At a time of rapid change in higher education we see it crucial for the international quality assurance community to engage with all key stakeholders to collectively reflect on shared challenges and share insights and best practice, with a view to ensuring that higher education and quality assurance continue to serve the best interest of our increasingly interconnected communities.

There are two streams of INQAAHE Talks:

1. The General Interest stream aims to serve INQAAHE's global membership by focusing on targeted and current issues. These webinars will have rotating times to give all time zones an equal opportunity to participate.  
2. The Regional Focus stream will delve deeper into issues of regional interest and will be presented in partnership with regional network partners.

Past events are available here on INQAAHE's YouTube channel.

May 31, 2024 (Friday)
13:30 - 15:00 CEST/UTC+2

Quality Assuring the Professions: the Role and Responsibilities of Accreditation Agencies

Join us for a fascinating discussion about the roles and responsibilities of accreditation agencies in the landscape of quality assurance. In this session, we will explore how agencies responsible for discipline-specific program quality assurance and the regulation of professional licensing deal with issues of scope, creation and maintenance of standards and best practices, links with the labor market, links with international communities and norms, professional credential recognition practices, and links to jurisdictional QA practices. 

March 28, 2024 (Thursday)
09:30 - 11:00 CET/UTC+1

Quality Assurance and the Sustainability Agenda

The higher education community is being increasingly called upon to help finding solutions to today’s pressing global challenges. Ranging from growing social and economic inequalities, poverty and discrimination, environmental sustainability, conflict, technological innovation and quality education, to name just a few, these challenges are well captured in the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This session will consider the role that quality assurance and regulation can play to support higher education providers in contributing to address these challenges and help our increasingly interconnected communities make progress towards the SDGs. To inform our discussion we will be hearing from quality assurance bodies and experts with different experience of embedding SDGs-related considerations in quality assurance processes, and ultimately in the activities of higher education providers.

February 8, 2024 (Thursday)
15:00 - 16:30 CET/UTC+1

Grappling with 'cost': Pressures for effectiveness and efficiencies in quality assurance

In an era characterized by dynamic global challenges, this INQAAHE Talk aims to delve into the intricacies of upholding quality amidst financial pressures, external demands, and evolving stakeholder expectations. This candid and complex discussion will skillfully navigate the terrain of 'costs' in quality assurance. It will specifically address external pressures shaping our practices, emphasize stakeholder engagement as a pivotal driver of change, introduce innovative ideas redefining conventional methodologies, and shed light on the enduring principles of quality that must withstand the challenges posed by financial constraints.

Our distinguished panel of experts—Sylvie Mainville, who provides management services at OCQAS in Ontario, Canada; Ronny Heintze, Deputy Director for International Development at AQAS in Germany; and Vicki Stott, Chief Executive at the QAA in the UK— will delve deep in to these issues and speak frankly about practical matters of how agencies manage priorities, innovate policy and practices, navigate the growing role of entrepreneurialism in quality assurance. This webinar offers a unique opportunity to gain insights from leaders, fostering an exchange of ideas that transcends borders and contributes to the advancement of quality assurance practices on an international scale.

November 30, 2023 (Thursday)
15:00 - 16:30 CET/UTC+1

Unlocking the potential of Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education to trigger Employability

This INQAAHE Talks will discuss on how both Internal and External Quality Assurance can serve as powerful tools in bridging the gap between tertiary education and the workforce. It will specifically focus on how QA has equipped the Tertiary Education Sector to better connect with employment, namely:  

October 6, 2023 (Friday)
17:00 - 18:30 CEST/UTC+2

Navigating the Future of Learning: Recognizing Micro-Credentials (October edition)

INQAAHE is thrilled to announce a second date for the INQAAHE Talks on Microcredentials in order to accommodate our colleagues in the Americas, Caribbean, and Pacific regions at convenient time of your day. 

