President

The EQAR President chairs the Executive Board as well as the Register Committee, represents EQAR externally and ensures coherence in the work of the EQAR bodies.

The President has a three year mandate – renewable once – and is elected by the General Assembly.

Karl Dittrich: President with a term from 1/7/2017 until 30/6/2020

Karl Dittrich was Chair of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) until October 2017.

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He started his career as a political science researcher and lecturer in Leiden, Florence and Maastricht. He chaired the Executive Board of the University of Maastricht from the 1990s until the early 2000s.

Karl Dittrich was the inaugural chairman of the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO) from 2005 to 2012. In that capacity, he also held functions on the ENQA Board and in the European Consortium for Accreditation (ECA). As VSNU Chairman, Dittrich has also sat on the Council of EUA.

Karl Dittrich can be reached via the following email: karl.dittrich@eqar.eu.

Background and selection process

Appointing an EQAR President was one of the recommendations in EQAR’s external evaluation of 2011 “the General Assembly should appoint a high profile, independent President capable of raising the visibility and promoting the benefits of EQAR with key stakeholders”.

The statutory changes by the General Assembly of 12 April 2017 made the appointment of an EQAR President possible.

After the appointment of a Selection Committee (composed by representatives of Governmental Members (4), Founding Members (2), Social Partner Member (1), the Executive Board (2) and the Register Committee (2)), the selection process starts with a public call for expressions of interest.

After a rigorous procedure, EQAR members are then invited to elect an EQARpresident based on a proposal by the Selection Committee.

25 May 2017: Election of the first EQAR President: Karl Dittrich

EQAR members convened for their 13th General Assembly, hosted by the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU and in conjunction with the BFUG meeting on 24-25 May.

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  • Karl Dittrich was unanimously elected as EQAR President with a mandate from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2020. 

Appointing an EQAR President was one of the recommendations in EQAR’s external evaluation of 2011 “the General Assembly should appoint a high profile, independent President capable of raising the visibility and promoting the benefits of EQAR with key stakeholders”.  Following up on decisions taken at the GA in Oslo on 25 November 2016, as well as the subsequent statutory changes by the General Assembly of 12 April 2017, EQAR members were invited to elect an EQAR president based on a proposal by the Selection Committee.

The Selection Committee was composed by representatives of Governmental Members (4), Founding Members (2), Social Partner Member (1), the Executive Board (2) and the Register Committee (2).

After issuing a Call for candidates, the Selection Committee received 14 applications from high level applicants and interviewed 6 of them. Based on the motivation letters, CVs and the interview, the Selection Committee was able to find a consensus that one candidate best matched all elements mentioned in the Call for Candidates – independence, senior leadership experience, good knowledge of quality assurance and higher education policies at the European level, ability to work with different actors and stakeholders, and excellent command of English – and therefore agreed to propose one candidate, Karl Dittrich, to the General Assembly (GA).

  • As of 1 July 2017, the Executive Board will assume the following functions: Karl Dittrich: President
    Blazhe Todorovski: Vice-President
    Maria Kelo: Treasurer
    Michal Karpíšek and Tia Loukkola: Member