EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education e.V.) is a non-profit association seeking to enhance evaluation and quality assurance of informatics study programmes and education in Europe. ^[1] It was founded on January 9, 2009 in Düsseldorf, Germany. EQANIE develops criteria and procedures for the evaluation and quality assurance in informatics study programmes and education. EQANIE awards the so-called Euro-Inf Quality Label to degree programmes that comply with the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Accreditation Criteria. As of 2021, informatics study programmes from 21 different countries have been accredited. ^[2]

Background

EQANIE’s founding is to be seen against the background of the Bologna Process, aiming at the creation of a European Higher Education Area. The association emanated from the informal network of stakeholders involved in the Euro-Inf Project co-financed by the European Union under the Socrates-Programme from 2006 until 2008. The Euro-Inf consortium comprised the German Accreditation Agency ASIIN, Hamburg UAS, the University of Paderborn and the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies ( CEPIS). The project consortium established and tested the so-called Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Accreditation Criteria for Informatics Programmes in Europe. ^[3] The rights of ownership and copyright on the assessment tools developed by the Euro-Inf Project are held by EQANIE.

Main objectives of EQANIE in the area of accreditation and quality assessment are:

• Improving the quality of educational programmes in informatics;
• providing the Euro-Inf Quality Label ^[4] for accredited educational programmes in informatics;
• facilitating mutual transnational recognition by programme validation and certification;
• facilitating recognition by the competent authorities, in accord with the EU directives and other agreements;
• increasing mobility of graduates as recommended by the Lisbon Strategy

The key principle of Euro-Inf accreditation is that all graduates of a Euro-Inf accredited degree should have undertaken a defined set of learning activities and should have achieved a broadly defined set of learning outcomes. The Framework represents a quality threshold; those degree programmes that have demonstrated compliance are awarded the Euro-Inf Bachelor / Euro-Inf Master Label.

The Accreditation Process

An Institution wishing to have one or more of its degrees accredited has to select between two different paths:

• The institution may submit an application to the General Secretary of EQANIE that includes a self-assessment report, compiled in accordance with the Euro-Inf guidelines, a matrix showing how the modules that make up each degree programme satisfy the Eur-Inf expected Learning Outcomes, and supporting documentation that includes the module descriptors, short CV's of academic staff, etc. ^[5] An audit team studies the documentation and visits the institution. After the visit, the Secretariat prepares a report which is sent to the Institution to be checked for factual accuracy. The auditors then submit their assessment to the Accreditation Committee which decides on the outcome. For a positive decision, the degree is added to the list of accredited degrees on the EQANIE website ( [3] www.eqanie.eu).

• EQANIE has also appointed three national agencies the authority to award the Euro-Inf labels on its behalf, namely ASIIN in Germany, BCS in the UK, and ANECA in Spain. ^[6]

Structure

The General Assembly is the highest decision-making body of EQANIE. It is composed of one delegate per EQANIE member-organization. The General Assembly meets at least once a year.

The Executive Board is appointed by the General Assembly for a period of three years. Members of the Executive Board may be re-elected once. After Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Heiß and Prof. Dr. Eduardo Vendrell, Prof. Dr. Liz Bacon is currently the President of EQANIE.

References

External links

• www.eqanie.eu
• Euro-Inf Framework Standards
• ISO Online Training