Reverberations of THEQC’s Rising International Recognition on Turkish Higher Education System

Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) was established in 2015 and reorganized as an administratively and financially independent organization in 2017. The Council is comprised of 13 members representing all stakeholders, including one student member.  THEQC’s main activity areas include external evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions, authorization of national accreditation agencies, recognition of international accreditation agencies, and dissemination of quality assurance culture in higher education institutions. In addition to these activity areas, THEQC has started placing more emphasis on memberships in international and regional quality assurance organizations and networks. In this scope, the Council organized cooperation activities and signed protocols with various countries’ national quality agencies. With its 20-year history, ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) is the leading network in the field of quality assurance in higher education, which has a quite arduous membership application process. THEQC has been granted 5-year membership to ENQA as of 2020, marking a very significant accomplishment for the Council and the Turkish higher education system. But the Council’s internationalization endeavors are not limited to this. THEQC has become a full member of INQAAHE (International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education), which was established in 1991 and currently has more than 300 members. This has been followed by a full membership of APQN (Asia Pacific Quality Network), which was established in 2003 and have more than 220 members from 41 countries. THEQC has also completed its membership procedures to the CHEA-CIQG (CHEA-International Quality Group), an initiative kicked off by CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation), which evaluates quality assurance of higher education institutions operating in the US. 

In addition to the memberships to umbrella organizations and networks, THEQC continues to engage in bilateral cooperation activities and agreements with its counterparts from various countries. Cooperation protocols have been signed with Russia’s National Centre for Public Accreditation (NCPA) and French High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES). Moreover, the Council shared its approaches and experiences within the process of transitioning from institutional external evaluation to institutional accreditation with Ukraine’s national quality agency, namely National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA). 

Membership to several other umbrella organizations is among the short-term targets of THEQC. Integrated to the global context, the Council closely follows latest developments and efficiently uses relevant technologies as a facilitating factor with a focus on agile management. So, THEQC has started to take on a leading part in the networks it has joined. Despite rapidly changing conditions and all kinds of external factors, the Council’s fast adaptation skills, technology-assisted implementations and innovative approaches are met with appreciation in the meetings organized by international and regional networks. Of course, all these endeavors and accomplishments of THEQC influence the Turkish higher education system and stakeholders in many terms.  

With its memberships to above-mentioned networks, associations and organizations; THEQC demonstrates that it adopts international principles and standards in the field of quality assurance in higher education. The Council also proves that it complies with universal norms in its activity areas and acts as a spearhead by sharing its good practice examples and experiences with its counterparts along with memberships to internationally recognized and reputable organizations and networks. 

THEQC’s memberships to international umbrella organizations, particularly to ENQA, bring certain outcomes to the Council, which can be summarized as follows: 

• Compliance of THEQC’s external evaluation criteria with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and international standards is ensured. 
• National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education in Turkey (NQF-HETR), which is referenced to EHEA, is complemented with THEQC’s criteria. 
• It is ensured that Turkey fulfills its responsibilities in the field of quality assurance in higher education as a signatory of the Bologna Accord. 
• The continuity of THEQC’s continuous improvement works is ensured as a result of the external evaluation of THEQC’s internal processes from an international perspective. 
• THEQC can follow the developments in quality assurance of higher education in Europe and the world thanks to the privileges granted to members of international networks.   
• THEQC has the right to speak in the decisions issued in various regions and international platforms, particularly in European Higher Education Area. 
• The memberships contribute to international visibility and recognition of THEQC and the Turkish higher education system. 
• The external experts participating in THEQC’s institutional external evaluation or institutional accreditation activities have the opportunity to take part in external evaluations organized by the above-stated regional or international umbrella organizations. 
• The memberships help THEQC take on a leading role in guiding or sharing experiences with its counterparts on various subjects such as IT infrastructure and evaluator training. 

In this framework, the outcomes of our international accomplishments for our stakeholders in the Turkish higher education systems can be summed up as follows:  

• It is guaranteed that the institutional external evaluation and institutional accreditation processes of our higher education institutions are conducted in accordance with international principles and standards. 
• Subjecting our higher education institutions to outcome-based evaluation processes fit for NQF-HETR and international standards guarantees the qualifications of graduates. 
• International recognition and reliability of THEQC’s outcomes will guide all institutions and organizations in the Turkish higher education ecosystem for making accurate and appropriate decisions. 
• The Institutional External Evaluation Program and the Institutional Accreditation Program carried out by THEQC ensure the compliance of quality assurance systems with international standards and principles in terms of learning and teaching, research and development, internationalization and social contribution processes. 
• THEQC-authorized national accreditation agencies’ activities in our higher education system are evaluated against universal norms and principles to ensure their reliability and validity. 
• THEQC-recognized international accreditation agencies’ activities in our higher education system are evaluated against the requirements of the Turkish higher education system as well as universal norms and principles to ensure their reliability and validity. 
• The higher education institutions accredited or evaluated by THEQC play an informative and guiding role in university preferences of students and parents. 
• Adoption of international standards and principles in THEQC’s activity areas minimizes possible compliance problems that might occur in the international mobility of students and academics. 
• THEQC’s outcomes contribute to the international recognition of our academics, graduates and students. 
• The outcomes display the importance of quality along with quantity in our higher education system. 
• The outcomes provide a basis for a competitive work force in our higher education system that can answer the needs and demands of the young population and has the skills required by our age. 
• THEQC’s activities and outcomes will facilitate a set of structural reforms and changes required for increasing our universities’ global rankings particularly in terms of teaching-learning and research-development activities. 

As THEQC, we are determined to maintain our efforts with your support by embracing universal norms, our cultural dynamics and ethical values with the aim of improving our country’s intellectual capital and making our outcomes sustainable and beneficial to society.