News & Events
5.2 Training Session on Setting Up of QABs, Mutah University, Jordan, 21 January 2016

21/01/2016
This meeting was held at the premises of the University of Mutah in Amman. It could not be held in Kerak due to important storm which prevented from a safe travel to the venue. The Mutah university President welcomed the participants and ensured its involvement in making the EQuAM project ‘s results fully implemented in its institution. This meeting gave the opportunity to Jordanian partners to share their experience, challenges, and best practices in setting up their Quality Assurance Bureaus. It was a very successful meeting as all participants could openly discuss and exchange view and noted that this kind of opportunity should be repeated. HEAC representative could get a better understanding of the needs and expectations of JO universities with regards to their internal management of QA and their understanding of the external accreditation processes.
6.4 Final Dissemination Conference, PSUT, Jordan, 20 January 2016

20/01/2016
The Final Conference was held at the Princess Sumaya University of Technology (PSUT) in Amman, Jordan. It counted with a very large audience not only from the Jordanian consortium partner but also from universities who were not part of the project. Senior manager from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Higher Education Accreditation Commission, and the Association of Arab Universities were present. The Jordanian consortium members were given the opportunity to present the impact and concrete outcomes the EQuAM project brought to their institution, while the European representatives gave a complete overview of the achievements and importance of this project in strengthening at the academic and political level the already existing ties between Jordan and the European Higher Education Institution and governmental and non-governmental Agencies.
5.4 Training Session on Institutional Cooperation, University of Barcelona, Spain, 14-15 December 2015

15/12/2015
This gathering aimed at ensuring the involvement of Jordanian Higher Education Institutions’ Senior management and Authorities. All the presidents of the Jordanian universities’ consortium member university attended this important meeting where the EQuAM outcomes and successful achievements were presented. Strategic guidance and importance of full commitment and support from the top management team in these universities were taken.
Institutional cooperation. Participation of the MoHE and JO universities presidents. Moreover, we had the privilege to count with the participation of H.E the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Professor Labib Al-Khadra, who formally brought its full support and endorsement to the project’s results.
Link to the University of Barcelona website:
http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/ca/menu_eines/noticies/2015/12/034.html
5.5 Training Session on external Quality Assurance, ANECA, Madrid, Spain, 7-8 September 2015

08/09/2015
A 2-day training was held at ANECA on 7-8 September. This training aimed at giving the Jordanian partner institutions concrete examples of external evaluation procedures undertaken by the ANECA at the Spanish level and to present European study cases. It was also the opportunity to discuss the pilots final results and the steps to be undertaken for the Guidelines on QA management. The participation of HEAC’s representative was also of an utmost importance for this gathering as the newly updated standards were presented to all Jordanian participants and HEAC could have a clear overview of the pilots¡ results and the state of the art of the Guidelines.
Training on Internal Quality Assurance, Sapienza University of Rome, 11-12 June 2015

13/06/2015
A 2-day training was held in Sapienza Rectorate building on 11 and 12 June 2014 on how Internal Quality Assurance was managed.
The participants were exposed to the experience and procedures of Sapienza University in its internal quality and evaluation system through different aspects: study programmes, data analysis, management and transparency as well as through the exemple of one specific faculty and the international relations office. The italian national framework fro QA (AVA) developed by the italian Quality Assurance Agency – ANVUR – was also presented and how an AVA institutional visit was prepared and undertaken by Perugia University, which is not member of the EQuAM consortium. This gave an external approach and vision which enriched the debate and the following exchanges. Finally, Prof. Cristiano Violani (AVA Expert at Sapienza University), explained the site visits from the expert’s peer perspective. Ms. Anna Gover from the European University Association also attended this event and gave two presentations. The first one was on the new ESG and simplified QA criteria for joint programme, and the second one was related to a project led by the EUA on quality assurance in the Balkans. It brought the audience the possibility to explore the QA experience in this region and see the shared commonalities and differences in the implementation of such processes.
5.6 Multiplying Effect Workshop, HEAC, Jordan

03/05/2015
The director of the Jordanian Higher Education Accreditation Commission (HEAC), Dr. Bashir Al-Zoubi, organised a workshop of an utmost importance for the dissemination of the EQuAM project’s results and achievements. He gathered all Jordanian Universities senior management and responsible of quality assurance to officially inform them of the outcomes and impact of the EQuAM project on all Jordanian Higher Education Institutions for their internal quality assurance procedures with the development of the Guidelines/ Model for institutional QA management, as well as for the external evaluation process with the updated version of the existing Standards and Guidelines. The participation of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Hani Dmour, and of the Secretary General of the Association of Arab universalities (AArU), Dr. Sultan Abu Orabi AL-Adwan, brought to this event an official endorsement and gave the EQuAM project a significant impulse and ensured its long-term sustainability.
2nd and 3rd Pilot Exercises

27/02/2015
The 2nd and 3rd Pilot Exercises were held in Jordan on 24 February 2015 in Tafila Technical University, and on Thursday 26 February at Princess Sumaya University of Technology (Amman).
The panel was composed by Prof. Cristiano Violani from Sapienza University (Rome, Italy), Tiia Tammaru from Tallin University of Technology (Estonia), Maria Kelo (ENQA, Belgium) and chaired by Zeineb Mazouz, University of Barcelona (Spain). On the Jordanian side, Prof. Mohammed Mismar, from Princess Sumaya University of Technology was part of the Tafila panel and Prof. Bashar Hammad for the PSUT panel. A set of different documents were prepared by the ANECA and were addressed, on one hand, to the panellists, and on another hand, to the attendees from both the Jordanian and Europena partners. A specific document was also sent to the students for them to be prepared for the piloting of the Guidelines. The pilot in Tafila gave the consortium the possibility to meet and interview the newly appointed Head of the Quality Assurance Bureau. The creation of a QA Bureau in Tafila is one of the conrete outcomes of the EQuAM project.
EQuAM in EQAF

