International quality experts appointed to QAA International Accreditation Panel

QAA has appointed international quality assurance experts to its International Quality Review (IQR) Accreditation Panel. The panel considers recommendations made by our IQR review teams in order to determine if an institution should be awarded QAA’s Institutional Accreditation. The Accreditation Panel normally meets four times each year and comprises eight members:

• Alastair Delaney (Chair) - Alastair has been the Director of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at QAA since January 2020. Alastair is an Agency Reviewer for the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and serves on the ENQA Reviews Committee, which quality assures agency review reports.
• Dr Ailsa Crum (Deputy Chair) - Ailsa is Director of Membership, Quality Enhancement and Standards at QAA where she assumes responsibility for key sector reference points such as the UK Quality Code, qualifications and subject benchmark statements as well as delivering a range of quality enhancement services for QAA Members, particularly those based in England. Ailsa sits on numerous external committees including the Edinburgh Napier University Students’ Association Board.
• Professor Chan Basaruddin (International Member) - Professor Basaruddin is the Director of the Executive Board of the National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education - Indonesia (BAN-PT). He has served as an international consultant in the areas of higher education management, higher education funding and financing, and quality assurance in higher education.
• Professor Dr Youhansen Eid (International Member) - Professor Eid is President of the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE) in Egypt. She is an executive board member of the Association of Arab Universities Council for Quality Assurance and Accreditation, the Association of the Quality Assurance Agencies for the Islamic World, and the Arab Network for Quality Assurance Agencies for Higher Education.
• Dr Joe Hong (International Member) - Dr Hong has over 30 years of academic and administrative experience in higher education and is currently the Deputy Executive Director (Academic) for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ). He is currently leading the digital transformation journey of HKCAAVQ for accreditation and assessment services, which entails robotic process automation, blockchain-enabled digital credentials and a collaborative accreditation management system with course providers.
• Professor Rhys Rowland-Jones (International Member) - Professor Rowland-Jones is a Commissioner at the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) at the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He has over 20 years’ experience of higher education quality assurance, accreditation and validation in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He is also a specialist reviewer for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications and the Oman Academic Accreditation Agency.
• Diane Glautier (UK Member) - Diane has over 25 years' experience working in the higher education sector and is currently the Director of Collaborative Academic Partnerships at Staffordshire University. This role includes strategic responsibility for the development and management of the university’s academic partnerships in both the UK and Internationally.
• Alexander Hedlund (Student Member) - Alexander recently completed his term as Vice President for Education at Heriot-Watt Students’ Union and is in his second term as the Enhancement Themes Student Lead, a member of the Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC), and a member of QAA Scotland’s Strategic Advisory Committee.

Speaking about the recent appointments, Douglas Blackstock, QAA Chief Executive, said:

‘QAA is delighted to have assembled a panel of such experienced and globally renowned quality assurance professionals to support our International Quality Review process. IQR helps to enhance the reputation, competitiveness and global image of international higher education providers, allowing them to measure their quality assurance standards against European quality standards. I am confident that the expertise of the Accreditation Panel will help to ensure that the IQR remains a robust and thorough process.’

International Quality Review has been specially developed to provide institutions outside the UK with an independent peer review leading to accreditation by QAA. IQR measures global institutions against the ten international quality assurance standards set out in Part 1 of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).

More information on International Quality Review is available on our website, as well as full profiles of our IQR Accreditation Panel.