UBT, First Balkan Higher Education Institute To Receive Prize for Excellence by EFQM
24/09/2014UBT President Prof. Dr. Edmond Hajrizi has listed at a news conference the UBT achievements. In this context, he focused on the certifications, memberships, and projects received from international organizations during the 2014.
“The UBT is rightfully considered now as the ambassador of knowledge and science of the Republic of Kosovo, because during the past period we have received some important international prizes and prestigious certifications which make the UBT a credible institution in the field of qualitative education,” said UBT President Hajrizi, noting that all these evaluations and prizes were also a good promotion of Kosovo.
“The UBT is not thinking only about itself but we are working so that Kosovo becomes the direct beneficiary. The UBT has had results, conducted researches, and issued publications; it has a modern infrastructure, modern laboratories, and all this Higher Education Institute has made this esteemed for quality, management, leadership and so on,” he said.
Among the prizes that make the UBT a leader in the Balkans is the prize for Excellence given by the European Federation for Quality Management, EFQM — “The 4-Star Recognition for Excellence.” This is the most highly evaluated model in Europe in the domain of quality, management, and leadership evaluation.
“Of course, it was a mission for the UBT how to receive from Europe this excellence certificate which is a special one as no country from the region has ever received it. This is what the EFQM officials said, and from now on Kosovo has an institution that has achieved the excellence level and has come first in the region on this model,” Hajrizi said.
Hajrizi advised that the UBT was also awarded by the European Society for Quality Research, ESQR and by the Boston-based US organization “Changing Businesses.” The International Star for Leadership in Quality” prize has been awarded on the basis of important criteria that the UBT has met in the strategy of communication, leadership, planning, decision-making, education, training, ISO 9000 and so on.
The UBT has also been recertified on the system of quality management according to the well known international standard ISO 9001:2008 for the next three years. The certificate has been issued following an auditing process and a positive report by the Quality Austria Institute and the International Certification Network (IQNet). This certification shows that the UBT has met all the criteria and standards. The UBT is the only institution of the higher education in the Balkans which has received this certificate since 2007.
“The IPMA is a leading world organization in the field of project managements which certifies project managers, creates teams on managing of the project and successful research, and issues publications on project management. The UBT is member of it and has the right to issue certificates for the country and wider,” Hajrizi said.
He added that the UBT was also the only institution in Kosovo and Albania to have been given a certificate by the EASO organization of parks — UBT Science and Innovation Campus, Member of the World Areas of Science, Technology, and Innovation (IASO). This recognition from the IASO organization follows a visit by the secretary general of that organization who assessed that the UBT campus had met the standards to be member of that organization of the campus members of world areas of society.
UBT is also the only private institution of higher education that has been a regular beneficiary of the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus project.
“These recognitions motivate and encourage me because they are useful for Kosovo as well. The UBT is becoming an ambassador of knowledge and science for Kosovo because we are managing to promote the knowledge and Kosovar intelligence outside our country,” Hajrizi said.