NIAD-QE will hold the International Symposium on CAMPUS Asia Common Quality Assurance Standards Project (4 NOV 2025)
The National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE) will hold the International Symposium on CAMPUS Asia Common Quality Assurance Standards Project as part of the Inter-University Exchange Project initiative led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The symposium will take place in a hybrid format of both online and in-person on Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 (2:00pm-5:30pm JST / 5:00am-8:30am GMT.) with the theme of “Quality Assurance of Cross-border Higher Education: Sharing Practices, Perspectives, and Regional Approaches.”
Under the CAMPUS Asia Common Quality Assurance Standards Project, NIAD-QE has been developing the “Common Quality Assurance Standards” collaboratively with the Education Quality Evaluation Agency of the Ministry of Education (EQEA, China) and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE, Korea) since 2021 to support sustainable quality assurance efforts by university consortiums across Asian countries and enhance quality-assured inter-university exchanges and student exchange within the region. The “Standards” were finalized in April 2025 and will be disseminated as project outcome at this symposium.
In quality assurance of cross-border higher education (CBHE), it is important to understand and respect differences in national and regional contexts, as well as the elements they value while forming a common understanding of quality among the systems and institutions involved. Transparency is also an essential factor in quality assurance.
This symposium also focuses on quality assurance in CBHE, particularly in international joint programs, and introduces the latest practices of policies in Asia and Europe, which is advancing in this field, as well as initiatives by the Campus Asia Consortium and the “European University” consortium, a cross-border university consortium within Europe. Additionally, the symposium highlights the content of the “Common Quality Assurance Standards” and discuss what constitutes quality inter-university exchange programs.
This symposium will be an opportunity to explore and deepen understanding of the perspectives, practices, and approaches to quality assurance in such programs and contribute to the further enhancement of the quality of international inter-university exchange programs in Asia.
NIAD-QE Seminar will be held the following day on Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 (9:30am-12:30pm JST / 0:30am-3:30am GMT,) inviting one of the symposium speakers, Mr. Douglas Blackstock, Former President of The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)*as of the symposium date, to further discuss the quality inter-university exchange programs while particularly referring to quality assurance approach and recent activities in Europe.
Participation is free for both the symposium and the NIAD-QE seminar. Registration is required for participation.
Symposium Guest Speakers
– Douglas Blackstock, Former president, The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)*as of symposium date
– SUGIMURA Miki, President, Sophia University/Processor, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University
– Margot Van den Broeck, Policy Advisor for Educational Quality Assurance, KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven) [Online Participation]
– NISHIZAKI Hiromitsu, Professor and Director, Center for Promotion of Internationalization, University of Yamanashi
– Dongseok Seo, Senior Director, Office of University Innovation Support of Korean Council for University Education (KCUE)
-Shuo Wang, Deputy Director of Institutional Evaluation Division, the Education Quality Evaluation Agency of the Ministry of Education (EQEA)
– HOTTA Taiji, Visiting Professor, Research Department, NIAD-QE
For more details, please visit the following website:
https://www.niad.ac.jp/english/news/en2025/entry-5770.html
[Registration for the International Symposium on CAMPUS Asia Common Quality Assurance Standards Project]
-ONLINE registration:
https://forms.office.com/r/urbXJD5JtG
-IN-PERSON registration:
https://forms.office.com/r/dGvENcksVE
*Up to 100 participants capacity
[Registration for the NIAD-QE Seminar]
https://forms.office.com/r/F2BAipFNH9
*Up to 40 participants capacity
*Please register by Tuesday, October 28th, 2025, 5PM (JST). In-person registrations for the symposium and NIAD-QE seminar will close when they reach their capacities.
