Reps of ASU Take Part in TEMPUS Conference

In late October 2016, a conference related to the TEMPUS EQUASP project “On-line Quality Assurance of Study Programmes” took place at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography.

The Conference was opened by members of the Federation Council and reps of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. The speakers emphasized importance of this project to develop the Russian system of higher education; they also told about plans to implement the results of the program in legal acts that regulate educational activities.

As for Astrakhan State University, it was represented by two deans – Dr. Denis Zholobov (Dean of our Department of Mathematics & Information Technologies) and Dr. Nikolay Vybornov (Dean of our Department of Physics & Technology). Staff of Russian universities (participants of the project) gave their reports concerning outcomes of introduction of this project at their educational institutions, its impact on their universities’ policies and strategies in the field of quality control of educational programs. Their reports also concerned the specific features of the international professional public accreditation of engineering educational programs and how the documents and information systems developed as a result of the TEMPUS project could help universities get prepared for upcoming accreditations. The current state of the Bologna Process and the existing tendencies in the European space of higher education was under consideration in reports given by EU experts. The parties discussed opportunities of promoting the project findings and the potential of further cooperation to introduce new international programs.

The TEMPUS EQUASP has been realized since December 2013. Universities and other institutions of Russia, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, and Lithuania take part in it. The EQAUSP Standards & Guidelines for Quality Assurance of Study Programs based on quality control recommendations by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE), the Association for Engineering Education in Russia, and the Russian federal standards for higher education have been developed. To document educational programs and apply those standards, a specialized information system has been developed. It makes it possible for all the interested parties to obtain information related to educational programs presented by the project participants. Besides, an information system to monitor quality of education by interested parties by arranging and analyzing polling of students, alumni, and employers has been introduced at the participating universities.