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Promoting Internationalization and Comparability of Quality Assurance in Higher Education
Start date: Oct 15, 2010,

The project Promoting Internationalization and Comparability of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (PICQA) aims at enhancing the quality of higher education in Armenia and Georgia by promoting internal and external quality assurance systems which are acceptable both regionally and internationally. In a first line of action, the quality expectations for the systems to be built in Georgia and Armenia will be defined in order to subsequently develop or adjust the procedures and criteria for external quality assurance. While in Armenia the focus will be the development and introduction of a system, in Georgia the existing system will be remodeled to better meet European standards, particularly a programme-level approach of QA will be implemented. Staff and body members of the QA agencies and potential peers will be trained. In the second line of action, HEIs will be prepared for internal quality management and subsequently for undergoing external quality checks. To this aim, they will be trained in methods and instruments for internal QA management. They will also be enabled to deal with cultural and behavioral parameters influencing the success of quality assurance measures, i.e. how to deal with resistances or how to avoid mere formal fulfillment of requirements. To ensure that the developed models are useful for the relevant stakeholders, a number of feedback loops will take place and a survey will collect stakeholders' views on the project results in both partner countries. The systems will also be tested in pilot procedures. The results of the loops will be used for finalizing the model and disseminating the practices and experiences to other HEIs not directly involved in the project. A strategy for the implementation and for continuous improvement will thus be defined and adopted. In the course of the project, the dialogue between policymakers, academics, teachers, students, administrators and employers will be fostered on regional level.
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