The findings of the pilot evaluation on the new academic integrity standard were presented at a roundtable held on 2 November 2023 in Podgorica. The event gathered around 35 representatives from higher education institutions, the Ministry of Education, the Parliamentary Committee for Education, the Ethics Committee, and the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
The opening remarks were delivered by Goran Danilović, Director of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (QAA), Lejla Dervišagić, Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Podgorica, and Vesna Atanasova, Head of Unit, Division of Formal and Non-Formal Education, Education Department, Directorate of Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe. Mr. Danilović thanked higher education institution representatives for their participation in the pilot evaluation, stressing its benefits for both the Agency and the implementing institutions. He also addressed the global challenges tied to artificial intelligence, its educational applications, and the associated institutional challenges. Ms. Dervišagić discussed the principles of quality education and their implementation, underlining the pilot evaluation's pivotal role in enhancing academic integrity and overall education quality. Ms. Atanasova talked about the results of the "Quality Education for All" initiative, showcasing Montenegro's successful implementation of the Law on Academic Integrity, the establishment of the Ethical Committee, supplementary standards development, and finally, the pilot evaluation’s results.
After the initial session, the experts responsible for assessing the supplementary standards shared their findings from the pilot evaluation and underlined key recommendations for both the Agency and higher education institutions. These suggestions aimed to enhance the precision of standards and the accompanying evidence while ensuring the effective implementation of these standards in higher education institutions. Their emphasis rested on the pivotal role of the new academic integrity standard QAA has recently adopted, as the primary mechanism for implementing the Law on Academic Integrity, emphasizing the vital need for the criteria and evidence, integral to the supplementary standard on academic integrity, to align with European standards and guidelines (ESG).
During the roundtable's second segment, Tamara Đuričković, the Assistant Director for Quality Control at the Agency, and Mara Šćepanović, the President of the Ethical Committee, shared the outcomes of the pilot evaluation analysis. Then, representatives from Montenegro's higher education institutions discussed the recommendations from the pilot evaluation report and highlighted challenges and strategies for reinforcing academic integrity principles. The consensus was that implementing suitable preventive and corrective measures to enhance teaching and research processes across all departments is vital. Furthermore, assessing the impact of initiatives aimed at bolstering academic integrity can serve as a valuable indicator for institutional planning and process improvement.
The event was organised as part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe action "Quality education for all".
