The IAB is an advisory body of the Russian Register responsible for making decisions on international accreditation of educational programs and/or institutions.
The RR assumes obligations for the objectivity of its decisions based on the results of the international accreditation, for the non-compliance of the members of the IAB with the requirement of voluntary recusal in the presence of a personal interest in the outcome of the case to exclude the possibility of violating the principle of impartiality.
RR established an independent International Accreditation Board to make independent objective decisions on international accreditation.
The IAB is affiliated with the The Agency for the Assessement of Tertiary and Vocational Education, established in the RR as its accreditation body. The Agency is a full member of the international quality assurance networks APQN and INQAAHE, has an affiliated status with ENQA. The Agency’s management shares the principles and values of these networks, and the activities of the IAB are built in accordance with these principles.
The IAB may include representatives of Russian and international public and non-profit organizations in the field of QA and education, professional communities, employers’ associations, academic and educational institutions, news agencies.
The Director General, Head of the RR Program for Independent Assessments of the Quality of Education (IAQE), Head of the Department for Assessing the Quality of Education of the RR (Secretary of the IAB) are ex officio the members of the IAB on a permanent basis.
The Chairperson of the IAB is elected on the proposal of the Director General of the RR by open voting. In the absence of the Chairperson of the IAB (present at a part of the meeting), the powers are transferred to the Deputy Chairperson of the IAB, who is also elected on the proposal of the Director General of the RR from among the members of the IAB. If it is impossible for the Deputy Chairperson of the IAB (because of the risks of violating the principles of independence and impartiality) to perform the functions, a new Deputy Chairperson of the IAB is appointed on the proposal of the Director General of the RR. The powers of the new Deputy Chairperson of the IAB are valid only during this meeting of the IAB.
Depending on the specific features of the degree programmes submitted for the International Accreditation, both representatives of the professional community and the representatives of the academic community (the representatives of educational institutions) who are competent in the process of designing and implementing the relevant degree programmes are included in the IAB and are invited to its meetings.
To maintain the international status of the IAB, there are international members, who are the representatives of international educational institutions and international QA Agencies in EAEU and CIS countries. Within the framework of international cooperation of the RR under the auspices of international networks for quality assurance (APQN, ENQA, INQAAHE), the representatives of member organizations of these networks can also be included in the IAB.
The composition of the IAB can be expanded if necessary. It depends on the profile of the degree programmes under accreditation and the the agenda.
The current composition of the IAB includes highly professional members, whose presence at IAB meetings is mandatory when solving issues of the quality of education, regardless of subject areas and activities.
The IAB makes decisions on the international accreditation of degree programmes and its duration based on the results of the accreditation.
The IAB makes decisions on the recognition of the results of certification of quality management systems of educational institutions, carried out by the Certification Body for Management Systems of the RR, at the Independent Assessments of the Quality of Education (IAQE), at the institutional level.
The IAB discusses and agrees on the criteria and procedures for IAQE, other documents developed for the activities of the The Agency for the Assessement of Tertiary and Vocational Education, provides the areas for discussion at the IAB.
The IAB regularly updates the policy of the RR “Regulations on the IAB”.
The IAB considers strategic issues for the development of the IAQE programmes.
The IAB considers issues related to the EAEU Strategy 2025 and approves the recommendations developed by the leading experts of the RR.
The meeting of the IAB can act as an information and methodological platform for the development of the IAQE Programmes. In this case, relevant staff from organizations and institutions that regulate and control the field of education may be invited to the IAB meetings.
On issues within the competence of the IAB, the Board has the right to make resolutions with their inclusion in the minutes of the meeting.
Thus, the result of the accreditation is carried out by the RR independently. The RR is solely responsible for the validity of the accreditation procedures and their results, although interested parties are involved in the accreditation, for example, the experts from the academic and/or professional communities. During the training, internships for experts, and various briefings prior to the accreditation, the RR draws the attention of the experts that while working with RR they act on their own behalf, and do not represent the interests of their institutions. The decisions are based on the results of independent accreditation conducted by the RR based on analytical materials, self-assessment reports, expert reports. These decisions are made by the International Accreditation Board without consulting with the experts, which is recorded in the relevant minutes.
The International Accreditation Board makes official decisions independently from the third parties, educational institutions, or government bodies.
The structure of the Russian Register has an independent body – the Supervisory Board. This is an independent structural formation, whose main function is to control the observance of the RR principle of impartiality in the performance of management system of the certification, inspection activities and other conformity assessment services.
The RR honors the Quality Policy, which requires objectivity, transparency and sustainability in the work of the Agency. This is the basis for decision-making, harmonized with other policies, procedures and actions of the RR. Its decisions are always based on objective evidence, as well as best national and international experience.
