Message from Susanna Karakhanyan, the INQAAHE VII President
Dear Friends and Colleagues!
It is with immense pleasure that I welcome you to join us at the INQAAHE 12th Biennial Forum to be held from 23-25 March 2020, in Moscow, Russia. It is the first time after the year of 2000 that INQAAHE is being hosted by Eastern European region and the first time ever in a post-soviet area. Notably, this is in line with the INQAAHE’s aim to offer the enhancement platform to a broader higher education community in the region. This significant event is proudly hosted by the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Career Development (AKKORK) under the patronage of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
With globalization trends, ICT revolution and related disruptions, higher education institutions are no longer the sole providers of higher learning. As the tech-savvy Generation Z enters higher education, new demands on the provisions emerge. Along with the classical offer of macro-credentials leading to a full qualification, it has become apparent that in order to meet the diversity of student expectations, expanding access and convenience of education has become a must, thus, giving rise to alternative provisions. Modularized and disaggregated degrees developed around credit bearing courses and accepted as valid by workforce are growing in demand. The rise of alternative providers and credentials is the reality we are currently facing, and, quality assurance, as per the virtue of its nature, needs to be pro-active and ensure the provisions that serve and facilitate the diversity of student needs.
The Forum 2020 will explore the ways higher education and quality assurance need to transform to meet the diversity of provisions. Amid substantial change in higher education provision, it is worth asking what are the enduring values and approaches that quality assurance agencies should require be maintained in higher education? Are there elements of classical approaches to education or skills development that remain crucial to individual or overall Generation Z employability? How do QA bodies communicate the importance of the enduring, while being responsive to changing demands from employers? How should Quality Assurance Agencies address non-traditional higher education provisions and their contributions to Generation Z employability? How are QAAs responding to the rapidly changing landscape of learning and at the same time ensuring learners have the relevant skills they need for success? What are the most practical approaches to the QA of alternative credentials and who should bear the responsibilities for the QA?
To respond to the inquiries above, the INQAAHE 2020 Forum – “Quality, Competencies, and Learning Outcomes:How to Be Fit for Generation Z Employability”– offers a unique platform for a constructive dialogue for higher education and quality assurance leaders and providers. The sub-themes of the Forum are:
Building Generation Z Competencies through Classical Approaches to Degree Offerings: innovative approaches to quality assurance and recognition of qualifications;
Advancing Generation Z Employability through New Forms of Learning: quality assurance and recognition of alternative credentials.
With the invaluable contribution of leading international experts in the field who will bring a wealth of experience from all over the world, the Forum aims to deliver the most recent relevant research, best practices, and critical information to support tertiary education professionals and experts in their daily operations. Additionally, the event will provide you with a professional platform to refresh and enrich your knowledge base and explore the latest innovations in higher education in general and quality assurance through a series of pre-forum workshops around the following major themes:
WS 1: quality assurance of alternative education
WS2: distinctiveness of subject specific reviews and promotion of relevance
WS3: innovative approaches to assessment of student learning outcomes
WS4: INQAAHE Guidelines of Good Practices: what does it look like from inside a QA?
Last, but not least, the INQAAHE Forum offers innumerable networking opportunities with leading professionals and between researchers, peers, and colleagues, prospects for exchange of experience as well as learning from the diversity of quality cultures.
The Programme Committee – under the leadership of the Chair, Vivek Gupta Ramnarain and the AKKORK Local Organising Committee under the lead of the Chair Erika Soboleva – is investing both time and effort to provide you with, not just an unforgettable and highly intellectual experience, but also a special programme to experience the unique aesthetic treasures of the Russian culture and spirit. We cordially invite you to enjoy the exceptional opportunities offered by the INQAAHE Forum, which brings together the best of quality assurance practices, bridges diversity of QA systems from all over the world as well as provides a unique opportunity to explore the exquisiteness of our host nation with us.
Message from Erika Soboleva, the Director of AKKORK, Member of the INQAAHE Board of Directors
Dear colleagues, dear friends!
In early May 2018, the General Assembly of INQAAHE (International Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) decided to choose Russia as the location for their 12th Biennial Forum, taking place from 23 to 25 of March 2020 and focusing on the challenges facing higher education quality assurance under the general theme: Quality, Competencies , and Learning the Outcomes: How to Be Fit for Generation Z.
