant; Cecilia Bibbo, CHEA Fellow (State University of New York - Albany); and Cynthia Requa, CHEA Fellow (University of Washington).
The Vietnamese delegation members included:
- Mr. Nguyen Kim Son, Minister, Ministry of Education and Training (MoET)
- Mr. Vu Duy Thanh, Counselor and Chief Political Officer, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the USA
- Mr. Pham Quang Hung, General Director of the International Cooperation Department, MoET
- Mrs. Bui Lan Huong, Deputy Head of International Relations Division, MoET
- Mr. Le Anh Vinh, Director General, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
- Mr. Nguyen Dang Khue, Interpreter
- Mr. Hoang Ding Luong, Minister Secretary, MoET
- Mr. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director Genera of Higher Education Department, MoET
- Mr. Le My Phong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency, MoET
- Mr. Trieu Ngoc Lam, Editor-in-Chief, The Education and Times Newspaper
- Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mai Huu, Direcor of national Foreign Language Project, MoET
- Mr. Nguyen Van Trao, President, Hanoi University
- Mr. Huynh Van Son, Rector, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education
- Mr. Le Anh Phuong, President, Hue University
- Mr. Nguyen Huy Bang, President, Vinh University
- Mr. Pham Tien Dat, Rector, University of Finance and Marketing
- Mr. Ho Nhu Hai, Vice President, CMC University
- Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung, Rector, Hanoi Open University
- Mr. Nguyen Minh Ha, Rector, Ho Chi Minh City Open University
- Mrs Tran Ai Cam, rector, Ngyen Tat Thanh University
- Mr. Le Hieu Giang, Vice Rector, Ho Chi Minh City University of technology and Education
- Mr. Nguyen Lan Phuang, Vice President and Director of graduate Training Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University
- Mr. Doan Hong Nam, Chairman & CEO, IIG Vietnam JSC
If your organization plans to be in Washington, DC and would like to meet with CHEA, please contact Michelle Claville at [email protected].
Announcement
Registration is now open for the 2023 annual CHEA/CIQG Conference which will be held January 23 – 26, 2023, at the Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C. Not only will the conference feature experts in quality assurance from across the globe, but it will also commemorate the 10th anniversary of CIQG. Register now! We look forward to seeing you there.
Calling All CIQG Members!!
Remember that you are invited to submit articles or op-eds that focus on current topics relevant to quality assurance and international higher education. Please submit your articles, op-eds, announcements by February 20, 2023, for consideration of inclusion in the March 2023 issue of QI News.
The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation,
its International Quality Group, its Board, or its members.
Become a CIQG member, today!