HIGHLIGHTS
FROM THE FIRST ONLINE AUN-QA COUNCIL MEETING
On the 7 th of April 2020, the AUN-QA
Secretariat successfully organized the AUN-QA
Council Meeting in its first online format. In the
spirit of ensuring that the critical work of AUNQA continues without significant interruption,
the Meeting discussed 24 agendas pertaining to
the operation of AUN-QA going forward in these
uncertain times.
The state of our AUN-QA is strong.
A progress report of the AUN-QA Strategic Plan
2018-2022 was presented to the AUN-QA
Council and all evidence points towards the
success of our joint effort in building the
network with the underlying principle of
ddddddCouncil. This progress report is written
collective ownership under the collective leadership of the AUN-QA
documentation of the fact that the AUN-QA brand is now a collective, inclusive effort to improve, strengthen, and
maintain quality in ASEAN higher education.
What follows is an assortment of highlights that are relevant to AUN-QA’s plans to tackle the COVID-19
situation and to continue to deliver the service that our brand promises.
HIGHLIGHT 1
NEW AUN-QA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
We are pleased to announce that the following institutions have joined the AUN-QA family.
INDONESIA
Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa
Universitas Sam Ratulangi
Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo
Universitas Sumatera Utara
STIE Perbanas Surabaya
Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran,
East Java
MYANMAR
Co-operative University,
Thanlyin
University of Information
Technology
THAILAND
Mae Fah Luang University
VIET NAM
Dalat University
Number of AUN-QA Associate Members by year (accumulated)
As a final note for this highlight, we are also happy
to report that our network is continuing its trend of
growth. The total number of universities that are a part
of our network has increased by almost 5 times since
2015, bringing our total member count up to 116
institutions.
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HIGHLIGHT 2
REVISIONS TO “A GUIDE TO AUN-QA
ASSESSMENT AT PROGRAMME LEVEL
(VERSION 3.0 TO VERSION 4.0)"
"A Guide to AUN-QA Assessment at
Programme Level, Version 4.0” that was
revised under the guiding principle of making
the manual simpler, leaner, and more userfriendly was presented to the AUN-QA Council.
Furthermore, the AUN-QA Council also made
significant strides towards being able to
provide PhD Programme Assessments for
ASEAN higher education institutions by
developing the criteria for an effective
assessment of a doctorate programme using
the newly revised guide to assessments.
Task Force 2
To conduct a feasibility study on Online
Assessments
This task force will be established to do
a feasibility study on conducting AUN-QA
Assessments virtually in order to boost the
capacity of AUN-QA to conduct Programme
Assessments.
Task Force 3
To discuss and recommend the new AUNQA Associate Membership Fee Structure
This task force will be established to
explore the idea of amending the AUN-QA
Associate Membership Fee Structure in the
interests of including institutions in Least
Developed Countries who wish to receive our
services but are unable to due to financial
constraints while remaining firm in our core
principles.This task force will be established to
explore the holistic amendment of the AUNQA Associate Membership Fee Structure for
Least Developed Countries.
Task Force 4
Coming soon!
HIGHLIGHT 3
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FOUR TASK
FORCES TO TACKLE MATTERS THAT
REQUIRE CAREFUL DELIBERATION
Revision Committee for “A Guide to AUNQA Assessment at Institutional Level”
Guided by our core value of constant
improvement, this over three year old guide is
due for a revision. This committee will be
established to ensure that the manual’s
recommendations and information are up to
date and compatible with current higher
education practices.
The AUN-QA Council has decided to
create four task forces to tackle four unique
matters. These task forces and their functions
are listed in the table below.
Task Force 1
To discuss all type of concurrent and
multiple degree Programme Assessments
This task force will be established to flesh
out how to conduct programme assessments
on study programmes that are associated with
multiple degrees including double degree
programmes, concurrent degree programmes,
joint degree programme, BA-Master degrees,
and Master-PhD degrees .
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HIGHLIGHT 4
THE MAJOR OVERHAULING OF ASSESSMENT OPERATIONS TO UNDERTAKE THE
GROWING DEMANDS OF AUN-QA PROGRAMME ASSESSMENT
To answer the increasing demand from our AUN-QA Members, the AUN-QA Secretariat has been undertaking
these concrete measures:
To ensure the effective use of our assessors, we are revamping our AUN-QA Assessor Roster. Effective use of our
assessors will mean that a higher number of assessment rounds will be possible.
Due to the overwhelming success of the pilot of the 3-member assessment team, we are expanding our pilot
implementation to full implementation to expedite the development of our talent, while being mindful of the
qualities of who will be our coaching assessors.
We are increasing our work process efficiency by exploring two alternatives to the conventional assessment
operation:
- On-site assessments without the AUN-QA Secretariat’s presence
- Online assessments
We are planning to conduct a pilot implementation of our newly developed web-based assessment management
that will streamline the entire assessment process for all parties involved (assessors, institutions, and the AUNQA Secretariat).
In order to increase the capacity of the AUN-QA Secretariat, the office has recruited three new assessment
officers into the team since October 2019. Presently, there are a total number of 8 officers working to organize
assessments for our member universities.
HIGHLIGHT 5
THE TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR AN UNCERTAIN YEAR OF ASSESSMENTS
To mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on AUN-QA operations and continue being productive, the AUN-QA
Secretariat prepared two calendars based on two possible scenarios based on evidence to help create a plan of
action to tackle our backlog of planned assessments and prevent delays caused by the pandemic. These scenarios
are quite volatile and are subject to constant change as information and guidance is offered by the World Health
Organization, ASEAN governments, and more. However, the AUN-QA Secretariat remains vigilant in its monitoring of
the situation to expedite the delivery of all our services while putting the health and safety of our assessors and
associate members as our topmost concern.
*With the new capabilities of the AUN-QA Secretariat outlined above along with additional measures to enhance our ability to deliver services, the Secretariat
expects assessments for the next cycle (Jan-Dec 2021 cycle) to be conducted earlier than what is presented here.
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