During the period 16 -17 March 2017, Andrei Chiciuc, President of ANACIP and Alexandru Cauia, member of the Governing Board and Lucia Sava, Head of Department for Accreditation in Higher Education, attended the training session of ARACIS evaluators, held at the "Lucian Blaga" University in Sibiu, Romania.

The purpose of the visit was to initiate ANACIP representatives into the external evaluation of study programs and higher education institutions in Romania, as well as to strengthen the cooperation relations with the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS).

The periodical training session of the new evaluators of ARACIS provided an opportunity to members of ANACIP to analyze the Methodology of external evaluation, standards, benchmarks and performance indicators of ARACIS, their compatibility with the new European standards and guidelines (ESG), as well as to compare them with those developed by our Agency. The first day of the visit had a more informative character, and the main topics discussed were: procedures, schedule of events, resources and working tools used by evaluators in the external quality evaluation of study programs and higher education institutions; elements of ethics and conduct during the external evaluation; identification, establishments and registration of aspects concerning teaching staff, content of teaching process, students, scientific research, quality management, etc. The second day of the training session of evaluators was dedicated to the practical activities. In the workshops (in commissions), analysis of study programs was performed within standing committees, as well as drafting documents according to procedures (minutes, summary report) and granting of qualifiers, presenting and discussing the results of the evaluation process within both specialized departments and ARACIS Council.

At the same time, during the training session of ARACIS evaluators, there were analyzed the possibilities of participation of ANACIP representatives (board members, members of departments for evaluation and accreditation, as well as evaluators, teaching staff with academic- teaching title) in the external evaluation process of study programs and higher education institutions evaluated by ARACIS. Also, Andrei Chiciuc, President of ANACIP, highlighted the importance of further involvement of ARACIS evaluators (following the example of programs in the field of Educational Sciences) in the external evaluation process of Bachelor study programs, to be subject to evaluation by ANACIP.

At the end of the session, prof. Dr. Eng. Iordan Petrescu, President of ARACIS and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Andrei Chiciuc, President of ANACIP, signed a cooperation agreement aiming to promote and extend the cooperation relations established between the two Agencies of Quality Assurance. The document aimed at dissemination of experience and good practice in external quality evaluation in higher education in the two countries; appointment of evaluators to be part of the external evaluation teams/accreditation in national missions; participation in joint projects (national and international) in the field of quality assurance in education; joint organization of events in quality assurance as conferences, workshops, informal meetings, exchange of publications, etc. The agreement, drafted and signed in Romanian and English, is valid for five years, being automatically extended for the next five years if none of the Agencies notify in writing a desire to suspend it.