Trust, commitment, and patience: Piloting the novel quality management system of the 4EU+ European University Alliance

Trends in internationalisation of higher education such as the creation of European University Alliances affect the development of quality assurance. This development, however, is still in its infancy. This work report presents results of piloting the 4EU+ Alliance’s Quality Management System 4EU+QUALITY. Two years into the pilot, this paper takes stock of strengths and potentials for improvement and recounts challenges and opportunities for the way ahead. It briefly introduces EUAs and their evolution, to then provide an overview of 4EU+QUALITY. The paper then explores hurdles as well as solutions and success factors in piloting this system along the lines of three factors: trust, commitment, and patience.