The President of the State Council of Quality (SCQ), Professor Hasnije Ilazi, the Director General of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA), Naim Gashi, and the international member of the SCQ from Croatia, Professor Maja Martinović, were received at the University of Split during an official visit aimed at drawing on the Croatian model for the development of double and joint study programs in Kosovo.

The Vice-Rector for Science and Quality at the University of Split, Professor Igor Jerković, emphasized that cooperation between higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies is important for the development of contemporary programs, particularly those related to internationalization, academic mobility, and joint degrees.

The KAA delegation was also received by Dijana Banovac, Head of the Quality Management Department; Gordana Dujmović, Head of the SEA-EU Alliance Office; and Professor Mario Jeličić from the Faculty of Kinesiology, which has developed a joint program with Lithuania.

The meetings focused on the exchange of experiences regarding how higher education institutions in Croatia develop, manage, and ensure the quality of joint and double study programs.

The discussions also addressed the role of internal quality assurance mechanisms in the evaluation and monitoring of study programs, particularly in cases where programs are developed in cooperation between two or more higher education institutions from different countries.

The President of the SCQ, Professor Hasnije Ilazi, stated that cooperation with European quality assurance institutions is an important step toward strengthening the capacities of KAA and supporting higher education institutions in Kosovo in developing higher-quality and more competitive programs.

The Director General of KAA, Naim Gashi, emphasized that the Croatian experience has been highly valuable in KAA’s journey toward registration in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) and recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in the United States.

As part of the visit, the KAA delegation also visited the campus of the University of Split and the Faculty of Maritime Studies, with the aim of gaining closer insight into the institutional organization and academic practices of the university.

KAA representatives invited the leaders of the University of Split to participate in KAA’s annual conference, which will be held in September this year.