The initiative on ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) was originated by the first Chairman of the AUN Board of Trustees (AUN-BOT), Dr. Vanchai Sirichana in 1998 in view that higher education institutions in ASEAN should strive to develop quality assurance networking as a mechanism to reach and maintain high standard education, not just for one particular country but for ASEAN as a whole.

The initiative was welcomed by the 4th AUN-BOT Meeting in Myanmar in 1998 and became an important AUN priority, particularly in teaching, learning, and management. In committing to this, the BOT also marked the year 1998 as the AUN year of quality education and convened the AUN-QA Network (AUNQANET) Task Force comprising administrators responsible for quality development in each member university with the aim to develop a common standard of quality by sharing experience and good practices.

The AUNQA NET Task Force Meeting was first held in November 2000, back-to-back with the 9th AUN-BOT Meeting in Bangkok under the theme “Workshop on AUN-QA Alliance”. With the collective wills and commitments of all Member Universities, the Bangkok Accord on AUN-QA was endorsed to chart ASEAN’s future of quality improvement within the network. The Accord provides a guideline to promote the development of the QA system as an instrument for maintaining, improving and enhancing teaching, research and the overall academic standards of the AUN Member Universities.

Since then, the AUN-QA also extended its roles and responsibilities in developing AUN-QA Framework at programme and institutional level being recognized by ASEAN universities, government agencies and international agencies e.g. INQAAHE, NEAS, DAAD, ENQA, AQAN, SEAMEO-RIHED, etc. Moreover, the AUN-QA is also recognized as the only QA system & mechanism implemented in ASEAN as well as aligned with ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework (AQAF) and also recognized by ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (ASED).

To promote and disseminate the best practices of quality assurance in higher education and to facilitate new developments in quality assurance, the AUN-QA has organised the International Conference in Quality Assurance, held at different universities since 2016. The first AUN-QA International Conference (AUN-QA IC) was held in 2016, hosted by the University of Indonesia. This conference was organised back-to-back with the AUN-QA Assessors’ Meeting and the AUN-QA CQOs’ Meeting. Since then, the AUN-QA IC has become an annual event and is always held back-to-back with the AUN-QA Assessors’ Meeting and the AUN-QA CQOs’ Meeting. In 2017, the AUN-QA IC was hosted by University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the subsequent conference was hosted by Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand in 2018. The latest AUN-QA IC was held in Manila and hosted by De La Salle University in 2019. The AUN-QA IC is the premier conference in the field of quality assurance in higher education within the ASEAN region. Participants come from leading universities around the ASEAN region as well as QA experts working within the region. In 2023, the AUN-QA IC, the AUN-QA Assessor’s Meeting and the AUN-QA CQO’s Meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand on 6 - 8 September 2023, and hosted by the AUN-QA Secretariat

The ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance International Conference (AUN-QA IC) is the premier conference in the field of quality assurance in higher education within the ASEAN region with the aims to enhance the promotion and dissemination of the high quality development practices of quality assurance in higher education and also to facilitate new developments in quality assurance. The conference aims to strengthen solidarity and cooperation among the region and beyond, guided by the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith and with a commitment to the greater good and shared interests. Thus, the theme of this year’s International Conference is “Driving University Excellence Through Quality: Strategies, Systems, Structures, and QA in the Context of Post-Pandemic Regional and Global Cooperation”.