Hcéres International Accreditation

The GOvernance & Administration of Leisure and Sports (GOALS) joint master’s programme, co-financed by the European Union https://master-goals.eu/, will use the international accreditation mark of the Haut Conseil de l’évaluation de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur (Hcéres) https://www.hceres.fr/en/hceres.

The GOALS joint master’s programme in sports management is implemented by a consortium of five universities: the University of Lille (France), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius (Lithuania), the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and LUNEX University (Luxembourg), which award a joint master’s degree in accordance with French regulations, which is linked to the issuer of the degree – the University of Lille. Students who enrol in the GOALS programme, which will be implemented from 2022 as part of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme, will be able to choose between two modules: (1) Sport Industry and (2) Leisure, Sport and Event Management. This choice determines student mobility, with classes taking place in Lille in the first semester and in Vilnius for track (1) and Toruń for track (2) in the second semester. After the second semester, there is a one-week summer school (in 2022 it took place in Lille, in 2023 in Lisbon, in 2024 in Antibes/Nice, and in 2025 in Athens/Olympia). The third semester involves choosing a place of study between Luxembourg and Lisbon (for track 1) or Luxembourg and Lille (for track 2). The final, fourth semester is a time for completing a 500-hour internship (20 ECTS) anywhere and preparing a master’s thesis.

Due to the unique study programme, in which the internationalisation of students plays an important role, but also due to the visiting professors invited and the study visits undertaken, the representatives of the GOALS consortium decided to apply for the recognition of GOALS studies by an international accreditation organisation. hence the decision was made to choose the recognised institution Haut Conseil de l’évaluation de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur (Hcéres), which is a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and is listed in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

The main part of the accreditation process began with the submission of the GOALS programme self-assessment report in the first half of April 2024. Prof. Mathieu Winand from LUNEX University (Luxembourg) was responsible for coordinating the preparation of this report. This coordination was challenging in that it was necessary to include all aspects of each of the GOALS Consortium partners in the report sent to Hcéres, from the common learning outcomes matrix to examination and defence procedures.

The submission of the self-assessment report was followed by information about the composition of the evaluation committee (23 April 2024) and a visit by Hcéres representatives on 20 June 2024. The Hcéres Evaluation Committee was represented by:

– Isabelle FROCHOT, President of the committee, University of Burgundy
– Renata KORSAKIENĖ, Academic expert, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
– Léonore PERRUS, Socio-economic expert, Institut national du sport, de l’expertise et de la performance (INSEP)
– Manuel AIRES DE MATOS, Student expert, University of Porto.
– Benjamin DAGOT, Hcéres, Head of European Affairs, Europe and International Department

The preliminary evaluation report for the GOALS programme was received from the Hcéres office on 18 September 2024, and the full report on 18 November, which granted accreditation for a period of 6 years, until 1 November 2030.

The next step for the GOALS consortium for the 2024/2025 academic year is to implement the Hcéres recommendations. The Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management at NCU (coordinator Dr Mateusz Tomanek) is responsible for implementing the recommendations for the entire consortium. Together with Simone Digennaro from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, an external evaluator of the GOALS consortium, it will introduce procedures to improve the education process.

Decision GOALS Hcéres (1,52 MB)

European Approach Report GOALS (1,70 MB)