Foreign experts play an important role in new accreditations of universities. They are part of the expert groups that examine the level of internal mechanisms of education quality management.
At the end of last year, Slovak universities applied for accreditation of education quality assurance. They are currently undergoing a review to see if they meet the requirements. „Experts have already visited half of the universities. We can confirm that the level of preparation of the institutions is good,“ says Robert Redhammer, Chair of the Executive Board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education. „There have already occured more challenging situations in the interviews between reviewers and university representatives. However, this is a natural process that only shows how and where things can be improved,“ he adds.
The groups of reviewers are made up not only of professors but also experts and students. The groups include representatives of all stakeholders involved in the quality of education. They also include experts from abroad. They are professionally linked to the specific study fields they evaluate in the universities. In addition, they are involved in quality management as well as educational innovation.
External specialists with foreign experience are themselves very important to the Agency, which is why the selection of reviewers began three years ago. The Agency has always selected experts in the relevant fields and study programmes.
One of the reviewers is molecular biologist Prof Petra Hamerlík. She has long worked in drug development and at the University of Manchester, she and her team are researching early diagnosis of brain tumours, one of the most pressing problems in this field. „Science provides an opportunity for self-fulfilment for naturally aware individuals and scientific research is an endless exploration, “ she says. We also know Petra Hamerlik as the director of research for AstraZeneca in the UK. She has Slovak roots and comes from Zvolen. She evaluates medical and healthcare study programmes as part of the higher education review process.
Dr. Kristof Fenyvesi from the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä is also a foreign reviewer. His focus is on creativity and innovation in education, transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary education – both formal and informal. Fenyvesi also collaborates in curriculum design and contributes to professional development programmes for teachers outside Europe, for example in South-East Asia. He reviews the teaching profession programmes.
Prof Gerald Groshek of the University of Redlands School of Business and Society in California, USA, is the representative of the field of economics. He has worked there for over 23 years and regularly teaches courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has worked in global business, global finance, multinational corporations, managerial economics, and strategy. He has also worked as an expert in Europe and Asia.
„The expertise of foreign reviewers is very valuable for us. We believe that about 400 foreign reviewers will contribute significantly to the quality of the evaluation reports, from which universities will know what to focus on and what needs to be improved. We also believe that universities will receive these evaluations and recommendations with understanding,“ says Redhammer. This is because these evaluations aim to give universities a true picture of their situation and to show them ways to improve further.
