What Has Been the Impact of COVID-19 on Driving Digitalization, Innovation and Crisis Management of Higher Education and Quality Assurance? – A Taiwan Case Study in Alignment with the INQAAHE Virtual Review

Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 on higher education and quality assurance (QA) has already elicited global attention and discussion. QA agencies and networks quickly learned to adapt in order to carry out assessments, accreditations, recognitions, and reviews in a full virtual mode. These practices include using shared folders for virtual desk review, video conferencing platforms for interviews, and virtual site visits. In order to respond to the 2020 pandemic, The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) swiftly adopted a virtual mode of the GGP review exercise for the GGP alignment applicants. The Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) was the first case that underwent a thorough virtual review process of GGP alignment during the 2020 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to outline the impact of the pandemic in Taiwan higher education as well as provide the meta-analysis of the virtual review process of the INQAAHE GGP alignment by using HEEACT as a case study.