How does QM engage with the international education community?

As QM Standards and processes attract more institutions and organizations from an increasingly diverse international community, educational administration entities — including governing bodies and accrediting agencies — are becoming aware of the important role QM plays in helping institutions with their quality assurance. QM experienced rapid growth in the number of non-English language member institutions in recent years (2016 -2023).

As described below, QM engages with the international community to foster the adoption and use of quality assurance for online learning and digitally enhanced education by actively collaborating with a wide range of non-English language educational institutions and by participating in various global events, conferences, committees, and established organizations

QM International Strategy Council

The QM International Strategy Council (ISC) is charged to provide guidance on international goals, policies and initiatives in support of QM’s strategic objectives for global outreach and expansion. The collective experience and connections from the Council Members extend from Africa to the Americas, Asia, Europe, Mid-East, and beyond.  Read more >> 

Associations

Recognized globally as the leading quality assurance organization, Quality Matters plays a leadership role in various international events and collaborates with organizations and entities prominently positioned in quality assurance and online education. 

For example: 

  • ICDE: International Consortium of Distance and Open Education - Dr Yaping Gao, QM Vice President Member Services & Global Partnerships, serves on ICDE Quality Network, since 2019, representing the North America region. 

Collaborations & Projects

As a result of engaging with the increasingly diverse and expanding QM community globally, various organizations, entities and institutions seek collaboration with Quality Matters to help improve or establish their quality assurance processes or launch new initiatives in online education and digital offerings. 

For example:

  • Fudan University, Shanghai, China: QM’s collaboration with Fudan focuses on adapting QM’s US-based Higher Education Standards to the Chinese Higher Ed environment — an ongoing project since 2015.
  • National eLearning Center (NELC), Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia: Quality Matters is a strategic partner with NELC to fulfill its mission in leading innovation in learning digital transformation and enabling the integration among educational institutions and employers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
  • Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico: QM’s collaboration with Monterrey Tec focuses on adapting QM’s US-based Higher Education Standards to the Spanish-spearking communities in the Latin America and Caribbean region in particular.

QM provides the list of Specific Review Standards from the QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition, in Chinese and Spanish, for reference and review purposes. Please contact Yaping Gao (skype: yaping.qm) for Chinese and Fernando Senior for Spanish (skype: fsenior1). 

Engagements

As the QM community expands globally, there are more and more events where QM’s contributions and participation are highly valued and sought after. In addition to numerous events hosted by QM international member institutions and organizations, QM staff regularly serve as keynotes, moderators, featured speakers, panelists, presenters, and workshop/webinar facilitators at events hosted by well-known organizations including INQAAHE, ICDE, AACE, CELDA, and AAOU etc. 

iQM Association

The iQM Association is a special interest group dedicated to promoting QM to the international community, particularly non-English speaking countries/regions. iQM Members are professionals in the community and well-versed in QM with expertise in non-English languages, diverse cultures and/or experience and connections outside the USA. Read more >>


QM offers a special discounted Basic Membership for higher education institutions in non-English speaking regions to get started with their quality assurance initiatives. Please contact Yaping Gao (skype: yaping.qm) for more information.