This contribution presents an assessment of the de jure independence of Quality Assurance Agencies (QAAs) operating at the national level in the field of higher education and which are public in nature (or are commissioned by public authorities). Considering more than 40 countries in Europe and Latin America, we present a multidimensional index based on formal statements derived from agencies’ constitutive norms and regulations.

As negotiations continue on the future Horizon Europe programme, the discussion on the Model Grant Agreement is fundamental for effective and smooth implementation. Not only does the Model Grant Agreement serve as the key contractual document between all parties, it is also the central user guide which helps beneficiaries fully understand and better interpret the programme rules.

In an everchanging world of student representation, Croatian students have noticed a need for change in the development, organisation and evaluation of the quality of their students` representatives and their work to assure its sustainability. Students are aware of the Universities` growth and there is an intrinsic motion to follow.

The ‘European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes’ is a framework to evaluate joint programmes uniformly. It has been in existence since May 2015. Recently, the ‘European Approach’ is anchored in the Flemish legislation. Together with its stakeholders, VLUHR QA developed a manual for its programme evaluations according to the ‘European Approach.

On 1 January 2019, Ireland’s first Technological University (TU Dublin) was established when Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT) merged. Three independent quality assurance frameworks continue to be implemented across the three constituencies of the former independent institutes.

Presumably we want each expert in external quality assurance procedure to be a great one. And here the hard part arises – what is a great expert? This paper provides research to the question: what competences and qualities for students experts as vital stakeholders and at what degree are important to higher education quality assurance agencies. To achieve this goal Kano model is used.

This paper was presented at EQAF and reflects the views of the named authors only.

ISSN: 1375-3797

Work-Based Learning is gradually becoming an integrated key component in many HE programmes covering a significant number of ECTS credits. It is therefore remarkable that until now not much time and effort has been dedicated to developing instruments to guarantee its quality. An inventory made by ENQA shows that only single QA organisations have taken initial initiatives, but that a comprehensive model for quality assurance of this type of learning is absent.

The social dimension of Higher Education has never been before so much emphasized. This is because it is expected that universities will lead the resolution of the challenges that face our societies. Quality assurance agencies way to help universities to tackle this and other challenges is through the establishment of assessment procedures.

Sustainable Development(SD) is a major subject for society but also for Engineering education. Many citizens think that the consequences concerning climate change or reduction of biodiversity are the results of what engineers have imagined during the previous century. It is partly true but since the 90’s many attempts exist in research and education to fight for ecology and social responsibility.

Institutional quality initiatives have been the main guidelines in developing internal Quality Assurance (QA) processes at South East European University (SEEU). The University promotes quality in order to meet the needs of its stakeholders and fulfil the societal responsibility of a modern higher education institution.