NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIA

The external expert-evaluators Anka Lisets (Slovenia), Heinz Saler (Germany) and Marta Meledu (Italy), as well as representatives of project coordinator Valincia Polytechnic University (Spain), project consortium members Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), University of Salonica named by Aristotle (Greece) and Bologna University (Italy) visited the NUACA on February 12, 2018 within the frame of the Erasmus+ “Education interdisciplinary Reform in Tourism management and Applied Geoinformation curricula” (“HERITAG”, №561555-EPP-1-2015-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) project funded by EU with the purpose of monitoring.     

The guests, accompanied by the coordinator of the HERITAG project in Armenia, Varazdat Hovhannisyan, who is the head of the NUACA Quality Assurance Center, have been hosted by Gagik Galstyan, Rector of NUACA. Welcoming the attendees, the NUACA Rector said that our university very appreciates the international cooperation that is gradually deepening and makes tangible results. The result of such partnership is the “HERITAG” project, within the framework of which not only property has been purchased and our university’s lecturers have been trained, but also the dual master program of “Project Management” jointly with Valencian Polytechnic University (Spain) and ASUE (Armenia) has been established and, it operates currently.

Mr. Galstyan stressed also the importance of the work of external evaluators, noting that independent expert opinion and advice are very important for correcting the gaps encountered during the implementation of the HERITAG project and for more effective implementation of the project activities.

Then the NUACA Rector Gagik Galstyan, First Vice-Rector Yeghiazar Vardanyan, Head of Engineering Geodesy Chair Suren Tovmasyan, Armenian Coordinator of HERITAG project Varazdat Hovhannisyan and European partners visited the newly opened Center for Geoinformation Technologies and Tourism created and properly equipped within the framework of the “HERITAG” project.

Emphasizing the importance of center’s establishment and its further activity, Gagik Galstyan has noted that the center’s goal is to study, analyze and address the existing problems in tourism and other spheres of economy with use of geo-informational technologies, where not only the external stakeholders, but also the university professors and students will participate. The work of the center will be especially useful for our students who will be able to develop their practical skills and research capabilities.

Then the working meeting was held within the framework of the monitoring visit between the external expert-evaluators, the Armenian and European partners of the project, as well as the lecturers and students of the dual master program of “Project Management”.

Head of the NUACA Quality Assurance Center and Armenian Coordinator of HERITAG Project Varazdat Hovhannisyan presented the progress of the “HERITAG” project, actions implemented and results achieved. The process of elaboration of the dual master program of “Project Management”, learning outcomes, list of subjects, new approaches to the study program and organization of class works have been also presented. Students also presented their points of view and expectations.

Then, the representative of each partner organization presented the activity and results of their organization within the framework of the project. Nerses Gevorgyan, Head of ASUE Quality Assurance Department, also touched the mechanisms of quality assurance upon the dual master program of “Project Management”.

At the end of the meeting, the external expert-evaluators presented their positive impressions.

The results of the monitoring will be summed up when external experts will meet ASUE in the coming week and visit the Georgian partners of the consortium of HERITAG project.