Accreditation of Study Programmes and graduate students Mobility in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Accreditation of Study Programmes and graduate students Mobility in the Mediterranean and Europe

Massimo Guarascio

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 1

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 2

Accreditation of Study Programmes

• EUR-ACE System of Accreditation of Engineering Study Programmes
• MEDACCR (MEDiterranean ACCReditation) Project
• Accrimed (RMEI)

Mobility and Internship

• HOMERe Project
• GAMe Michelangelo HOMERe

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 3

Accreditation of Study Programmes

• EUR-ACE System of Accreditation of Engineering Study Programmes
• MEDACCR (MEDiterranean ACCReditation) Project
• Accrimed (RMEI)

Mobility and Internship

• HOMERe Project
• GAMe Michelangelo HOMERe

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 4

Why and What’s Accreditation

In HE, ‘Accreditation’ means the procedure according to which a recognised body attests formally the fulfilment of pre-definite standards or quantitative and/or qualitative requirements. Today, accreditation is an essential tool to promote quality of Study Programmes (SPs).

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 5

The many shades of “Accreditation”

• encourages confidence that a Study Programme is fair and

accurate.

• assures and confirms that a neutral and external party has

reviewed the Study Programme and has found it satisfactory.

• assists with transfer of credits among Institutions.

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Requirements for accreditation of Study Programmes

At European level, the main requirement for the accreditation of SPs is the presence of an effective internal Quality Assurance (QA) system, able to provide evidence of their capacity to achieve the established educational objectives. Accreditation is now considered an essential tool to promote the quality of SPs.

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Quality Assurance Systems

QA has assumed particular importance in the context of the Bologna process after the adoption of the document ‘Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area’ (ESG) by the European Ministers responsible for HE at their meeting in Bergen (Norway) on 19-20 May 2005 and revised in the meeting in Yerevan (Armenia) on 14-15 May 2015.

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 8

European Higher Education Area (ESG)

ESG introduced the concepts of ‘internal quality assurance’ and ‘external quality assurance’. Internal quality assurance Internal QA is covered by Part 1- Standards and Guidelines for Internal Quality Assurance’ of the ESG. External quality assurance External QA is covered by ‘Part 2- Standards and Guidelines for External Quality Assurance’ of the ESG.

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Two reference sets of learning outcome descriptors for engineering SPs shared at international level are surely the ones proposed by the

• International Engineering Alliance (http://www.ieagreements.org/) in the

document ‘Graduate Attributes and Professional Competencies’ and by the

• European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE,

www.enaee.eu) in the document ‘EUR-ACE Framework Standards and Guidelines’ (EAFSG).

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External quality assurance

At European level, the accreditation process of SPs requires their external quality assurance that should include:

• a self-assessment or equivalent;
• an external assessment normally including a site visit by an

independent body; as established in Part 2- Standards and Guidelines for External Quality Assurance of the ESG.

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ESG Standards for external Quality Assurance

2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance External quality assurance should address the effectiveness of the internal quality assurance processes described in Part 1 of the ESG. 2.2 Designing methodologies fit for purpose External quality assurance should be defined and designed specifically to ensure its fitness to achieve the aims and objectives set for it, while taking into account relevant regulations. Stakeholders should be involved in its design and continuous improvement. 2.3 Implementing processes External quality assurance processes should be reliable, useful, pre-defined, implemented consistently and published. They include:

• a self-assessment or equivalent;
• an external assessment normally including a site visit;
• a report resulting from the external assessment;
• a consistent follow-up.

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2.4 Peer-review experts External quality assurance should be carried out by groups of external experts that include (a) student member(s). 2.5 Criteria for outcomes Any outcomes or judgements made as the result of external quality assurance should be based

• n explicit and published criteria that are applied consistently, irrespective of whether the

process leads to a formal decision. 2.6 Reporting Full reports by the experts should be published, clear and accessible to the academic community, external partners and other interested individuals. If the agency takes any formal decision based on the reports, the decision should be published together with the report. 2.7 Complaints and appeals Complaints and appeals processes should be clearly defined as part of the design of external quality assurance processes and communicated to the institutions.

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‘External assessment’ is an assessment carried out, usually on behalf of an agency, by an assessment team composed of more experts or 'peers' (peer review), external to the institution or SP to be assessed. At last for engineering SPs, the assessment teams are almost always made up of experts in evaluation coming in part from the academy and in part from the production, services and professions world. This composition is considered very important in order to make assessment teams not self- referential, as it is increasingly felt the need of the presence of the students in the assessment team.

