Internal and external quality assurance processes and procedures are implemented.
Internal quality assurance
Steering Committee (SC) with five members is the governing body providing strategic leadership, accountability, oversight and assurance for training and financial performance, and compliance with ethical standards. It is composed of Local Project Leaders and will meet four times during the duration of the project. Among SC’s main responsibilities: Conclude the Consortium Agreement; Provide strategic direction and approve project policy; Ensure that project policies and procedures respect the requirements of the Grant regulations; Monitor the management of the project to ensure that project management conforms to set benchmarks and standards; Receive full and regular reports on all aspects of the project implementation from the Project Coordinator (PC) who will be responsible to the SC for the overall implementation of the project; Monitor progress indicators and outputs, and suggest corrective measures when needed; Approve action plans and allocation of budgets and financial reports and ensure value for money; Approve the communication and dissemination strategy; establish, if required, an ad hoc sub–committee to review and report on all cases of misconduct or any other ethical issues.
Representatives from partners’ Doctoral Schools will take part in the activities of the External Evaluation and Quality Assurance Council, providing formal and institutional support to the IETN training programmes.
External quality assurance
The external evaluation and quality assurance will be provided by an external quality auditor, John Reilly, with the following key roles (but not limited to): evaluate and contribute to the enhancement of development and implementation of the intellectual outputs and conduct summative evaluation of the project comparing actual overall impact of the project and initially stipulated project objectives. This external quality auditor will monitor progress during the project, as appropriate attend activities, produce monitoring reports and provide inputs to key deliverables. John Reilly will attend Steering Committee meetings as observer.
John E. Reilly
Dr. John Reilly is a Higher Education consultant with wide European and International experience in Higher Education. Currently Dr. Reilly is a member of the UK Bologna Experts team, having full understanding of the Bologna process and the European Commission modernization agenda. Dr. Reilly has considerable experience in the field of governance and management in Higher Education. As Director of Academic Administration at the University of Kent, he was a member of the senior management team with wide responsibilities. His extensive knowledge of the UK, Europe and countries in many other regions – he has worked in East Africa and New Zealand and undertaken study visits in Australia, Hong Kong and more recently in a number of African countries – has given him a multi-cultural, transnational understanding of the issues and challenges arising in the field of University autonomy and governance and management. Dr. Reilly was awarded the MBE for services to Higher Education and the ERASMUS programme in the U.K. New Year Honours 2002. He was appointed as Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Government in December 2004. In July 2007 he was awarded the degree of DCL by the University of Kent. He has been elected as an Honorary member of the EAIE and the UK association HEURO (Higher Education European Officers). Dr. Reilly studied at the Universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and London (School of Oriental and African Studies.
