Introduction

At the end of the year 2006, ACSUG decided to request inclusion in the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) , a organization made up of agencies of quality in higher education of 25 European countries.

To be part of ENQA, it is necessary to comply with the “Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area ” that establish a series of aspects to take into consideration for the agencies and that indicate in case of their compliance a commitment to quality, transparency, independence, ethical criteria and appropriate performance of services and activities.

ACSUG was accepted on February 27, 2007 as a Candidate Member of ENQA, establishing that in a period of two years an external evaluation would be performed to verify the adaptation of ACSUG to the European criteria and guidelines and to become part of ENQA as a full member.

Self-evaluation process

Since the acceptance of ACSUG as a membership candidate, the actions and changes to be implemented have been planned, forming an internal workgroup, with the objective of compiling the information necessary for writing the self-evaluation report on compliance with the established criteria.

External evaluation process

The external evaluation was planed between ACSUG and ENQA and a schedule of the evaluation was settled. ENQA selected the composition of the review team which would carry out the evaluation.

The ACSUG self-assessment report was sent to the external review team and the on-site visit to ACSUG was planed on 18 and 19 of May, 2009. The planning of the visit included meetings with different organs and stakeholders of the Galician University System.

On 18 and 19 of May, 2009, the ENQA review team, responsible of the ACSUG external evaluation visited the ACSUG headquarters to analyse in situ the fulfilment of the European Standards and Guidelines by ACSUG. The visit was carried out according the planned programme. More than 60 people attended the different meetings: all ACSUG staff, members of the Board of Directors, CGIACA, Technical Board, other universities representatives, external experts, students and external working groups .

On September 2009 the review team sent to ENQA and ACSUG the external report. After analyse all the information about the external evaluation, the ENQA Board has decided in its meeting of the 16 November 2009, that ACSUG fulfil with the necessary requirements to be part of ENQA as a full member for a period of five years. As it is established in the ENQA regulations, every five years ACSUG will have to carry out an external evaluation process.

Conclusions

The inclusion of ACSUG as a full member of ENQA entail confirmation of the quality of the activities and services provided and recognition by other agencies and society in general of the work performed by ACSUG.

The importance of becoming part of ENQA and fulfilling the criteria established, shall be re-evaluated, not only for the continual improvement that this implies in the activities and services performed by ACSUG, but also for the implementation of the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). Being a full member of ENQA evaluated positive externally, guarantees compliance with the requirements to belong to the Registry.