The UESA/ACEEU workshop "THIRD MISSION OF UNIVERSITIES: ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES"

The UESA/ACEEU workshop "THIRD MISSION OF UNIVERSITIES: ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES" took place on September 23, 2024, online as part of the Erasmus+ project UNICOM "Universities—Communities: Strengthening Cooperation."

The workshop focused on evaluating universities' third mission within their entrepreneurial and socially engaged dimensions. It was organized by the Ukrainian European Studies Association (Ukraine), the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities (Germany), and the University of Genoa (Italy), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, with the support of the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine.

Notable speakers included Diana Spulber, UNICOM Coordinator, University of Genoa (Italy); Oleksandra Husak, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (Ukraine); Svitlana Shytikova, National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine (Ukraine); Thorsten Kliewe, ACEEU (Germany); and Oksana Holovko-Havrysheva, Ukrainian European Studies Association (Ukraine).

The first session of the workshop focused on contemporary approaches to third-mission assessment. It addressed questions such as the definition of the third mission, reasons for assessing it, aspects to evaluate, methods for evaluating the third mission of higher education institutions (HEIs), and Ukrainian regulators' expectations on this matter. Oleksandra Laktionova and Maryna Mruga (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine) discussed the priorities for the third mission assessment in Ukraine. Thorsten Kliewe (Germany) focused on diverse models of the third mission assessment – rankings, accreditations, self-assessment, and independent evaluation.

The second session discussed evaluating entrepreneurial universities, covering topics such as defining them, different types of entrepreneurial universities, and methods for evaluating their entrepreneurship-fostering engagement.

The third session covered approaches to assessing engaged universities, addressing the reasons universities become socially engaged, the overview of the types of socially engaged universities, methods for assessing social engagement, and various approaches to assessing the social mission of HEIs. In this session Nataliya Stukalo (National Quality Assurance Agency of Ukraine) focused on the diverse aspects of third mission assessment from the quality assurance dimension. The event gathered more than 55 attendees from different parts of Ukraine.