THEQC Students Commission Carries Out the Quality Ambassador Training Program (QAP’23) for Higher Education Students

The “Quality Ambassador Training Program (QAP’),” which the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) Students Commission has organised to ensure the involvement of students that are among the essential stakeholders in the higher education field, in the higher education quality assurance system, spread the quality culture, and have students gain competence in quality assurance since 2021, was conducted with the participation of students from several higher education institutions this year.

The first one of the online interactive training in the scope of the “QAP’23-Quality Ambassador Training Program” was given on 9-10 May 2023, the second on 15-16 May 2023, the third on 17-18 May 2023 and the last on 22-23 May 2023. Two thousand-seven students applied to receive the training that attracted the great attention of higher education students. The applications were evaluated by THEQC Students Commission according to criteria such as university, educational level, gender, region and program diversity, and 817 students were invited to the training. A total of 386 students from 99 different higher education institutions participated in QAP’23.

Asst. Prof. Gonca Uludağ, Academic Coordinator of THEQC Students Commission, undertook the instructional design, material development, and peer trainer training duties as well as being the coordinator of the program. Erdoğan Taha Akbaş, THEQC Students Commission Chair; Ahmet Kayhan Korkusuz, Commission Vice-Chair, and Aslı Özmutlu, Berkay Tarım, Esra Köyönü, Evra Gürbüz, Ezgi Ayar, Meliha Taşdemir, Melike Gülay, Mehmet Sezer Altun and Yusuf Polat, the Commission members, took role in the training program as peer trainers.

The training consisting of six modules each started with an opening speech by Asst. Prof. Gonca Uludağ. The training in the scope of QAP comprised 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. In addition, at the end of the first day of the two-day program, the participants were given the task of reinforcing what they learned, and an evaluation exam was conducted at the end of the second day. A module called “THEQC Evaluator Students Share Their Experience” moderated by the Commission member students was also included in the training. In this module, students who have contributed to the quality assurance system in their institution, took part in THEQC evaluator teams, and are members of the European Students’ Union (ESU) Quality Assurance Student Experts’ Pool, attended as speakers and shared their knowledge and experience. The training ended with a general assessment and the conduct of a feedback survey.

Participants who actively took part in the training, completed the reinforcement work and succeeded in the exam conducted at the end of the training were determined by the THEQC Students Commission to receive a certificate of participation. In this context, 364 quality ambassadors, 7% of whom are enrolled in associate degree programs, 83% in bachelor’s, 6% graduate and 4% in doctorate degree programs, became successful in the training and were granted certificates of participation.

THEQC Students Commission will continue to carry out studies to ensure student involvement in higher education quality assurance work and spread the culture of quality among students. We thank all students for their interest and participation in the training.

Click here to view the higher education institutions where the students granted a certificate of participation are enrolled.