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Agencies for external Quality Assurance

The external QA is generally on the responsibility of QA/QA assessment/accreditation agencies. In Europe there has been a strong growth of the agencies working in the field of external QA since 1990, helped by cooperation and sharing of the best practices among the agencies, and the creation of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA, www.enqa.eu) in 2000 was the natural formalization of these developments. The standards for QA agencies are established in Part 3 - Standards for External Quality Assurance Agencies of the ESG

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ESG Standards for external Quality Assurance Agencies

3.1 Activities, policy and processes for quality assurance Agencies should undertake external quality assurance activities as defined in Part 2 of the ESG on a regular basis. They should have clear and explicit goals and objectives that are part

• f their publicly available mission statement. These should translate into the daily work of

the agency. Agencies should ensure the involvement of stakeholders in their governance and work. 3.2 Official status Agencies should have an established legal basis and should be formally recognised as quality assurance agencies by competent public authorities. 3.3 Independence Agencies should be independent and act autonomously. They should have full responsibility for their operations and the outcomes of those operations without third party influence.

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3.4 Thematic analysis Agencies should regularly publish reports that describe and analyse the general findings of their external quality assurance activities. 3.5 Resources Agencies should have adequate and appropriate resources, both human and financial, to carry

• ut their work.

3.6 Internal quality assurance and professional conduct Agencies should have in place processes for internal quality assurance related to defining, assuring and enhancing the quality and integrity of their activities. 3.7 Cyclical external review of agencies Agencies should undergo an external review at least once every five years in order to demonstrate their compliance with the ESG.

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QA agencies should be internationally recognized.

The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR, www.eqar.eu) is a register of such agencies, including those that have demonstrated their substantial compliance with the common set of principles for QA laid down in the ESG. EQAR was set up in 2008. Currently, the agencies of external assessment which comply with the standards set by the ESG registered in the EQAR are 46 of 23 different signatory Countries of the Bologna declaration.

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EUR-ACE System of Accreditation of Engineering Study Programmes

EUR-ACE (EURopean ACcredited Engineers) is the label awarded to accredited engineering SPs at Bachelor and Master level. The EUR-ACE label is run by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education – ENAEE (www.enaee.eu) established in 2006.

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Membership of ENAEE is open to all bodies concerned with educational and professional standards in engineering throughout the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and beyond. Such bodies may include QA and accreditation agencies, professional organisations, associations of HE institutions (HEIs), employers’ associations, and engineering student bodies and their

• associations. ENAEE has currently 21 full members and 4 associate

members.

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The mission of ENAEE is to serve the public and society through the promotion and advancement of engineering education in Europe and abroad. ENAEE aims at building a pan-European framework for the accreditation of engineering SPs, in order to enhance the quality of engineering graduates, to facilitate the mobility of professional engineers and to promote quality and innovation in engineering education. To achieve these goals, ENAEE has established a de-centralized system for the standards of accreditation of engineering education degree programmes, leading to pan-European recognition of national accreditation decisions.

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ENAEE does not accredit engineering degree programmes. ENAEE carries out its mission by evaluating quality assurance and accreditation agencies in the EHEA in respect of their standards and procedures when accrediting engineering degree programmes. Those agencies which satisfy ENAEE in respect of these matters are authorized by ENAEE to award the EUR-ACE label to the engineering degree programmes that they accredit.

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Since the beginning EUR-ACE accreditations have been implemented also in non‐EU Countries, like Russia Federation and

• Turkey. There is convincing evidence that the EUR‐ACE model can

be successfully applied to other Regions outside the EU.

ENAEE is interested to spread the EUR-ACE label in Countries with an organization of their HE consistent with the Bologna process requirements. To this end, ENAEE policy is to spread the EUR-ACE accreditation through the identification/creation of National Agencies to be authorized to award the EUR-ACE label. Significant results have already been obtained in the Central Asian region, where University of Florence run the TEMPUS project QUEECA (Quality

• f Engineering Education in Central Asia).

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ENAEE Standards for EUR-ACE accreditation The standards which ENAEE requires of engineering degree programmes which are accredited by agencies are described in terms of: ➢ student workload requirements, ➢ programme learning outcomes, ➢ programme management. They are specified in the document EUR-ACE Framework Standards and Guidelines’ (EAFSG) (http://www.enaee.eu/wp-assets- enaee/uploads/2012/02/EAFSG_full_nov_voruebergehend.pdf)

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The student workload requirements are described using ECTS credits and are the same established in the document A Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area (http://www.bdp.it/lucabas/lookmyweb/templates/up_files///Pr

• cesso_Bologna/Doc%20Qualification%20Framework.pdf)

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The student workload requirements are described using ECTS credits:

• a minimum of 180 ECTS credits at Bachelor level;
• a minimum of 90 ECTS credits (60 in some educational systems)

at Master level;

• a minimum of 270 ECTS (240 in some educational systems) for

Master SPs that are ‘integrated’,i.e. do

• t include a bachelor

degree.

