Events

The CEE Network held its annual workshop and Steering Committee meeting in St. Petersburg 25-26 May. The aim of the workshop was to determine to what extent the region’s QA agencies have adopted the European Standards and Guidelines, or in how far they believe that some of the standards cannot be adopted in full but need to be changed to reflect the region’s specific concerns and practices. An in-depth study – on student involvement in QA and appeals procedures of agencies – will be produced in the coming months.

The Minutes of the Steering Committee meeting can be read here.

The CEE Network held its annual workshop together with its biennial General Assembly on 29-30 May 2006 in Schloss Retzhof near Graz, Austria. Peter Williams, president of ENQA, gave a presentation about that organisation in anticipation of the CEE Network joining ENQA as an affiliate organisation. In addition to CEE Network members, Emmi Helle, ENQA acting secretary general, and Katja Kamsek of ESIB also attended.

The aim of the workshop was to discuss the developments of member agencies toward attaining the European Standards since the CEE Network Survey was taken. The main outcome of the discussions was that all participating agencies meet most of the European Standards, with the greatest deficits being in the area of foreign experts, student participation, independence, and the external evaluation of agencies.

The General Assembly elected Pavol Navrat, Slovakia, as its new chairman and steering committee members Galina Motova, Russia, Ivan Panayatov, Bulgaria, Aurelija Valeikiene, Lithuania (also Treasurer), and Marek Wasowicz, Poland.

The Austrian agency AQA was given full member status, and a formal co-operation with the European Consortium of Accreditation ECA was approved. The General Assembly also voted to draw the limit of the CEE Network at the Ural Mountains.

The minutes and programme can be read by clicking on the links.

The CEE Network held a workshop in Poznan, Poland, on 29 May 2005. (For pictures of the meeting please visit www.uka.amu.edu.pl/ceen_galeria.html.) Participants discussed the preliminary results of the CEE Network Survey on the activities and characteristics of its member agencies. The purpose of the Survey is to identify the similarities and dissimilarities in the evaluation and accreditation practices of the agencies and to explore ways of mutual recognition of accreditation in the future. On the preceding day the Steering Committee held its annual meeting.

The Minutes, program list of participants and Steering Committee meeting program can be found here.

You can also find Dr. Hofmann’s Power Point presentation here.

The CEE Network held is biennial General Assembly on 23-24 October 2004 in Prague, hosted by the Czech Accreditation Commission and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic.

The meeting was preceded by a workshop. The Vice-Minister for Education of the Czech Republic, Dr. Petr Kolar, welcomed the participants. The workshop theme was the survey of CEE Network member agencies, begun by Dr. Stefanie Hofmann. The survey is a stocktaking exercise on the basic practices and the procedural and legislative frameworks of member agencies, the expected outcome of which is to identify possible pathways to mutual recognition. The frame of reference, and thus the focus of the two discussion groups, were the proposed ENQA criteria for membership.

Two applications for new CEE Network membership were discuss: the Austrian Fachhochschulrat (FHR), established in 1993, was approved as a full member of the CEE Network by unanimous vote, while the Austrian Quality Assurance Agency (AQA), which began operating only in the beginning of 2004, was granted observer status until the next General Assembly in 2006. The Minutes of the General Assembly can be read here.