Quality Systems in Higher Education were discussed at CIU
The President of the Higher Education Quality Board (HEQB) Prof. Dr. Ümit Kocabıçak presented the First Lecture on the occasion of the Official Opening of the 2024-2025 Academic Year of Cyprus International University (CIU).
The event held at the CIU Çevik Uraz Center Conference Hall was attended by the President of Higher Education Quality Board Prof. Dr. Kocabıçak, President of The Higher Education Planning, Supervision, Accreditation and Coordination Board Prof. Dr. Aykut Hocanın, President of the CIU Board of Trustees Mete Boyacı, CIU Rector Prof. Dr. Halil Nadiri, academicians and students.
Prof. Dr. Kocabıçak gave information about HEQB's mission and the institution's future plans in his presentation titled "The Importance of Quality Assurance Systems and Accreditations in Higher Education."
Higher Education Quality Board President Prof. Dr. Ümit Kocabıçak delivered the First Lecture of the 2024-2025 Academic Year
In his speech, Kocabıçak drew attention to the fact that there are four basic reasons for establishing a quality assurance system in higher education, and said, “This system needs to be established due to globalization, increasing demand for higher education beyond borders, massification of higher education and increasing differences in quality.”
Kocabıçak noted that quality assurance in higher education is based on the institution's accountability, transparency and principles of continuous improvement, and said, " institutions have goals in the areas of leadership, quality and management, education-training, research and development and contribution to society; the measurements and evaluations made to achieve these goals and whether improvements have been made based on these evaluations."
Kocabıçak talked about the universities in the Republic of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and noted that there are more international students in universities in the TRNC compared to universities in the Republic of Türkiye, and hence international quality standards and accreditations are of great importance. Kocabıçak also pointed out that many universities in the TRNC attach importance to accreditation, and he spoke particularly about CIU, underlining that the university is in a successful position in terms of accreditation procedures.
Speaking at the opening, Rector Nadiri noted that as CIU, they want to produce graduates who can compete in the developing and changing world conditions in line with their mission and vision, and reminded that a study recently published by the OECD revealed that the business world prefers individuals with highly developed social skills who are experts in their fields.
For this reason, Nadiri pointed out that the importance of ‘social and emotional skills’ training has increased and he added that “This year, in order to make our students more competitive, we will organize training sessions beyond their curriculum to develop their competencies in these areas.”
Nadiri pointed out that as a university, they offer the opportunity to receive education in an international environment with their multicultural student and faculty population, and said, "From this perspective, we aim to contribute to the intellectual development of our students and to help them succeed in dynamic world conditions by raising their knowledge and skills to the highest level."