This is an exciting year for Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges & Universities (ASIC) as it marks our 10th Anniversary. It has been a wonderful journey so far as we continue to expand our services each year, and share in the continued success of our many accredited institutions. Over the past 10 years we have accredited over 900 institutions, which include, universities, colleges, language schools, training institutions, international schools and online institutions.
Our international operations have seen tremendous growth and we are now accrediting institutions in over 50 countries.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all the staff of ASIC for their hard work over the last 10 years. Without their incredible dedication to ASIC, our expansion would not have been possible.
We are looking forward to the next 10 years and looking forward to working with you.
These are some of the interesting developments we have planned in the coming few years.
This conference will concentrate on development opportunities for our accredited institutions, including partnership development, recruitment of international students, student care and support, on-going quality assurance and trends in international student mobility worldwide.
The second day of the conference will be dedicated to facilitating arranged meetings between our ASIC accredited institutions for the purpose of developing relationships.
The first evening of the conference will also play host to our formal Awards Dinner. These awards will celebrate excellence in international education and information about the nominations process will be released shortly. Please note that awards can only be made to those attending. Nomination forms will be sent out in the next couple of weeks or you can email our CEO at leeh@asic.org.uk
The conference will be limited to 150 attendees, with a maximum of 5 attendees from each institution, please book your place with our CEO as soon as possible at leeh@asic.org.uk
Internationalisation Index
This new index aims to assist institutions in evaluating how ‘international’ they really are, and awards institutions up to 5 stars based on the results of their returns. An institution’s international outlook is very important to parents, students, potential educational partners and also educational agents.
Further information about this new index will be presented at the conference.
Platinum Accreditation
A new Platinum level of Accreditation above Premier status will soon be available to our institutions. These new assessment standards are based on some of the World University Ranking standards. Full details of this will be unveiled at our 10thAnniversary International Conference in September 2017.
Webinar Workshops
Since ASIC now operates in several countries across the globe, we are always looking for ways to make our information more accessible. We appreciate it is difficult for our international institutions to attend the seminars we hold here in the UK. We will, therefore, be setting up a series of webinars from October 2017, which our institutions can access from anywhere.
Information will be posted soon on our web site.
Partnership with IIC
ASIC will be working in partnership with IIC to provide inspection and auditing services to the Saudi Arabian Government, to ensure that their sponsored students attend only high-quality institutions overseas.
ASIC will also be undertaking, in partnership with IIC, inspector training programs for the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These trained inspectors will be responsible, under the guidance of IIC and ASIC, for the quality assurance inspection and monitoring of its schools, language schools, colleges and Universities.
Partnership with AARU
ASIC have recently signed a partnership agreement with the AARU and will be working with them to develop QA systems throughout the region and to develop international partnerships between their members and institutions worldwide.
The Association of Arab Universities, also called the Union of Arab Universitiesis an organization working within the framework of the Arab League, based in Amman, Jordan. The objective of the organization is to support and connect universities in the Arab world and to enhance cooperation among them.
Networks
At the request of many of our accredited institutions we will be setting up various networks for;
- Theological Institutions
- Language schools
- Universities and Colleges
- International Schools
This will enable easier communications through social media and emails and the development of partnerships across the globe
Marketing
ASIC wants to assist our accredited institutions in increasing their international student recruitment and we will be focussing this even more in the coming two years.
We have asked all our institutions to send in a profile of their institution so that we can highlight them on our web site. If you have not done this yet then please contact Florence Waniwa: flow@asic.org.uk
Also, if you have not yet joined our sister company QISAN, then may I suggest you do so as soon as possible. Membership is free for ASIC accredited institutions for a small one off admin fee. This will give you access to good quality agents worldwide and other marketing opportunities via the website www.qisan.com
For further information please contact Jennifer McKie jenniferm@asic.org.uk
Consultancy Services
ASIC are being requested to give consultancy services in various areas of work including:
- World University Ranking Preparation
- School Start Up
- Staff appointments
- Staff Training
- Quality Assurance Monitoring and Management.
If you have any requirement to avail yourself of our consultancy or indeed if you have any particular skill set and would like to offer consultancy through ASIC then please contact me at mauriced@asic.org.uk
New Inspectors
As ASIC expands internationally we are looking to appoint and train new inspectors, especially for ASIA, Africa, the Middle East and the USA. If you are interested in working with us then please contact our CEO, Mr Lee Hammond at leeh@asic.org.uk
New Institutions
We appreciate any assistance in promoting the good name and services of ASIC worldwide and therefore we have introduced an incentive scheme to our institutions in terms of introducing new institutions who would like to be accredited by ASIC.
We look forward to working with you over these coming months and years as we work together to promote quality in education around the world.
Maurice Dimmock
Chairman
ASIC Group of Companies
www.asic.org.uk