UNAIR NEWS – In addition to the regional level (AUN-QA), UNAIR has plans to improve the quality of education based on international accreditation institutions. While assessments by AUN-QA assessors can cover all study programs, international accreditation is carried out by specific institutions with the same scope as the study program.
"Like ASIIN (Accreditation Agency for Degree Programs in Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science, the Natural Sciences and Mathematics). ASIIN is for worldwide, although it is located in Germany, it is more focused on engineering, but it can also be applied to natural sciences, such as mathematics. There is also AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation which is more focused on business. So, it depends on the study program because not all of them can be accredited by one body," explained the Head of the Quality Assurance Agency Universitas Airlangga Prof. Bambang Sektiari Lukiswanto, drh., DEA.
Later, BPM will collaborate with study programs to find the right and appropriate accreditation body to carry out the assessment.
Regarding the visitation, the Professor of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine could not yet provide a specific timeline. He stated that each accreditation body has a different process.
"So, some of us have to become members first and attend their workshops. After the workshop, we receive mentoring, prepare a self-assessment report, and then we communicate the Self-Assessment Report (SAR). After communicating, we'll determine if they deem it worthy of being forwarded to the committee. But the bottom line is that in 2017, we're emphasizing that study programs can be visited by international accreditation bodies," the BPM Chair emphasized.
Furthermore, the issue of which study programs will be assessed by international accreditation bodies is still under consideration. However, he encouraged study programs already accredited with an A-grade by the National Accreditation Board for Higher Education and internationally certified by AUN-QA to immediately seek out the appropriate international accreditation body capable of assessing their programs.
Regarding assessment standards, the Head of BPM stated that the standards set by AUN-QA and international accreditation bodies are not significantly different. In principle, they will assess learning objectives and processes, as well as expected learning outcomes.
"What's really important is that we carry out our educational process as well as possible. Then, we look for an international accreditation body that can assess the study program. If so, we adjust to their standards. We assess whether we can meet their standards or not," he said.
In addition to optimally implementing the educational process, international accreditation is also one of UNAIR's goals to improve the quality of study programs in line with the standards of leading universities worldwide. (*)