Last week Tuesday the mid-term audit of the Academy of International Hospitality Research took place. This is an internal audit in preparation of the external quality audit that will take place in 2018. During the audit the work of the Academy was assessed on the basis of five national standards:

1. The research unit has a relevant, ambitious and challenging research profile and a research program with goals that are operationalised in indicators
2. The organisation of the research unit; the quality of staff; the resources and the internal and external collaborations enables the realisation of the research profile
3. The research of the research unit complies with the standards applicable in the field of research
4. The research unit achieve sufficient relevance and impact on the following areas: knowledge development within the research domain; valorisation to professional practice and society; significance for education and training.
5. The research unit conducts regular and systematic review of the research processes and outcomes. The results of this reviews are input for improvements.

The auditors, Marjolein van der Moolen and Mark Geerts, were very pleased with the documentation and the information that they received during the day: they called it complete and transparent. Moreover, they found the focus of our research clear and concluded that it is of added value for our students and the industry. Therefore the auditors concluded that our Academy is on the right track and that it is doing well on all five national standards set by the Ministry of Education.
Of course, the auditors had also some recommendations. They advise us to be more bold in telling to students, to Stenden colleagues and to the industry what we are capable of. They also recommend us to prove even better our international focus by conducting research with the campus sites. Finally, they also recommend to make more explicit the research focus of the Academy itself.

These recommendations, as Craig said in concluding the meeting, are exactly what we needed at this moment in time. They strengthen the Academy in taking faster steps that were already planned, such as the development of a new website.
All in all, and thanks to you all, we look back to a very satisfactory Mid-term audit.

Elena Cavagnaro, AIHR chair