On 11-12 November 2021, the Project was happy to conclude a two-day workshop with the University of Prishtina (UP), which focused on assessing the ways to develop a viable performance evaluation system for academic staff. The workshop was attended by the UP Rector and his cabinet, members of the Steering Council, Deans and the General Secretary. The event was organized and conducted under the patronage of the HERAS Plus Team Leader, Mr. Aqim Emurli, and Rector of the University of Prishtina, Mr. Naser Sahiti.

The Project, has engaged international expertise to develop a Roadmap document advising the leadership of UP on how to measure the performance of the academic staff. The draft Roadmap was presented by the HERAS Plus Project, international expert Ms. Kristiina Tõnnisson, whereas the workshop offered an occasion to collect feedback and comments. The feedback collected during the event will be used in the process of finalizing the Roadmap document.

The draft Roadmap presented during the event provides a short overview of the main arguments around performance evaluation of academic staff. The paper suggest that there are mostly four main reasons for evaluating the academic staff: (1) to know the strengths and weaknesses of the staff in order update and promote certain skillset and knowledge of the staff on ongoing basis; (2) to be able to differentiate staff according to their teaching preferences, loads, capacities, developmental needs, research, salaries etc.; (3) to create a culture of ongoing quality improvement to keep pace with the rapid development around the world; (4) to be competitive with other HEIs around the world.

Noteworthy, the Roadmap was developed with the support of international expertise taking into consideration some examples from other EU countries. The document identifies the most relevant criteria for academic staff evaluation. The criteria are grouped in four distinctive areas suggested for evaluation: (1) Teaching, (2) Research, (3) Institutional Development, and (4) Serving Society. Lastly, the draft Roadmap offers a proposal for the Performance Card.