On October 6th, at

• 8:00 AM Vancouver time (PCT/UTC-7)
• 9:00 AM Mexico City (CST/ UTC-6)
• 10:00 AM Bogota (COT/UTC-5
• 11:00 AM Washington DC (EDT/UCT-4)
• 12 noon Buenos Aires (ART/UTC-3)
• 5:00 PM Barcelona (CEST/UTC+2)
• 11:00 PM Hong Kong (HKT/UTC+8 ) 
• 12:00 midnight Tokyo (JST/UTC+9)

Language should never be a barrier to knowledge! Our INQAAHE Talks will feature real-time simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish, ensuring that our Spanish-speaking colleagues can fully engage.

September 28, 2023 (Thursday)
09:00 - 1:30 CEST/UTC+2

Navigating the Future of Learning: Recognizing Micro-Credentials

In today's dynamic educational and professional landscape, the recognition of short-learning programs (or micro-credentials) is a paramount issue with far-reaching implications. The role of quality assurance in supporting the integration of micro-credentials into the traditional higher education landscape is critical, and as QA and tertiary education stakeholders, we humbly acknowledge the novelty and intricacy of the micro-credential challenges that encompass tertiary education – particularly in credit recognition. This INQAAHE Talks thus seeks to foster a dialogue among QA practitioners from diverse regions: Hong Kong-China, Japan, the European Higher Education Area and Ontario-Canada.

We are delighted to have the insights and expertise from Dr. Christina Ng, Senior Registrar (Development), Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic & Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ), Dr. Esther Huertas, Head of Quality Assurance Department, (AQU Catalunya), Prof. MORI Rie, Professor, National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE), and Dr. Mary Catharine Lennon, Head of Research and Special Projects at the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board of Ontario (PEQAB). The session will be chaired by Fabrice Hénard, INQAAHE Chief Executive Officer.

May 8, 2023 (Monday)
14:00 - 15:30 CEST/UTC+2

Building a Global Culture of Quality: the Role of Students in QA

A joint webinar of INQAAHE and the Global Student Forum (GSF)

In partnership with the Global Student Forum, INQAAHE is proud to present this INQAAHE Talks session ‘Building a Global Culture of Quality: The Role of Students in QA”. The session will provide a theoretical and practical discussion of student engagement activities in both internal and external quality assurance. Derfel Owen at the University College London in the UK will review historical foundations leading up to current practices engaging students in QA activities. Ellen Dixon of the Global Student Forum will provide insight into regions developing and enhancing student engagement activities in external quality assurance, highlighting the value of participation from all voices. Horia Onita of the European Student Union will showcase the activities of the region as a leader in student engagement in external QA practices.  We will then hear from Jovan Groen, of Western University in Ontario, Canada, who will provide examples of student engagement within institutional QA processes.

March 29, 2023 (Wednesday)
12:00 - 13:30 GMT

Academic Integrity: Safeguarding Trust in Higher Education

Developments in IT are bringing new challenges to academic integrity, ranging from the proliferation of online academic writing services to innovations in AI such as ChatGPT, as well as increasingly sophisticated diploma mills and certification frauds. Threats to academic integrity if left unaddressed risk to undermine confidence in the value of higher education qualifications with serious consequences for our globally interconnected communities. This INQAAHE Talk will explore today’s growing challenges to Academic Integrity from different perspectives. Join us in this interactive session where we will be contribute to raise awareness about different forms that threats to academic integrity can take, and the responses available to the international education community.

January 24, 2023 (Tuesday)
12:00 - 13:30 UTC

ISG: A Global Perspective and Benefits

INQAAHE welcomes the global tertiary education community to this INQAAHE Talks session led by Tertiary Education global experts. The webinar is a unique opportunity to reflect on the changing paradigm of tertiary education and the role of the INQAAHE new International Standards and Guidelines for Tertiary Education Quality Assurance (ISGs). This will be a free session, open to every tertiary education organization, institutions, quality assurance provider or individuals that have an interest in QA in HE.

November 16, 2022 (Wednesday)
14:00 - 15:30 UTC
16:00 - 17:30 Johannesburg time

Quality Assurance of Online and Blended Higher Education: The Southern African Experience

A joint webinar of INQAAHE, and the Southern African Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN)

This joint webinar session with the Southern African Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN) will focus on issues surrounding quality assurance of online and blended higher education within the Southern African context. As online and blended education becomes a more prevalent mode of delivery to support access and opportunity for a wide range of students across the region, issues surrounding quality become paramount. The need to share regional and international experiences of online and blended learning and the quality assurance thereof is opportune as we emerge from a time of significant change and now settle into planning of the future.

