External audit of quality assurance system of a higher education institution
At its 6th session held on 1st June 2010, Accreditation Council of the Agency for Science and Higher Education adopted and the Agency director passed the decision to initiate audit of higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia, based on Article 23 of the Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (Official Gazette, 45/09).
QA audit of a higher education institution is a systematic, periodic procedure which ascertains whether activities and results of the activities that make up the system of quality assurance of a higher education institution are efficient and in compliance with national standards and ESG. Audit also serves to evaluate contribution to continuous improvement of the quality culture and culture of education of a HEI. The development of the quality assurance system improves all activities, especially education as a whole.
Audit serves to assess to what extent a higher education institution takes care of academic standards and quality, with regard to improving the possibilities of achieving certain levels of education, supporting the mission and strategic goals of HEI’s QA unit and comparing the standards and level of quality achieved with similar institutions in Croatia and EU.
The Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (Article 23 Item 1) states that audit is carried out in 5-year cycles.
