Prof. Özvar, CoHE President, Guested at THEQC Council’s September Meeting

The Turkish Higher Education Quality Council’s (THEQC) Council members guested Prof. Erol Özvar, CoHE President, at the September Council Meeting.

THEQC September Council Meeting was held online and in-person under the chairmanship of Prof. Ümit Kocabıçak, THEQC President, and with the attendance of the Council members on 18 September 2023. In the meeting, the developments in THEQC’s international institutional accreditation and joint institutional evaluation and accreditation work were discussed. Prof. Metin Topçuoğlu, CoHE Vice-President, accompanied Prof. Özvar at the meeting.

Speaking about THEQC’s current works at the meeting, Prof. Özvar stated that THEQC carries out important work in the field of quality assurance in higher education and that these works also contribute to the works of CoHE.

Pointing out the importance of THEQC’s efforts to carry the quality assurance culture in the Turkish higher education system to the international arena, Prof. Özvar said, “We attach great importance to international accreditation abroad, especially in the TRNC. Ensuring and increasing the quality assurance of higher education institutions in the TRNC is also an important issue for us. I believe that the relations between THEQC and YÖDAK, the umbrella organization in the TRNC, will be improved and handled on a more concrete level. We wish that THEQC will expand its experience abroad. We need to work more closely and in cooperation with the higher education system and universities in Europe.”

President Kocabıçak stated that the issue of joint institutional evaluation and accreditation, which is aimed to be carried out primarily in the TRNC, is also on the agenda of THEQC, added that after pilot studies to be carried out by following a methodology in accordance with the European Standards and Directives (ESG), technical preparations will be made for these evaluation types to be approved by the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, and emphasized that THEQC will monitor the processes.

Stating that THEQC will thus gain the competence to evaluate universities worldwide, President Kocabıçak said, “THEQC quickly continues its national and international accreditation works in the field of quality assurance in higher education.”

President Kocabıçak also stated that THEQC expects support from CoHE, the institution that directs the main policies in higher education in Türkiye, so that THEQC can act more effectively and efficiently in the field of higher education in an institutional sense, and thanked Prof. Özvar for the present and future work and contributions by the CoHE side to this subject.