4th of May, 2018

Honorable INQAAHE Members,

I am truly happy to be here at the INQAAHE 27th General Assembly, at this moment in its history. The Network is approaching its 30th anniversary and its evolution has turned it from an international network with a noble mission to improve quality of HE provisions into a GLOBAL enhancement platform for quality assurance providers from all over the world. It is a great honor for me to be re-elected for the second term as President of the Global Network of over 300 members and I pledge to complete my term in an honorable manner.
I am sure you will understand the emotions with which I address you today…

It has been a year and a half since I was elected President of INQAAHE and I am proud of the progress we, as a global quality assurance community, have made on our strategic directions. With the joint efforts and hard work, we have inspired a broad involvement and achieved a wide engagement from our members, strategic partners and peer organizations in the INQAAHE operational and strategic activities! Your trust and support have enabled me to fulfil the promise I made in 2016 to promote the efficiency & sustainability, relevance and impact of INQAAHE as a global assurance community and more is yet to be accomplished.

Those accomplishments are not achieved by the sole efforts of a president. The accomplishments are achieved through the leadership and support of a dedicated Board, an outstanding Secretariat, a very large number of volunteers and contribution of all INQAAHE honorable members. Year after year we have amazingly growing support from the membership. With the continued support of the board and the many volunteers, I will, like the Presidents before me, guide INQAAHE to the next level of:

  • Efficiency & sustainability in the INQAAHE operations,
  • Enhanced relevance of the INQAAHE contributions and benefits to the members,
  • INQAAHE’s impact and influence globally.

There are undoubtedly more to be accomplished to achieve the goals which we have outlined in the Strategic Plan 2018-2022 in line with aspirations of all INQAAHE members. I sincerely hope you will continue to support me to lead the Network to the next level of global recognition, as envisaged by the founders and successive leaders who have contributed their best to advance the Network to the benefit of our members. While asking for the continued support from those individuals for the upcoming years, I also want to challenge the members that have not yet raised their hands to volunteer and serve. It is high time to extend your supporting hand to achieve the ambitious goals of the Network to serve its best to its members and stakeholders at large.  To work alongside some of the best and brightest and to learn through the effort is an incredible opportunity not to be spared. I can assure you that through those efforts your expertise in QA will expand as will your personal network of contacts. I believe what you will find is that this organization will give back much more than the effort you are asked to provide.

To the INQAAHE honorable members, I have had the great privilege of getting to know you well and serving you over the past years of my involvement with the INQAAHE Board.  I had a privilege to know even better through exploring the individual needs, requests, and why not, concerns, a joint address of which brought us even closer. I must say, the commitment you all have demonstrated to our profession, our stakeholders and the Network inspires me every day. Surely, it is my plan to meet and talk and initiate joint projects with many more to be able to better respond to the needs.

I have always enjoyed working with you, listening to your constructive ideas for the betterment of INQAAHE. I count a lot on your continuous support in this challenging, yet rewarding mission and strongly believe that it is only through our joint efforts that we can take the INQAAHE forward and upward!

Hereby, I declare that, during my second term as INQAAHE President, I will continue to act in line with the INQAAHE Constitution and the norms set in its by-laws. I will serve tirelessly to move forward the ambitious Strategic Plan approved by the Board in December 2017 as it was set in my manifesto while seeking the guidance, support and active involvement of all the INQAAHE invaluable members in the actual implementation process.

I am humbled and at the same time grateful for your trust and support. It is my strong belief, that together, we will take the Network to the next global level of recognition as envisaged by the Founders and successive leaders and as dictated by the ever-changing demands.

I invite you to join efforts in making INQAAHE’s future the best it can be for its stakeholders!

With my best regards,

Susanna Karakhanyan

VII President
International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education