The visit of the ENQA panel for AVAP’s European accreditation ended on Friday. The external review has been carried out by a panel composed of a chairperson, a secretary and two members, all of whom are European experts on quality issues in higher education. The task of the review panel is to assess the agency’s activities and give its opinion on whether it is acting in accordance with the ESG. This is done through a thorough assessment of the self-report written by AVAP, additional evidence, and a visit. The visit, due to the pandemic, was conducted virtually. Over the 3 days, more than 60 people participated in different interviews. We are deeply grateful to all of them for their time and support. After the visit, the committee highlighted the explicit support of the entire Valencian university system to AVAP.
The outcome of the visit will not be known until April. The panel will draft an external review report, which includes evidence and analysis of the agency’s compliance with the ESG. For each standard, the report will provide a judgement of compliance, partial compliance or non-compliance. The report will also include recommendations, commendations and suggestions for further development. Once we receive the interim report, the agency has two weeks to review the draft, which will then be reviewed by the ENQA Review Committee for clarity and consistency. The review report will be considered final once validated by the ENQA Committee. The report and the Committee’s statement will be published on the ENQA website. The agency may then use the external review report to apply for ENQA membership or inclusion in EQAR. This is expected to happen in June – July.
