Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area Dushanbe, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Stefan Delplace, EURASHE

Early beginnings of QA in HE

• Modern quality management came from the

industrial sector

• Non-profit sector and public sector were slow in

following

• The introduction resulted from external

pressures: massification of HE, economic crisis, less gvt funding, HEIs more autnonomous and more accountable, globalisation & liberalisation

• f education sector

Then came ‘Bologna’

• BP Introduced quality management systems:

“Promotion of European co-operation in QA, with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies” (Bologna Declaration)

• Related to the own objectives of Bologna:
• 2-cycle degree structure; stimulation of

mobility; demands of labour market and of graduates

Then came ‘Bologna’

• Conditions for ‘Bologna’ had to be fulfilled

first, but even then differences remain:

– Transparency, compatibility and comparability

• f degrees (system and diplomas)

– A voluntary process involving 46 countries, joining at (in) different moments (stages) – Differentiation has an impact on QA systems,

• bjectives, methodology, etc.

– Also reflected in the external evaluation systems

Evolution/stages in QA in the Bologna Process

• From the start: no uniform imposed system: but

harmonisation of existing systems based on trust

• Quality control to secure mentioned objectives of

(conditions for) Bologna

• Need felt for mutually shared QA criteria,

methodologies on institutional, national and European levels.

• Four ‘E’s” (ENQA, EUA, EURASHE, ESU) to

develop QA standards and planned a Q label for QA agencies, the EQAR (Register of agencies)

Growing Focus on QA in the Bologna Process

• next to European Standards and

Guidelines for QA, ‘Bologna ministers’ adopted the overarching framework for qualifications in the EHEA (built on three cycles: BA/MA/phD)

• ‘mutual recognition’ became a cornerstone

in the process (of accreditation & of QA decisions)

European Standards & Guidelines

* They are ‘generic’ S & G, allowing for diversity in the EHEA * They cover three areas:

– QA in institutions/universities – QA of the external evaluation – QA of the QA agencies * Universal in their application: program /institutional/accreditation/ assessment * External evaluation process with four components: External panel; Self-evaluation; On-site visit, Public review reports

Overarching Qualifications Framework

• Originated from so-called ‘Dublin descriptors’

with levels of attainment for each of the three cycles

• Bologna countries committed to elaborate

national QF aligned to the overarching QF

• Complementarity sought between the QF for the

EHEA and the European QF (a European Union initiative) encompassing all ‘formal learning’.

• A key instrument in the NQF are the ‘learning
• utcomes’ that are linked to

programmes/curriculums

European Register of QA agencies

• Set up by the E 4 group in March 2008 to provide the

public with clear and reliable information on quality assurance agencies operating in Europe

• Listing QA agencies (European and international) that

substantially comply with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG)

• Involvement of E4, social partners & governments

in the “governance” of EQAR

• Independent Register Committee decides on acceptance
• f QA agencies that meet the standards of membership.
• Current situation: 18 listed agencies from 9 European

countries

Mutual Recognition

• Mutual recognition of degrees, etc. a

requirement for mobility of students, staff, graduates, and mature learners.

• Linked to MR of accreditation or QA decisions,

among different (national) agencies.

• A system based on thorough knowledge,

understanding & ‘trust’ following this.

• 2 provisos for mutual recognion of eacht other’s

accreditation decisions: acceptance of level of ‘diversity’ and existence of verification procedures (e.g. as organised by ‘ECA’).

Quality Assurance in the EHEA

• With thanks to Guy Aelterman, former

Vice President of ENQA, (co-) representative of EURASHE in the E 4 group, for QA matters.