Introducing AUN Experts: Qualifications Frameworks, Systems, and Management

2023 marked a fruitful year for AUN, with AUN taking the lead in driving several high-impact programmes and initiatives including Qualifications Transformation, the enhancement of University’s IT Capabilities, the University English Language Capabilities improvement, the Redesign of university’s Internal Quality Assurance, the Institutional-Level Quality Enhancement, the Cross-Border Research/Academic Collaboration, and the Student Mobility. These significant movements drive forward the advancement of institutional capabilities and play a crucial role in contributing to the university’s internationalisation.

In this new series of articles, we at the AUN Secretariat would like to introduce you to different cohorts of  AUN experts whose expertise has contributed to the success of AUN’s initiatives and projects in 2023 and from now would illuminate the way forward in the continuation and amplification of progress in 2024.

To kick-off the series, please welcome our Experts of Qualifications Frameworks, Systems, and Management, the key figures behind the qualifications transformation in the ASEAN region through Tuning Methodology's curriculum design and the development of Recognition Mechanisms in the CALOHEA Project.

The origin of this high-impact collaborative initiative to support key drivers and enablers of universities in qualifications reformation could be traced back to the Tuning Asia-South East Project. In 2016, the AUN Secretariat entered into a collaboration with Tuning Academy, University of Deusto, Spain to organise capacity training programmes for ASEAN universities to develop undergraduate curriculum in three Subject Area Groups of Civil Engineering, Teacher Education, and Medicine utilising the Tuning's Methodology. Following the success of the Tuning-Asia South East Project, the AUN Secretariat in collaboration with Tuning Academy, University of Groningen, launched the Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Asia or the "CALOHEA" Project to continue the development of the Tuning-Asia South East, with CALOHEA Recognition Mechanisms as the main tool to improve academic programme alignment and qualifications recognition in the three Subject Area Groups.

In 2023, the CALOHEA Project took a momentous leap of progress with a series of 14 National Meetings rolling out its Recognition Mechanisms and impacts to 7 countries in ASEAN. The 14 Meetings recorded 3,259 participants from 348 universities and 22 countries, whose feedback shall be incorporated to further fine-tune the Recognition Mechanisms for the implementation in ASEAN. This significant progress was shared at the 7th CALOHEA General Meeting on 13-15 December 2023, where the project stakeholders gathered to discuss key issues related to the project and formulate ways forward. 

The AUN Secretariat is determined to continue with  this momentum of progress and solidify long-lasting and sustainable impacts of this project in 2024 and onwards. Accompanying us in accomplishing this monumental mission are 91 experts from 25 universities in 7 ASEAN countries, who have been spearheading this wave of transformation and the development of Recognition Tools for ASEAN universities in the CALOHEA Project, along with actively contributing to all areas of project activities. This cohort of experts include:
 

In this regard, the AUN Secretariat would like to express its sincerest appreciation and gratitude to these luminaries and reaffirm its continuous commitment and collaboration to drive the advancement of qualifications framework and degree recognition in ASEAN universities in 2024.

For more information on the CALOHEA Project, please visit: the CALOHEA Project’s Official Website.

Read more about previous National Meetings and General Meetings of the CALOHEA Project at:

• “This is the Window of Opportunity”, AUN Executive Director Emphasized the Great Potential of CALOHEA for the Future of ASEAN Higher Education
• The CALOHEA 7th General Meeting: Advancing Higher Education Alignment in Southeast Asia
• Celebrating the Success of the CALOHEA National Meetings and the Burgeoning of CALOHEA Qualifications Framework in the ASEAN Region