Brief History
Brief History
International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) emerged as a joint initiative of the UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education (UNESCO-CEPES) and a group of international ranking experts concerned with the quality of academic ranking. It is to provide an ongoing forum about higher education ranking systems.
International Rankings Expert Group (IREG) was formed in Washington DC (USA) in 2004. It was organized with the support of UNECSO-CEPES (Bucharest) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy, USA (Washington DC).
International Rankings Expert Group (IREG) adopted the Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions with 16 ranking standards in Berlin Conference in 2006. Today the Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions were approved internationally, a number of World Ranking Agencies in Higher Education refer to them. The members of International Expert Group on University Ranking are the representatives from World Bank, scientists from USA, Great Britain, China, Spain, France, Germany, Australia, Greece, Brazil, etc.
The idea about transforming International Rankings Expert Group intoIREG - Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence has received general support of scientists, scholars and analysts of academic world from 45 countries participated in Shanghai conference, in October 2007.
International Education Conference, Warsaw, 2008.
In Warsaw, the first meeting of the IREG Executive Committee with its President - Dr. Jan Sadlak and his Vice-Presidents. The representatives of academic world from 11 countries were included to be a member of the Executive Committee. They are from the USA, Great Britain, Poland, Slovenia, China, Canada, Slovakia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine. The official office of IREG Observatory is Warsaw, Poland. IREG Executive Committee Chairman: Jan Sadlak, Director UNESCO-CEPES, Bucharest, Romania Vice-chairmen: √ Gero Federkeil, Manager in Charge of Rankings, CHE-Centre for Educational Development, Gütersloh, Germany; √ Liu Nian Cai, Director, Center for World-Class Universities and Dean of Graduate School of Education, Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China; √ Waldemar Siwiński, President, Perspektywy Education Foundation, Warsaw, Poland; √ Alex Usher, Vice-President, Educational Policy Institute, Toronto, Canada. Members: • Tom Parker, Acting President, Institute for Higher Education Policy Washington, DC, USA, ex-officio Member of the Executive Committee • Sholpan Kalanova, President, Euroasian Quality Assurance Network and Director of the Independent Kazakhstan Quality Assurance Agency in Education, Astana , Kazakhstan • Paul Serban Agachi, President of the Academic Council, Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj, Cluj-Napoca, Romania • Ferdinand Devinsky, member of the governing board, Slovak Academic Ranking and Rating Agency (ARRA), Bratislava, Slovak Republic • David Jobbins, Head of Education Unit, Candlestar Ltd. London, United Kingdom • Marko Marhl, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, University of Maribor, Slovenia • Robert J. Morse, Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, USA • Mihailo Zgurovsky, Rector, National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", Kiev, Ukraine
Photo: The First Meeting of the Executive Committee of IREG Observatory on Ranking and ExcellenceSitting, left to right:
Alex Usher - Vice-President, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Vice-President, Educational Policy Institute, Toronto (Canada);
Gero Federkeil - Vice-President, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Manager in Charge of Rankings, CHE-Centre for Educational Development, Gűtersloh (Germany);
Jan Sadlak - President, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Director, The European Centre for Higher Education, UNESCO-CEPES, Bucharest (Romania);
Nian Cai Liu - Vice-President, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Director, Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dean of Graduate School of Education, Shanghai (China);
Waldemar Siwinski, Vice-President, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, President, “Perspektywy” Education Foundation, Warsaw (Poland).
Standing, left to right:
Marko Marhl – Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, the University of Maribor (Slovenia);
Paul Serban Agachi - Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, President of the Academic Council, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (Romania);
Tom Parker – Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Acting President, Institute for Higher Education Policy, Washington (USA);
Igor Ostrovski (on behalf of Ferdinand Devinsky) Ferdinand Devinsky, Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, President, Slovak Academic Ranking and Rating Agency (ARRA), Bratislava (Slovak Republic);
Sholpan M. Kalanova - Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, President of Independent Kazakhstan Quality Assurance Agency for Education, Astana (Kazakhstan);
Mihailo Zgurovsky - Member, Executive Committee of IREG/International Observatory, Rector, National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", Kiev (Ukraine).
IREG-4 Conference: “ International and National Academic Ranking: Commonalities and Differences” was held in Astana, June 14-16, 2009by invitation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan with the support of UNESCO-CEPES, Independent Kazakhstan Quality Assurance Agency for Education and National Accreditation Centre MES RK. It has been the next step in organization development. International experts from 40 world countries and rectors of Kazakhstani higher educational institutions participated in that conference, more detailed on http://ireg.nkaoko.kz/program . Чаплыгин А.Г. , Конференция - IREG-4, взгляд российского эксперта Файл: Загрузить Каланова Ш, 4 –ая конференция международной экспертной группы по ранжированию IREG-4 Файл: Загрузить
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence– established and registered in Brussels under the Belgian law as an international association not-for-profit.
1st General Assembly of IREG Observatory has stated its goal – “the improvement of the quality of international and national ranking of higher education institutions”. New members - Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan –HEEACT and Quacquareli Symonds - QS (UK) - joined IREG Observatory at the 1stGeneral Assembly
“Academic Rankings: From Popularity to Reliability and Relevance” was held in Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science. There were over 160 experts on university rankings and representatives of academic world from 50 countries in the Conference. The Conference was organized by the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence and the Centre for Higher Education Development CHE in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and with support of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The 2nd General Assembly of IREG Observatory accepted the National University of Singapore as its new member.
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence in collaboration with the University of Maribor organized the International Conference: “Mapping of Academic Excellence in the Context of Quality Assurance”
UNESCO Global Forum “Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and Misuses”. Are university rankings a good measure for comparing institutions of higher education? Are the criteria used in ranking systems relevant to students everywhere? Do they wield too much influence on policies of universities? These questions were at the heart of an international forum, organized by UNESCO, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to be held at UNESCO, 16-17 May (Room 2). It was organized by UNESCO, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). President Jan Sadlak presented principles and criteria of IREG audit at that Forum.
The 3rd General Assembly of IREG Observatory was held on 17 May, where current issues were discussed and new applications to be new members in the Observatory were considered.
The next IREG-6 Conference Academic Rankings and Advancement of Higher Education: Lessons from Asia and other Regions will be held in Taipei, Taiwan, April 18-22, 2012. The conference will be organized by IREG Observatory and Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan -HEEACT.
IREG Observatory and Perspektywy Education Foundation organized IREG Forum on Ranking Methodologies in Warsaw, 16-17 May 2013
IREGIREG-7, London, 2014
QS Quacquarelli Symonds and IREG Observatory organized IREG-7 Conference on Employability and Academic Rankings – Reflections and Impacts in London, 14-16 May 2014
The next forum of IREG will be held in Aalborg in 2015
