QAA hosts senior leadership webinar on international accreditation

On 30 September, QAA hosted a special webinar in which senior leaders in higher education reflected on their experiences of review and accreditation through QAA's processes of International Quality Review (IQR) and International Programme Accreditation (IPA). 

About 500 people from all over the world registered to attend the online event – from as far afield as Austria and Albania, Bangladesh, Bahrain and Brunei, Cyprus and Spain, Fiji and the Philippines, Qatar and Kuwait, Lebanon and Leicester, and Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius and the Maldives.  

The webinar explored the motivations that drive institutions to seek international accreditation, the impact accreditation has on institutional goals and strategies, and the critical role of senior leadership in building an institution's commitment to excellence. 

Chaired by QAA Chief Executive Vicki Stott, our panel featured Professor Dr Balvinder Shukla (Vice Chancellor of Amity University, Utter Pradesh, in India), Professor Bassam A Alameddine (President of the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates) and Professor Nazih Khaddaj Mallat (Vice President of Accreditation and Quality at AI Ain University in the United Arab Emirates). 

Professor Mallat said that his institution had been motivated to pursue IQR accreditation in order to benchmark against globally recognised standards, to demonstrate this commitment to its stakeholders, and to promote its "culture of continuous improvement" through gaining external perspectives on areas for enhancement.  

"It has accelerated internal improvements," he said – emphasising its impacts on stakeholder engagement, student recruitment and institutional processes and policies.  

It's not just about getting the badge – he observed – institutions which embed quality enhancement have the richest accreditation experiences. 

He added that they have found that accreditation has supported their development of international partnerships, and that this international recognition has made their graduates more competitive in global job markets. 

This was a point also emphasised by Professor Alameddine who stressed that the purpose of a university is to "serve students" – and that accreditation had promoted his institution's students' international mobility and employability – as well as ensuring its students meet global benchmarks, embedding its culture of continuous improvement, and strengthening its overall position. 

He highlighted how the processes of accreditation allow an institution to enhance and advance a university's mission. "The most important thing is the cultural change an accreditation brings about for an institution," he said. 

"We're not looking for a stamp or a seal – we’re looking for the betterment of the institution. 

"International accreditation shapes universities' strategies. These are mechanisms which allow us to build a global reputation." 

Professor Shukla agreed on the reputational benefits of accreditation, pointing out how these processes have contributed to her institution's placing in global university rankings – and have underpinned its "vision for global credibility and excellence" and reinforced its "commitment to the highest standards". 

"It's had immense impacts on various front at the university," she said – underlining "the importance of international recognition in establishing trust and credibility". 

She also spoke of how accreditation has supported remarkable improvements in student learning outcomes.  

"Accreditation is very good if a university takes it seriously – to improve processes, policies and quality," she said.

Find out more about QAA international accreditation here.