Quality in a double pack

As part of an exchange program with Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia), funded through ERASMUS+, Ms. Maka Lashkhia spent a week at HSZG in early December. Ms. Maka Lashkhia is the head of the Quality Assurance Department at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which has approximately 7,000 students enrolled in 56 degree programmes. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is the largest of a total of four faculties at Ilia State University, with a total of 20,000 students.

The exchange focused on gaining mutual insight into the country-specific quality assurance systems in the areas of academic studies and teaching. Particular emphasis was placed on the accreditation process for degree programmes, which, according to Georgian law, has been mandatory for all Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral degree programmes since 2021. During the exchange of experiences, all participants identified many commonalities, such as the

• grouping of multiple degree programmes to be accredited into cluster accreditation procedures
• preparation of self-assessment documentation for the degree programme to be accredited and its review by external subject matter experts (evaluators)
• A site visit to the university by the review panel, including discussions with representatives of the degree programme to be accredited
• Preparation of a report detailing the results of the evaluation, which forms the basis for accreditation
• Accreditation is valid for a limited period

The differences lie more in the details, such as the content requirements for the self-evaluation report or the responsibility for appointing the review panels.

Furthermore, the HSZG was able to share its experiences with internal teaching evaluation. In this regard, Ilia State University (Georgia) is still in the early stages of implementing student surveys and expressed its gratitude for the very lively exchange regarding the use of software-based survey tools and, in particular, online surveys.

In addition, Ms. Lashkhia attended classes / courses at the Görlitz campus and discussed operational aspects of the cooperation between the two partner universities with Dr. Kühne and Dr. Koutkova from the Student Services & International Affairs division.