THEQC Students Commission Carries Out the Quality Ambassador Training Program (QAP’22) for Higher Education Students

The interactive online “QAP’22- Quality Ambassador Training Program,” which has been organised by the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) Students Commission since 2021, to ensure that students, one of the crucial stakeholders in higher education, participate in the quality assurance system in higher education, spread the quality culture, and gain competence in the field of quality assurance, was carried out. A total of 312 students from 96 different higher education institutions participated in the training, which attracted significant attention from higher education students.

The Quality Ambassador Training (QAT) in the scope of QAP was given on 26-27 February 2022, 1-2 March 2022, 5-6 March 2022, and 8-9 March 2022. The content, method, design and coordination of the training were coordinated by Asst. Prof. Gonca Uludağ, the Students Commission’s Academic Coordinator, and the activities and discussions were moderated by THEQC Students Commission members in virtual classrooms. 

The training program started with the opening speech of Prof. Muhsin Kar, the President of THEQC. The training in the scope of QAP comprised of information about THEQC and THEQC Students Commission, the importance of student involvement in quality assurance processes in higher education, the basic concepts of THEQC’s evaluation processes, the THEQC Rubric, ISER writing and evaluation processes, and interactive group works. Following the interactive sessions in the virtual classrooms, the panel titled “THEQC Quality Ambassadors and Student Evaluators Talk About Their Experience” was held and moderated by the student members of THEQC Students Commission who are enrolled in various cohorts of higher education institutions and also take part in quality works of their universities and in THEQC’s and ESU’s (European Student Union) evaluator teams. The students shared their knowledge and experiences with the participants.

A call for applications to the training that was given four times in the scope of the QAP was announced on THEQC’s official website and social media accounts, and a total of 2093 students from various institutions applied. The applications were evaluated by THEQC Students Commission according to criteria such as university, educational level, gender, regional and program diversity, and 512 students were invited to the training. Participation confirmation mails were received from the invited students. Participants who actively took part in the training, completed the reinforcement work, and succeeded in the exam held at the end of the training were determined with the joint decision taken by THEQC Students Commission. In this context, a total of 244 quality ambassadors, 5% of whom are enrolled in associate degree programs, 73% undergraduate, 13% graduate and 9% doctoral degree programs, successfully completed the training, and were given certificates of participation.

Mehmet Bora, the student member of the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council and the chair of the Students Commission, stated that students are the most important stakeholders in quality assurance works in higher education, that the awareness level of students on this issue and student representation in the processes increases every year, and that as the number of quality ambassador students in higher education institutions increases, he believes that the culture of quality will be internalized and disseminated. Bora also stated that the rapidly increasing number of students’ quality societies was an important part of the internal quality assurance system, that currently there were quality student societies in 48 higher education institutions, and that the activities of THEQC Students Commission were effective in the increase of this number. Bora expressed that the interest shown in the training and the level of satisfaction at the end of the training was exciting, and he thanked the Council members and Asst. Prof. Gonca Uludağ, the academic coordinator of THEQC Students Commission, Sena Çatal, Burak Tunahan Ekincikli, Elif Çidam, Erdoğan Taha Akbaş, Samet Ali Yudakul, Yusuf Polat, Ömer Faruk Sönmez who are the current Commission members, and Muhammed Iyisan, a former member of the Commission, and everyone who contributed to the process.

Click here to view the higher education institutions where THEQC’s Quality Ambassador students are enrolled.

*Quality ambassadors might be included in THEQC’s evaluator pool if they apply. As an eligibility criterion, the students to be included in the pool will be required to receive the Evaluator Training given by the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council beforehand. The students receiving the Evaluator Training may be evaluators only if they are active students and have not graduated.

*Announcements and works of THEQC Students Commission can be followed on @kaliteelcisi social media accounts.