Dossier KIJAC ENG - Rrokum TV

Memorandum of Understanding?
- Why did it not even once apply for accreditation?
- How was it possible for KIJAC to act if Mr. Melhus says - « we aborted the
application procedure in 2008 because we did not meet the requirement of financial
and institutional sustainability at the time »?
- Why were they ‘hiding’ in a village near Pristina, and why did they settle the project
in that particular building?
- Is there any connection with the fact that the main political adviser to Prime Minister
Thaci, Dukagjin Gorani, has been one of the founders of the faculty, and therefore
despite the fact that the project was lacking many aspects of normal functioning, the
KIJAC project continued to act and receive donnations for 5 years?
The game with the accreditation of the degree
Besides the question of accreditation as a Faculty of Journalism by the Ministry of
Education, KIJAC continued to face another challenge – the lack of accreditation of
the KIJAC degrees.
The kosovar opinion revealed that KIJAC is facing a big scandal thanks to the public
reactions of some students of this faculty, who published an attention alert on the
portal 'Dardamedia' and invited the competent institutions to act because - -
NOBODY RECOGNISES THE KIJAC AS AN ACCREDITED FACULTY,
ACCORDINGLY, NOBODY IS RECOGNISING THE RIGHT OF THE KIJAC TO
ACCREDIT THE DEGREES.
When KIJAC students asked the KIJAC administrators why are they not yet
accredited as a private institution of higher education and why MEST refuses to
recognize the KIJAC titles, the KIJAC administrators replied that « we are connected
directly with Cardiff University and as such the degrees are granted by this
university ».
Rrokum TV’s researchers contacted the heads of Cardiff University, Mr. Justin Lewis
and Professor Barrell and they received a clear and final answer that the Cardiff
University does not recognize nor bears any responsibility for KIJAC degrees.
« Cardiff University’s involvement in the KIJAC project was limited. Cardiff’s role
was confined to contributing specialized teaching on one part of the course. Nebraska
University in the United States made a similar, limited contribution. Cardiff
University was willing publicly to acknowledge its input into the course to indicate
the quality of instruction that KIJAC students were receiving. But Cardiff University
(and that of Nebraska) had no responsibility for the leadership, management,
administration, funding and staffing of the project. Cardiff also did not have any
responsibility for the accreditation of the course as an academic degree. Under the
agreements that lead to the establishment of KIJAC, the Government of Kosovo and
the project leader that exercised executive powers, the Gimlekollen School of
Journalism and Communication, held all the responsibility for the accreditation of the
degree. As a matter of policy, Cardiff University does not accredit any degree unless,
among other conditions, members of its own staff teach all aspects and components of