The aim of the forumisto discuss the global challenges in the sphere ofhigher educationquality assurance, which go beyond national or regional borders.
These INQAAHE Forums have taken place for twenty years, roughly every two years. The last event, in 2018, hosted more than 250 representatives of higher education quality assurance from around the world, including delegates in agencies and universities from countries such as the USA, Canada, Japan, China, and a range of countries from across South America, Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe.
It is exciting that next year the Forum will be held in Moscow. Following a study of the development level of the Quality Assurance sphere in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (2017 – 2018 with UNESCO, INQAAHE, NAA and AKKORK), INQAAHE made a decision to hold the Forum in Russia to support further development in this region.
This is a significant event for the educational community of the Russian Federation. This is the first time that our country has had the opportunity to take part in organizing a global event of this kind, providing a platform for the discussion of such relevant topics with the contributions of world-class experts. The Forum covers a range of themes, of interest to the global INQAAHEForum audience and of special interest for higher education in today’s Russia:Are there elements of classical approaches to education or skills development that remain crucial to ensuring individual or overall Generation Z employability? How should Quality Assurance Agencies address non-traditional higher education provision and its contribution to Generation Z employability? How can classical approaches meet the new demands and work harmoniously with new approaches?
These and many other issues related to the higher education and quality assurance of Generation Z will be discussed through the unique educational platforms provided by the Forum. The participants will have an opportunity to get new ideas and learn about innovative approaches to further promote and evaluatethem throughthe external and internal evaluation of higher education quality.
We would like to make the Forum program as interesting and meaningful as possible as well as enhancing the opportunities for meeting, networking and making useful contacts throughout the event for all participants – representatives of quality assurance agencies, heads of departments and universities, as well as political and public figures, experts and journalists.
We hope that the Forum will be useful to you!
Message from Vadim Kovalev, the Chairman of the AKKORK Supervisory Board
Dear colleagues, dear friends!
I am very pleased to welcome you to such a significant event, the INQAAHE Forum 2020: Quality, Competencies , and Learning the Outcomes: How to Be Fit for Generation Z, significant not only for Russia, but for the international educational community!
I am confident that the theme of the Forum will serve as the basis for a comprehensive discussion of the current theoretical and practical issues related to ensuring the quality of higher education and learning outcomes at an international level.
The emphasis of the Generation Z theme is on new approaches to teaching and, more widely, new approaches to the formation of people. People who are, according to researchers, very different, not only fromour generation, but also fromtoday’s students, the millennials. Analysts say that unlike millennials, Generation Z students will have an inherently realistic view of the world, will be more self-reliant and more interested in innovation. The key difference is that the Z generation perceivesthemselves as part of a larger system and feel responsible for its improvement. In this regard, it is important to note that the training of professionals and specialists from this new generation will bring new challenges for not only individual educational institutions, or even a single country, but also for the global educational system. According to a new study by Bloomberg, which in turn is based on UN data, in 2019 Generation Z has already begun to overtake the millennial generation in scale. Generation Z now makes up 32% of the world’s population and millennials make up 31.5%.
This only confirms that discussions about the issues relating to the use of newteaching and learning modes and methods, corresponding with the expectations and requirements of Generation Z, and the challenges for the preparation of highly qualified specialists in new fields and formats,are very relevant for all countries. The participation of a wide circle of specialists and experts from around the world in theseconceptual discussionsabout ensuring education quality and learning outcomes will allow us to develop optimal solutions to the problems faced by the world educational community and the labor market. The Forum also affords us with an opportunityto discuss a range of assessment approaches and priorities for solving problems in novel, interesting and useful ways.
I consider it important to note in this 12th event, that through many years of efficient operation,the INQAAHE Forum has become ahighly authoritative platform for constructive dialogue, the exchange of opinions, the demonstration of innovative ideas and examples of their implementation to meet the global challenges that face higher education within and beyond transnational boundaries. Obviously this is only possible because of the desire of the organizers of the Forum to select and pose for discussion the most relevant and topical issues that promote the development and enhancement of a wide range of aspects of higher education at a global level.
I am sure that the INQAAHE Forum in Moscow will take place in a constructive, creative way and will definitely meet the expectations of its organizers, the participants and guests, and that the Forum will result in a range of specific educational projects that will be implemented in Russia and in other countries around the world !