26

The EUR-ACE standards for programme management are differently organised but substantially consistent with the ESG standards. ESG Standards ENAEE Programme Management Standards

1.2 Design and approval of programmes 1.3 Student-centred learning, teaching and assessment 2.4.1 Programme Aims 2.4.2 Teaching and Learning Process 1.5 Teaching staff 1.6 Learning resources and student support 2.4.3 Resources 1.4 Student admission, progression, recognition and certification 1.7 Information management 2.4.4 Student admission, transfer, progression and graduation 1.1 Policy for quality assurance 1.8 Public information 1.9 On-going monitoring and periodic review of programmes 2.4.5 Internal Quality Assurance 1.10 Cyclical external quality assurance Intrinsic to the accreditation process

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MEDACCR Project

MEDACCR (MEDiterranean ACCReditation) is a 3-years Erasmus+ project run by University of Genoa. Wider Objective of the project is to set up and start implementing an on-line QA system and an accreditation system of Engineering Study Programmes (ESPs) in Algeria, Jordan and Tunisia consistent with the EAFSG.

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Partners of the MEDACCR project are:

• Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy

(Coordinator)

• CINECA Consorzio Universitario, Casalecchio

di Reno (BO), Italy

• Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur, Paris,

France

• QUACING Agency, Rome, Italy
• Engineering Association of Mediterranean

Countries, Rome, Italy

• AGORA Institute for Knowledge Management

& Development, Alicante, Spain

• École Central de Nantes, Nantes, France
• Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal
• Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence,

Italy

• Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona,

Spain

• Università Telematica eCampus, Novedrate

(CO), Italy

• École National Polytechnique d’Oran, Algérie
• École National Polytechnique de Constantine, Algérie
• Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique de l’Algérie,

Alger, Algérie

• Jordan University of Science and Technology, Amman, Jordan
• Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan
• Jordan Engineering Association, Amman, Jordan
• Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Amman, Jordan
• Université de Monastir, Tunisia
• Université de Sousse, Tunisia
• Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunisia
• Institut National de l’Évaluation, de l'Assurance Qualité et de l'Accréditation,

Tunis, Tunisia

• Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique, Tunis,

Tunisia

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MEDACCR project

The project has been organized according to the following steps:

• definition of the standards and guidelines (S&G) for the EUR-ACE

accreditation of ESPs;

• design and production of the software for the on-line documentation of the

QA of ESPs;

• implementation of the S&G and of the software for the on-line

documentation of QA of ESPs;

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• implementation of national Accreditation Centers (ACs) in each Partner

Country (PC) and definition of their organization and of the processes, procedures and documentation for the EUR-ACE accreditation of ESPs;

• carrying out of trial accreditations of the ESPs involved in the project;
• revision of the S&G for the EUR-ACE accreditation and of the software for

the on-line documentation of QA of ESPs and of the processes, procedures and documentation for the EUR-ACE accreditation of ESPs of the ACs on the base of the trial accreditation results;

• carrying out of real EUR-ACE accreditation of ESPs involved in the project.

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Main outcomes and outputs are distributed along the three years of the project as follows: 1st year

• Surveys on the current QA and accreditation of ESPs in PCs.
• Definition of the MEDACCR S&G for the EUR-ACE accreditation of ESPs.
• Design and production of the software for the on-line documentation of QA of

ESPs.

• Identification of the ESPs to be involved in the accreditation processes.
• Implementation of the ACs for the EUR-ACE accreditation of ESPs.

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2nd year

• Preparation of the documentation for the trial accreditations by the ESPs

involved in the project.

• Carrying out of the trial accreditations.
• Revision of the S&G for the accreditation of ESPs, of the software for the
• n-line documentation of the QA of ESPs, of the organization and of the

processes, procedures and documentation for the EUR-ACE accreditation

• f ESPs of the ACs.

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3rd year

• Preparation of the documentation for the EUR-ACE accreditations by the

ESPs involved in the project.

• Carrying out of the EUR-ACE accreditations.

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Hope and expectation

The hope is that thanks to the commitment and collaboration of all the project partners the project will be able to achieve all its specific project objectives:

• to promote the design of student-centred ESPs focused on the definition of

learning outcomes consistent with the programme outcomes shared at European level.

• To bring the internal QA of ESPs into line with ESG.
• To promote transparency and comparability of ESPs through an on-line

documentation of their QA.

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• To identify/create National Centers for the EUR-ACE accreditation.
• To promote international recognition of ESPs through EUR-ACE

accreditation.

• To guarantee the sustainability of the project results through the involvement
• f the academic and administrative staff of the Partner Universities.
• To promote the dissemination of the project results through the agreement

with Ministries of HE of the PCs for the recognition/recommendation of EUR-ACE accreditation at national level.

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Accreditation of Study Programmes

• EUR-ACE System of Accreditation of Engineering Study Programmes
• MEDACCR (MEDiterranean ACCReditation) Project
• Accrimed (RMEI)

Mobility and Internship

• HOMERe Project
• GAMe Michelangelo HOMERe

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 37

Accreditation of Study Programmes

• EUR-ACE System of Accreditation of Engineering Study Programmes
• MEDACCR (MEDiterranean ACCReditation) Project
• Accrimed (RMEI)

Mobility and Internship

• HOMERe Project
• GAMe Michelangelo HOMERe

Community of Mediterranean Universities And Eastern Mediterranean University, In Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) 2019, October 25 38

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