In May 2024, the Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) and the International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE) will launch an international joint accreditation project named the Allied Quality Assurance (AQA). This groundbreaking collaborative process aims to enhance and elevate the quality of higher education within the tourism, hospitality, events and culinary arts (TH&E) sectors, whilst reducing the accreditation burden on higher education institutions.

The partnership between HEEACT and THE-ICE began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2018. Since then, both organizations have been diligently working together to develop a joint accreditation model in the field of TH&E.

The AQA review is a comprehensive project which combines institutional-level and program-level accreditation, meticulously looking into an institution’s overall operations and educational outcomes within the TH&E domain. A panel of reviewers, appointed by HEEACT and THE-ICE, will jointly consider the institution’s application and conduct a two-and-a-half-day on-site visit, evaluating the institution based on 14 standards:

1. Status of Institution
2. Governance, Leadership and Administration
3. Vision, Mission and Objectives
4. Curriculum, Courses, and Graduate Outcomes/Attributes
5. Approaches to Teaching and Learning
6. Planning, Program Review, and Quality Assurance Mechanisms
7. Level of Internationalization
8. Physical Resources and Facilities
9. Student Support Services
10. Industry Advisory Board
11. Staffing Resources
12. Financial Resources
13. Memberships, Partnerships, and Community/Social Responsibility Engagement
14. Areas of Excellence

A comprehensive introduction and guidance have been developed for interested institutions. Please refer to the attachment below.

For further inquiries or information, please contact us via email: international@heeact.edu.tw.