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Central American
Accreditation Council founded
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Central American
Accreditation Council founded
The Central American Accreditation Council for the university sector (CCA) was founded in Panama City on November 19. Its objective is to enable politicians, companies and students in the countries of the region to make better comparisons of academic qualifications and obtain reliable information on the relevance of study courses to the job market. Another task is to guarantee by means of accrediting agencies the minimum quality of university degrees across borders. InWEnt was involved in the founding of the world's first such cross-border institution. Building on an evaluation system run by the state universities in the region, the international capacity-building organisation put in place a multi-stage convergence and harmonisation process for the participating actors.
The Council consists of 12 members. These were chosen in the seven countries and by five regional unions. Besides proven expertise, the selection criterion was in particular esteem as leading figures of integrity in the participating countries. An office in San José, Costa Rica, was set up at the beginning of this year. Adequate basic annual financing for coming years is ensured by membership dues.
The founding contract was signed by the 28 vice-chancellors of the leading state and private universities of the region, the Panamanian Deputy Education Minister, and the presidents of the professional associations (representing the economic sector). Among others, InWEnt Managing Director Bernd Schleich and Richard Lewis, President of the World Association of Accreditation Agencies, signed the document as witnesses.
The Council's founding followed four years of preparatory work. The Central American Superior Council of Universities (CSUCA) and InWEnt created the bases for it as part of a joint project. In close colaboration with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors Conference (HRK) and the German Accreditation Council, they systematically developed the regional quality assurance system and removed possible stumbling blocks. The University Research Institute (WZ 1) and the Institute for Socio-cultural Studies (ISOS) of the University of Kassel played an important role as well.
During the preparatory stage they helped to give advanced training to more than 1,200 managers: directors of university evaluation departments, leaders of external evaluation teams, project managers for the implementation of surveys among graduates, and advisers to vice-chancellors. Among other things, regional accreditation standards for medical studies were developed jointly in a dialogue. Parallel to that, the CSUCA and InWEnt prepared the founding of the CCA with three high-calibre policy forums in the region.
Christoph Hansert is Project Manager at InWEnt’s Education Division.
christoph.hansert@inwent.org
Further information and documents on the founding of the Central American Accreditation Council are posted at www.utp.ac.pa/csuca/conte_foro/
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