Role & Structure

The role of the Irish Higher Education Quality Network is to:

  • Provide a forum for discussion of quality assurance issues amongst the principal national stakeholders involved in the quality assurance of higher education and training in Ireland and to stimulate wider debate 
  • Provide a forum for the dissemination of good practice in quality assurance amongst practitioners and policy makers involved in the Irish higher education and training sector
  • Endeavour, where appropriate, to develop common national principles and approaches to quality assurance in Irish higher education and training.

Membership

The membership of the Network will consist of the principal stakeholders - practitioners, policy makers and students - involved in quality assurance in Irish higher education and training, as set out below:

  • Conference of Heads of Irish Colleges of Education - 1 representative
  • Department of Education and Skills - 2 representatives
  • Dublin Institute of Technology - 2 representatives
  • Higher Education Colleges Association - 2 representatives
  • Higher Education Authority - 2 representatives
  • Institutes of Technology Ireland - 2 representatives
  • Irish Universities Association - 2 representatives
  • Quality and Qualifications Ireland - 2 representatives
  • Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - 1 representative
  • Union of Students in Ireland - 2 representatives

Operating principles

The Network's main operating principles are as follows:

  • The Network will be chaired on an annual and rotating basis by a single member of one of the organisations represented in the Network - all of the participating organisations will chair the Network in turn
  • The tenure of the incoming chairperson will begin in October and end the following September
  • The secretaryship of the Network will be filled on a permanent basis by one of the representatives of Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) - QQI representatives will not, therefore, participate in the chairing of the Network
  • The chairperson and secretary will prepare and circulate agendas and supporting documentation for each Network meeting
  • The Network will meet at least four times a year
  • The Network will, when appropriate, convene smaller sub-groups to produce draft policy papers and other documentation for discussion by the larger group.