The Role of Managers in Crafting and Implementing a Quality Assurance Strategy within the Public Universities of the Republic of Kosovo

Public universities in our country, much like European universities, are seeking to create effective academic mechanisms in order to establish a "Kosovo of Knowledge" society. In this regard, they must take more responsibility to ensure quality, and in return, also demand from the government and civil society to assume their share of responsibility in order to enable universities to provide resources that will allow them to meet the mission in the best possible manner. This would allow academic institutions to be competitive not only in the area of higher education system but also in a broader spectrum. It is not only Europe, but the entire world is becoming a "knowledge society", and Kosovo, as a country in transition, has no alternative but to join this effort. To achieve this, MEST together with all stakeholders of higher education, have an obligation to continuously review and harmonize the legislative framework and strategic documents pertaining to quality assurance, and thus become active and creative participants in line with the terms and standards arising from the Treaty of Lisbon. The lack of a clear quality assurance strategy pushes the university away from the European Zone of Higher Education and Research. Among the most important stakeholders to design and implement this strategy are the managers of all university levels. For this delicate task to take root, lawmaking institutions and universities must change the mentality and the concept of university management. The chief stakeholder of this concept should be the Rector, assuming major managerial roles and responsibilities, unlike until now being mainly an academic Rector. Therefore, the mission of the "Kosovo of Knowledge" and the role of the public universities are warranted only through the transformation and harmonization of the domestic legal framework with the international one and the enhancing managerial competences for the university leadership.