News

Representatives of the Higher Education Accrediation Agency of Republika Srpska represented the Agency at the European Quality Forum (EQAF 2019), held from 21^st   to 23^rd   November  at the TU Berlin (Technical University Berlin). The Quality Forum brought together 521 participants from 59 countries in Europe and Asia.

The EQAF 2019 theme was "Supporting societal engagement of higher education".

Through participation in numerous panel discussions, workshops and presenting papers on various topics, panelists and forum participants tried to encourage dialogue and identify models for changes in internal and external quality assurance procedures that would increase the role of higher education in social life and among stakeholders in society. Papers and research in this area as well as the experiences and practices of developed countries are also presented.

The event was co-organized by EUA (European Association of Universities), ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), EURASHE (European Association of Institutions in Higher Education) and ESU (European Union of Students).

The next European Quality Forum 2020 will be hosted by Alto University from the Finnish city of Espo.

The Steering Board of the Higher Education Accreditation Agency of Republika Srpska held its 19^th regular session on the 30^th of September 2019. The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the Board, professor Mile Dmicic PhD.

The members of the Steering Board are familiarised with more information relevant for the work of the Agency. In particular, they commented on the information on the current procedures for accreditation of higher education institutions and study programs, after which certain conclusions were reached.

Head of Department for Quality Assurance and International Cooperation of the Agency, Duska Radmanovic, MSc, participated from 21^st  to 23^rd October in the first series of workshops within the program "Development of leadership skills 2019-2020" in Vienna.

The program is organized by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and consists of three three-day workshops, the first of which was carried out in cooperation with the Austrian Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation.

Experts from different countries in Europe and the world covered topics such as:

• Development of a quality higher education system,
• Global developments in higher education which present a particular challenge to quality,
• The development of the European Higher Education Area and the challenges of quality assurance,
• University experience in the context of the European Quality Framework.

Delegation of the RSHEAA, headed by the director, Biljana Vojvodic PhD, visited the Aragon Agency for Quality Assurance and Strategic Foresight in Higher Education (ACPUA) in Zaragoza (Spain) on September 25^th to 26^th, where a cooperation agreement was signed two agencies.

The agreement, which defines the two agencies' shared commitment to developing a culture of quality in higher education, was signed by ACPUA director, professor Antonio Serrano Gonzales (Antonio Serrano González ) PhD and director RSHEAA Biljana Vojvodic PhD.

The agreement also predicts co-operation in the development of standards and criteria in the field of quality assurance in higher education, possible exchanges of experts and reviewers, as well as agency staff, and mutual participation in external evaluation procedures in the status of observer.