Hcéres study visit to ARACIS (romanian agency for quality assurance in higher education)

After ARACIS had already visited Hcéres and Cti in February as part of the same mobility programme to learn about research evaluation, the French agencies went to Bucharest to learn from the Romanian agency's practices from 22 to 24 March 2023. The study visit focused on three key topics in the activities of an evaluation agency: external evaluation procedures, the information and communication system, and stakeholder involvement.

Meetings with the different departments of ARACIS enabled a comparison of the evaluation procedures of the two agencies. Although ARACIS and Hcéres methodologies are similar, the frameworks differ somewhat in their construction and scope, as do the procedures for recruiting and training experts. This study visit was an opportunity for Hcéres to meet with the different departments of ARACIS, as well as with the student, employer and teachers’ union representatives from the agency's Council. This was useful to gather different points of view on the quality of higher education and to understand how the Romanian agency takes them into account in order to make relevant evaluations for the benefit of society.

 

 

The three-day visit was valuable for Hcéres, which learnt a lot from these exchanges of good practice. Cooperation between agencies contributes to their development and is at the heart of the European Higher Education Area projects, to which Hcéres actively contributes. The relationship between ARACIS and Hcéres does not date back to the reciprocal study visits of the two agencies. They meet regularly at European events and seminars and the Director General of ARACIS, Daniela Cristina Ghitulica, sits on the Hcéres College.