About MusiQuE

External Evaluator

As part of the internal quality assurance process, the MusiQuE Board regularly appoints an external evaluator.

Purpose:

  • to critically analyse the quality of MusiQuE’s work,
  • to review its general functioning as an organisation,
  • to evaluate its visibility and standing among its stakeholders, the European institutions, and key actors in the field of QA in the EHEA.

External Evaluator:

  • must be independent of the MusiQuE’s operations and may come from within or outside the music education sector.
  • is appointed for a mandate of 3 years, renewable once.
  • is responsible for producing an annual evaluation report with set of recommendations for improvement and comments directed to the Board. Where relevant, the annual report produced in the following year by the Board will make reference to recommendations from the previous external evaluator’s report and how these have been addressed.

The Board typically meets with the external evaluator once a year to discuss findings.

MusiQuE’s current external evaluator is Achim Hopbach.

Achim has 25 years of experience in higher education reform and quality assurance. He served as Managing Director of the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) (2012-2019) and the German Accreditation Council (2005-2012); Head of Teaching and Learning at the German Rectors Conference (2001-2005); Managing Director of a faculty and student assessment department at Heidelberg University (1997-2001). Developing quality assurance approaches: Achim has been involved in developing quality assurance systems and procedures at national and regional level in Europe, Asia and Africa, notably through his involvement in the development and revision of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG), the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes, the ASEAN Quality Assurance framework (AQAF) and the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ASG-QA). He has worked in consultancy projects funded by the World Bank, the European Commission, the European Council, UNESCO and for higher education institutions. He has also conducted external reviews of higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies in Europe, Asia, the Gulf region, and Africa.