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Maastricht University has been McMaster’s partner since 2010, when we launched our unique MSc in Global Health program, designed to prepare the next generation of professionals for the global workforce. The program is an exercise in blended learning that features online synchronous and asynchronous teaching/learning, face-to-face classroom and real-world experiences, and exchanges to Maastricht. We are very pleased, therefore, to announce that the MSc in Global Health program, Maastricht, recently received re-accreditation and a very positive review by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO).

 

Accreditation is of utmost importance: it ensures a quality of education that meets a set of specific standards. It is also necessary in order for universities to be ranked by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the only global university performance tables to judge world-class universities across all of their core missions –teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. It is worth noting that Maastricht ranks 15th in the Times Higher Education Top 100 Most International Universities in the World.

 

In late spring 2014, Maastricht was reviewed by an external quality assurance committee put together by the Quality Assurance of Universities in the Netherlands (QANU) This panel of external, independent experts prepares an objective assessment report which forms the basis of the accreditation. The report stated that the panel was very impressed with the program and its innovative nature. They believed “the partnership with foreign universities contributes to the program’s uniqueness, and through this partnership, students have access to various international health organizations.” The panel also appreciated that the program has an obvious professional as well as academic orientation – a key balance we strive for when creating the curriculum, which the panel described as “diverse, multisided and adjustable to students’ preferences.”

 

Along with offering “superb distance learning facilities”, “excellent, dedicated and innovative” teaching staff, the program was regarded by the panel as “very well developed, with a solid connection between the learning outcomes and the courses.”

 

At McMaster, as we move forward and shape the future of the MSc in Global Health in collaboration with Maastricht, we have taken on board these positive comments, as well as suggestions for improvement in creating this “excellent foundation for further studies or the labour market.”