November 4, 2022 (Friday)
14:00 - 15:30 UTC+1/CET

Quality Assuring VET and Level 5: supporting harmonious transitions

This session will focus on issues surrounding technical and vocational programming that can fall outside or within traditional quality assurance bodies and frameworks for degree programming. Ensuring that there is credential and credit recognition for student academic progression and mobility is critical to support the higher education and labour market systems. Quality and recognition are the link in ensuring the connection between VET, HE, and the labour and supporting flexible learning.

We are absolutely delighted to have the insights and expertise from Hans Daale and Erik Martijnse, who will present the work of Chain5, a European Community of Practice supporting Level 5 of the EQF; Kristin Vinje, Chief Executive of the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT); Leah Matthews, from the US’s Distance Education Accreditation Council (DEAC) who will share the experiences of supporting quality of distance VET and technical programming; and Karen Belfer, Executive Director of the Ontario College Quality Assurance Service (OCQAS).

July 7, 2022 (Thursday)
10:30 - 12:00 UTC

Cross-Border Education: Quality Assurance and Recognition Practices, Challenges and Opportunities

This webinar focuses on cross-border education, also referred to as transnational education (TNE), intended as the provision of study programmes in countries different from the ones in which the degree-awarding body is located. TNE has the inherent potential to widen access to quality international education to students who are not able or willing to travel internationally to pursue their studies.

In this webinar we will be hearing from different quality assurance bodies, with different experience of and approaches to the quality assurance and regulation of cross-border education. Prof. Khairul Mohamed Sahari, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and Dr. Nitesh Sughnani, Director of University Quality Assurance at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai will share the perspective of two different receiving locations of TNE. Dr. Abi Coveney, Senior Risk Manager/TNE lead at the Office for Students in England, and Dr. Kushnood Haq, Vice President for Institutional Field Relations at the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in the USA, will share their different experiences and approaches from a sending location perspective.

May 24, 2022 (Tuesday)
10:00 - 11:30 US Central time

Outcomes-Based Education and Quality Assurance

A joint webinar of INQAAHE, the National Accreditation Council Colombia (CNA) and the Red Iberoamericana para el Aseguramiento de la Calidad en la Educación Superior (RIACES)

This installment of the INQAAHE Talks series, Outcomes-Based Education and Quality Assurance is co-organised with the National Accreditation Council - Colombia (CNA) and Red Iberoamericana para el Aseguramiento de la Calidad en la Educación Superior (RIACES). The session will focus on the role and value of articulated, implemented and assessed student learning outcomes on teaching, learning, and quality assurance practices.

We will hear from Irene Durante, from Universidad Autónoma de México and COMAEM about student outcomes in accreditation of Medicine programs in México; from Damien Owens, from Engineers Ireland, IEA and ENAEE, who will explain how engineering accreditation incorporates learning outcomes; from Mary Catharine Lennon, from the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB), who will share international trends and activities, and Iván Ramos who will discuss the implementation experiences of the National Accreditation Council - Colombia (CNA).

March 17, 2022 (Thursday)
13:00 - 14:30 GMT

Reimagining Quality Assurance in the 'New Normal'

A joint webinar of INQAAHE and the Arab Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (ANQAHE)

This first webinar in the series, Reimagining Quality Assurance in the 'New Normal', co-organised with the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE), will look at the impact of the global pandemic on teaching and learning, and the challenges and opportunities associated with online learning. We will be listening to the perspectives of students, education providers and quality assurance bodies, engaging with participants in discussion.

We have collected the views of a range of students in different regions about their learning experience during the global pandemic, which will be played in a short video. We will then hear from the American University in Bahrain about their experience of having to pivot to online learning, and from Arizona State University on their experience of delivering learning in a digital environment. Quality Matters, a US quality assurance organisation for online education, and the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, will share their views from an external quality assurance perspective. It will be an interactive webinar with plenty of opportunities for participants to ask questions and inform discussion.