The AERES, assessed and recognised by ENQA!
On 2 September 2010, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) praised the high quality of the evaluations of the French Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education (AERES), reflecting the high standards of the experts conducting them and the AERES staff.
A promoter of self-evaluation and quality assurance as levers for change in the institutions it evaluates, the AERES undertook its own evaluation in April 2010. In the AERES' view, a quality culture must go beyond the simple conformity evaluation and strive for a culture of innovation.
Barely three years have gone by since it was founded, and yet its independence is already guaranteed, an impressive amount of evaluations have been conducted, quality standards and an evaluation guide have been written taking the diversity of the institutions assessed into account, active contribution is being made to the development of a quality culture within institutions and there is a highly effective information system in place … all of these strengths have been recognised by ENQA.
This recognition boosts the AERES' credibility in the eyes of both students and the labour market in Europe.
The self-evaluation was organised by the Spanish evaluation agency ANECA on behalf of ENQA, the European network of evaluation agencies applying the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESGs) as part of the Bologna Process.
Three main stages were carried out:
- self-evaluation of the AERES presented in a report which reviews its practices and a 2010 improvement plan – in direct keeping with its strategic plan for 2014
- visit of an international expert committee* to the AERES
- ENQA's decision following the expert committee's evaluation report analysis.
Expert panel appointed by ANECA:
- Chairman: Francisco Marcellán, Spanish, Professor of mathematics at Carlos III University of Madrid and Honorary Director of ANECA.
- Secretary: Jacques l’Ecuyer, Canadian, physicist, founder and Honorary Chairman of the Commission d’évaluation du système collégial du Québec.
- Guy Aelterman, Belgian, agronomic engineer, Vice-Chancellor of the Artesis University College of Antwerp and Vice-President of the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.
- Françoise Bévalot, French, University Professor, pharmaceutical sciences, Honorary Vice-Chancellor of Franche-Comté University and member of the monitoring committee of the law on the independence of universities.
- Michel Zink, French, University Professor, mediaeval literature, member of the Institute of Literary Studies and Professor of the Collège de France.
- Marta Norah Sanz, Spanish, PhD student of physics.
