The quality of internationalisation at Wageningen University was assessed by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). NVAO convened an assessment panel which studied the self-evaluation report and undertook a site visit from 29 January – 2 February 2018. During this visit the panel also performed an institutional audit of the university, and assessed to what extent internationalisation is a specific aspect of Wageningen University.

The panel has visited a truly international university, where internationalisation is a cross-cutting principle with overarching relevance for the achievement of the university’s goals. As a result, internationalisation goals and objectives are neatly aligned with the overall mission and vision of the university.

In terms of intended internationalisation, the panel considers that the internationalisation goals of Wageningen University are properly documented, sufficiently concrete, shared and supported by stakeholders within and outside the institution, and explicitly relate to the quality of teaching and learning. Because Wageningen is a truly international university with internationalisation constituting an integral part of its overall rationale, the panel assesses the intended internationalisation to be good.

In terms of action plans, the panel considers that the internationalisation plans of Wageningen University cover a comprehensive range of domains, are fit for purpose and are supported by numerous instruments and adequate resources. Because of the breadth of the plans, the number of instruments, the size of the support and the fact that these actions plans contribute not only to internationalisation but also to the realisation of the overall institutional strategy, the panel assesses the actions plans to be good.

In terms of implementation, the panel considers that the university collects relevant information on specific aspects of internationalisation, which provide sufficient information for responsible bodies to take appropriate action. The panel assesses the standard ‘implementation’ to be satisfactory and encourages the university to define more measurable goals and indicators for its overall internationalisation objectives and to assemble, store and document data in a more systematic way.

In terms of enhancement, the panel considers that Wageningen University has a well-established quality assurance system that involves both internal and external stakeholders and in which internationalisation in its various dimensions forms an integral part of the quality assurance provisions and improvement strategy of the university. Because of the comprehensive integration of internationalisation issues within a well-established quality assurance system that is geared towards improvement at all levels, the panel assesses enhancement to be good.

Finally, in terms of governance, the panel considers that internationalisation is embedded in the organisation and decision making structure of Wageningen University. The panel assesses the standard ‘governance’ to be satisfactory and encourages the university to look for ways how to improve its responsiveness to input/concerns from students who bring issues to the table from a different non-Dutch perspective.

In sum, the panel considers that Wageningen University fulfils each of the five standards of the CeQuint assessment framework. Its overall judgement on the quality of internationalisation at Wageningen University is therefore positive.