1 November 2024

AUN Engaged in Dialogue, Cooperation, and Joint Action at the 3rd GUAF

By
Patitin Lertnaikiat
AUN Programme Officer;

The 3rd Global University Associations Forum (GUAF) brings together once again leaders of university associations representing major world regions – Africa, the Americas, the Arab Region, Asia, and Europe.

Currently, the 8 associations that are constituted in the GUAF are the following:

  1. Association of African Universities (AAU)
  2. Association of Arab Universities (AArU)
  3. China Association of Higher Education (CAHE)
  4. European University Association (EUA)
  5. Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
  6. Latin American and The Caribbean Space for Higher Education (ENLACES)
  7. American Council on Education (ACE) and Universities Canada (UC)
  8. ASEAN University Network (AUN)

This year, the 3rd GUAF was hosted by CAHE in Beijing, China from 10 - 12 October 2024, with all 8 university associations present either physically or online. The first day on the 10th of October initiated the forum with a visitation to the headquarters of CAHE before venturing into the next two days of fruitful discussions. As such the two days that followed consisted of deliberation amongst the GUAF members on the central theme of “Innovation in Higher Education in the Digital Era”

AUN Providing Updates

The forum began with its first agenda where GUAF members provided updates regarding significant developments to higher education in their respective regions. During this agenda, the AUN had the opportunity to inform the forum of its various projects and initiatives conducted in the past year. 

  • The success of the national and general meetings of the qualifications excellence programme known as the Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Asia (CALOHEA) was well acknowledged. 
  • In line with the focus on digitalization, the establishment of one of AUN’s newest thematic networks, AUN Digital Transformation (AUN Dx), was also well-received by the members of GUAF.
  • AUN-QA had been undergoing intense efforts to revamp and update its internal quality assurance framework since last year. Now, the follow up activity is a “knowledge capturing” initiative with the intent to capture good practices from top universities in the ASEAN region with reliable and functioning IQA systems.
  • In the spirit of continuous improvement, AUN has been collaborating with partners in Australia on the University English Language Capabilities Building initiative. This ongoing effort aims to strengthen the English skills of ASEAN universities’ professors and researchers, enhancing their ability to teach courses and present research in English. The initiative supports capacity building in both English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and effective English Language Teaching (ELT).
  • On the youth side, 2024 also saw the successful debut of the AUN Summer Camp, a new flagship youth project of AUN that brought together ASEAN countries sending approximately 1,000 students to 9 camps across 7 ASEAN countries. 

ASEAN’s Approach to “Digitalization and the Future of Education”

Aj. Michael GUAF 2-min.JPG

The first thematic discussion had a focus on “Digitalization and the Future of Education”. Representing the ASEAN region was AUN and Dr. Vorasuang Duangchinda, Technical Expert in Digitalisation in Higher Education shared his thoughts and experiences on the matter. First of all, it is not only about ICT infrastructure, but AUN has been actively driving digital education and lifelong learning initiatives across ASEAN as well as capacity building for university personnels. The development of management structure and its people has also been central in the current initiatives, however, we are also mindful to accomplish this without the need to enforce it on the people. Our current initiatives are focused on open education resources (OER) for lifelong learning. The ASEAN Cyber University project, offering Learning Management System (LMS) and Open Educational Resources (OER) platforms, provides high-quality e-learning content to enhance skills, align academic programs with industry needs, and drive innovation across the region. Furthermore, in the AI space, in response to a large variety of languages that encompass the ASEAN region, there have been rapid developments in AI that are able to localize content. The utilization of AI in this area has resulted in great savings in cost, time, and manpower.

AUN’s Efforts Towards Recognition of Qualifications

FO GUAF-min.JPG

The second thematic discussion of the 3rd GUAF approached the topic of “Joint Position of the Global University Associations Forum on the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education”. Mr. Korn Ratanagosoom, First Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of the AUN Secretariat, elaborated on the finished CALOHEA project, one of AUN’s largest initiatives towards recognition of qualifications in the ASEAN region. The project aimed to promote the internationalization of the higher education sector in ASEAN through the establishment of three Recognition Mechanisms in three subject areas: civil engineering, medicine, and teacher education. With the three Recognition Mechanisms (RM); higher education institutions, students, faculties, and non-academic staff can benefit from standardized mechanisms that will ease the degree recognition process, clear subject-specific reference qualification and assessment frameworks, more opportunities for student exchange and internationalization campaigns, and workload measurement that is internationally recognizable. The impact that the CALOHEA project aimed to have is based on 4 key principles:

  1. Comparability: Degree programmes must be comparable across different systems
  2. Compatibility: Different education systems can fit into others with seamless integration
  3. Transferability: Credits should be able to be moved and accepted across different systems
  4. Verifiability: There must be assurance that it is authentic, credible, and confirmable

As the project is now completed, the results and impact of the project has been disseminated as news articles in the AUN E-Newsletter, where the knowledge and experiences of institutions can be shared and freely accessed by all. Also, the CALOHEA Project and the Three RMs have been disseminated and shared with the universities outside the Project Consortium via the CALOHEA National Meetings hosted by fourteen universities in seven ASEAN countries from March to November 2023.

Academic Careers, Graduate Skills and Competences

From the late afternoon until the end of the first day, the forum continued with discussions on two subject areas: 1) Academic Careers and 2) Graduate Skills and Competences.

Academic careers are multifaceted and include all aspects of the academic profession. However, research is often still more valued than teaching for career progression. In 2022, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) was established and it aims to foster international collaboration on research assessment reform, promoting open science, and ensuring diversity and inclusion in research practices.

When it comes to graduate skills and competences, the modern world demands a new generation of graduates equipped with versatile skills and competencies to navigate its complexities. Industries play a key role in emphasizing what skills need to be taught to new graduates, afterall more companies are hiring based on skills than degrees nowadays. Graduates in the future will need to be able to adapt to emerging skills. Lifelong learning and interdisciplinary education have become a crucial component in building up our future workforce. In the higher education space, it is important to develop curriculums to foster graduates in building their skills suitable for not just the current job market, but what will be in demand in the future when they graduate. 

STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics)

ED GUAF 2-min.JPG

For the last thematic discussion on the second day, the forum set its sights on the topic of STEAM education. Not long before, was the STEM education, now in the 21st century we have the arts thrown into the mix to create the STEAM education as the demands of the workforce now require a blend of technical and creative skills. The inclusion of art brings human-centered approaches and produces students who excel in both analytical and creative domains. Fostering creativity ensures that learners of these education systems will develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, Executive Director of the AUN, shared his experiences on institutional approaches in the ASEAN region. In the past 10 years, ASEAN universities have been experimenting and talking a lot on how to break the silos of disciplines. Some universities have gone further in regards to interdisciplinary by combining the faculties of their schools together, and as a result, have broken the cemented structure of faculties. As for what is needed now, the skills and literacy of graduates must be improved and support from governments are needed to proceed with interdisciplinary policies.

Conclusion

The 3rd GUAF concluded with a reaffirmed commitment from all university associations to drive innovation and strengthen collaboration in higher education. Through updates and thematic discussions, participants explored digitalization, qualifications recognition, and skill development, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary approaches, open resources, and AI advancements in meeting evolving educational demands. For the 4th GUAF, discussions pertaining to higher education will continue next year hosted by AIU.

These discussions emphasized the need for continued cooperation and adaptable policies across regions. With digital transformation, enhanced qualification standards, and STEAM education as focal points, the forum highlighted equipping future graduates with versatile skills for a competitive, interconnected global landscape.

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[All images provided by CAHE]