15/11/2014
The 9th European Quality Assurance Forum, co-organised by ENQA, ESU, EUA and EURASHE, took place at the University of Barcelona, Spain, on 13-15 November 2014. Through a mix of plenary and parallel sessions, the 2014 EQAF, entitled “Changing education–QA and the shift from teaching to learning”, combined practice-oriented or research-based discussions that took place in the paper sessions and workshops with presentations of current developments in quality assurance. A dedicated session to present the EQuAM first results and outcomes gave the project a unique opportunity for dissemination and experience sharing The European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) provides a unique platform for the higher education and quality assurance (QA) communities to monitor, shape and anticipate developments in the field. The main purpose of the Forum is to foster a dialogue on QA that bridges national boundaries and leads to a truly European discussion on QA in higher education, and to create a common European understanding of QA through discussions and networking among different stakeholder groups.
Training Workshop in Madrid

26/06/2014
Three-day training was organised by ANECA in Madrid for Jordanian Quality Assurance officials and managers on 23, 24, 25 June 2014. This first training consisted in a series of presentations on the Spanish case and, more specifically, on the relationship between universities and the Accreditation Agency.  Jordanian partners had the chance as well to present the last development of the EQuAM project and to discuss, together with the Higher Education Accreditation commission’s representative (HEAC), the lessons learnt from the ANECA experience and how to implement the EQuAM guidelines in Jordan. Please make sure to check the agenda and the presentations to find out more about this training.
Pre-Pilot Exercise

16/05/2014
On May 14th -15th  the EQuAM consortium held a meeting in Amman in order to start piloting the new drafted guidelines and procedures on Quality Assurance for Jordanian Universities. The first university to be evaluated was Yarkmouk University and we counted with the participation of the Vice-President of YU, the Vice-President for Academic, Deans  and Head of Departments, the Head of the Quality Assurance Bureau, and five students (undergraduate, graduate, graduated).
The pilot was led by the experts from Europe (ANECA, ENQA) and two from Jordan (PSUT and the Hashemite University). The University of Barcelona chaired the panel and the session.  As a result a series of discussions with the Higher Education Accreditation Commission are taking place in order to combine the existing model with the improvements brought by EQuAM.
Presentation of the Quality Assurance Guidelines

22/01/2014
The Association of Arab Universities (AArU) hosted on 22 January 2014 the presentation of the Quality Assurance Guidelines to be implemented in Jordanian Universities. These guidelines were drafted by the experts from Yarmouk University, The Hashemite University, and the Princess Sumaya University with the support of the ANECA and all the other members of the consortium from both Jordan and Europe.
Workshop on Common Quality Assurance Guidelines in Amman

20/10/2013
A workshop was organised on 20-21 October 2013 at the Higher Education Accreditation Commission in Amman where the Jordanian partners presented the final result of the survey on QA in Jordanian HEI, the advancement of the White Paper to be drafted and discussed with the European partners the first draft of the QA guidelines. The discussions and debates were led by Prof. Nick Harris from ANECA, the Spanish Quality Assurance Agency.
Dissemination and Consortium Meeting

17/06/2013
Tallinn Meeting: On 16-17 June 2013, a dissemination and consortium meeting took place in Tallinn University of Technology. The purpose was to explore and get a better understanding of Quality Assurance procedures and standards in Estonia through the participation and intervention of several experts in the field and see what the commonalities with the other European countries are and how this experience can benefit the Jordanian Higher Education system. In addition, the EQuAM project’s objectives and first outcomes were presented during the pre-congress meeting of the 57th congress of the European Organization for Quality to which international experts on Quality Assurance were participating. This gave an important dissemination opportunity and multiplier effect to the project. To find out more about this conference and on the pre-congress and congress agendas please visit the following website: Pre-congress programme: http://www.quality2013.eu/en/pre-congress-program Congress programme: http://www.quality2013.eu/en/program2
Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Jordan: State of the Art, Context and Next Developments

16/05/2013
A two day meeting was held at the University al-Hussein Ibn Talal in Ma'an to study the current situation of Quality Assurance procedures and state of the art in Jordanian universities. Among the different presentations that were made, the first results of a survey carried out in severla Jordanian HE by the Hashemite university were presented. This gathering counted with the participation of His Excellency the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education of Jordan, Dr. Mustafa Al-Adwan.
Roundabout on European QA Management

19/04/2013
A 2-day roundtable was held in Brussels in the period 18-19 April 2013 in order to discuss the current practices on management of QA in Europe at both internal (university or institutional level) and external (national and regional). Management models were analysed to gain a deeper insight into the various management procedures followed by EU QA agencies and universities. The roundtable was coordinated by ENQA and attended by all EU and Jordanian partner institutions
 
2nd Matching Exercise on Internal EU QA Management

02/03/2013
A 2-day matching  exercise was held in Sapienza University Di Roma in the period 27 February to 1 March 2103 in order to have a firsthand look on current practices of EU universities on how they manage internal QA at the university level. The activity was coordinated by Sapienza University and attended by representative of all Jordanian partner institutions.
1st Matching Exercise on Internal EU QA Management

24/01/2013
A matching exercise was held in the University of Barcelona in the period 17-22 January 2013 in order to have a firsthand look on current practices of EU universities on how they manage internal QA at the university level.  The activity was coordinated by the University of Barcelona and attended by representative of all Jordanian partner institutions.
EQUAM - Kick-off Meeting - 1

03/12/2012
Kick-off Meeting 2-3 December 2012 Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan