MSM helps establish new accreditation association ATHEA

Maastricht School of Management has helped to establish the Association for Transnational Higher Education Accreditation (ATHEA). This new association is dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation via peer evaluation.

As a founding member of the ATHEA, and with the leadership of MSM’s Associate Dean, Ms. Katalin Kovacs (President of the Board of Directors of ATHEA), MSM takes the lead in providing internationally recognized institutional accreditation for higher education institutions.

ATHEA’s standards for accreditation are based on the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG) required for recognition by the European Quality Assurance Register in Higher Education (EQAR). ATHEA believes that institutional accreditation must be mission-based, strategic planning driven, outcomes and competency centered, and based upon peer-review.

ATHEA hosted its first annual meeting in Brussels on October 21st, where its Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners discussed among others the association’s strategic planning and the further development of its accreditation standards. Mr. Oliver Olson, MSM’s Director Global Education Programs was also appointed to the Board of Commissioners in Brussels.

“I am delighted with this initiative and proud that MSM can play a leading role in this” said MSM Dean professor Wim Naudé, adding that “MSM, as a research-based, quality-driven business school will continue to innovatively steer management education to greater quality, relevance… This reflects our growing leadership in graduate management education not only in the Netherlands but globally. In one week we hosted both the IACBE’s European Conference in Maastricht as well as the founding conference of the ATHEA in Brussels. We are looking forward to build on these to fulfill our mission of working together for better global management”.

ATHEA welcomes institutions from around the world to become the part of this initiative. If you would like to receive more information and would like to be one of the first institutions to receive accreditation, don’t hesitate to contact www.athea.org.

(Photo: Members of the Board of Directors, Board of Commissioners, Executive Director and Peregrine Academic Services at the ATHEA Conference)