Quality Assurance for 'CAMPUS Asia'

Quality-Assured Student Exchange - Concept of 'CAMPUS Asia'

As the scale of international student exchange expands in Asia, it is crucial that universities, governments, and quality assurance agencies work together towards ensuring "quality" to promote world-class education and quality-assured student exchange programs.

Efforts to ensure the quality of the programs are the main concept of 'CAMPUS Asia' initiatives, and various approaches have been tried since the concept was first launched.

In 2010, the "Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities," a trilateral council consisting of government, university, and industry officials from the three countries, established the "Guidelines for Exchange and Cooperation among Universities in China, Japan and Korea with Quality Assurance." The guidelines expect all stakeholders, such as governments, universities, and quality assurance agencies, to fulfill their respective responsibilities and strive to implement inter-university exchange programs, ensuring the quality of credits and degrees awarded.

In line with the concept of 'CAMPUS Asia,' the quality assurance agencies of Japan, China, and Korea have been working to support the quality assurance of the university consortiums in those three countries since the concept was first launched.

Support for Quality Assurance Initiatives within 'CAMPUS Asia' - Monitoring Activities

Having recognized the nature of quality assurance in international education as a common challenge, the three quality assurance agencies of Japan, China, and Korea launched the Japan-China-Korea Quality Assurance Council in March 2010. [The three quality assurance agencies were National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE, Japan1), Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education (HEEC, China2), and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE).] To further promote international joint academic programs and ensure their quality, the Council has conducted monitoring and supported the 'CAMPUS Asia' programs through quality assurance as a joint initiative of the three countries.

Monitoring activities are an initiative to identify good practices in the programs from the perspective of the quality of education. Many good practices have been compiled into reports and widely disseminated both domestically and internationally.

Monitoring activities to date

Toward an Asian Higher Education Community - Creating Common Quality Assurance Standards

The role of quality assurance becomes even more important in developing and expanding 'CAMPUS Asia' beyond the boundaries of the three countries of Japan, China, and Korea to further improve student mobility and harmonious inter-university student exchange.

In particular, to ensure the quality of programs that transcend various countries and regions in Asia, a mutual understanding of quality standards is required for international exchange programs, while respecting the differences between the national systems. A framework which allows universities to engage in sustainable quality assurance themselves must also be established.

Thus, followed by the 'CAMPUS Asia' monitoring, the three countries' quality assurance agencies are working toward creating common quality assurance standards. These standards will act as a framework for supporting sustainable quality assurance initiatives of university consortiums throughout Asia.

The goal is to establish common quality assurance standards and facilitate wide-ranging quality assurance efforts on a continual basis, with the governments, university consortiums, and quality assurance agencies in Japan, China, Korea, and other relevant countries sharing the same purpose and sense of mission. Such efforts will lead to beneficial international exchange among students from various universities.