Prof. Dr. Hasan Ali Bıçak, the Rector of Rauf Denktas University and the Chairman of the Internationalization Committee of the Social, Humanities and Basic Sciences Accreditation and Rating Association (STAR) operating in Turkey, attended the General Assembly of the Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies (CEENQA) held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 17–18, 2024.
On the first day of the General Assembly, invited speakers made various presentations on “Internationalization and Cross-Border Quality Assurance and Cooperation.” The General Director of the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA), Ms. Anna Grover, who participated in the meeting, shared ENQA’s views on “Cross-Border Accreditations from the ENQA Perspective.”
During the meeting held on the second day of the General Assembly, CEENQA President Prof. Dr. Franci Demsar presented the Union’s Activity and Financial Report and made a brief farewell speech due to the end of his term and the transfer of the presidency. In the elections held for the vacant board membership positions at CEENQA, RDU Rector and STAR Internationalization Committee Chairman Prof. Dr. Hasan Ali Bıçak was elected to the CEENQA Board of Directors. Currently, CEENQA has 44 members from 27 countries.
In his short speech before the election, Prof. Bıçak stated that he would help develop relations between CEENQA, the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE), and the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN). Prof. Bıçak has conducted numerous program and institutional audits in many countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman. He is currently leading the team auditing King Abdulaziz University, the leading university in Saudi Arabia.
Representatives of the Quality Unions, which inspect medical, science, literature, communication, and education programs from Turkey, also attended the General Assembly hosted by the Azerbaijan Education Quality Assurance Agency (TKTA). After the General Assembly, Prof. Dr. Bıçak held a bilateral meeting with TKTA Chairman Tural Ahmadov to discuss cooperation with STAR and presented him with a plaque.
