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THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
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THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF
QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
International Seminar: “THE DYNAMICS OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS
IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA”Chisinau, 8-9 December 2005
Prof. Luc E. WEBER, University of Geneva
Chair CDESR, Council of Europe
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Contents
The consequences for Universities of the fast changing environment
Challenges for Universities Challenges at system level Towards an effective European
strategy
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The consequences for Universities of the fast changing
environment
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The fast changing environment
What is changing for Higher Education and Research The environment
Globalization Scientific and technological progress Emergence of new super economic and scientific
powers Europe is challenged to become a “Knowledge Society”
(Lisbon Agenda) The sector
The creation of the European Higher Education Area by 2010 with 45 countries (the Bologna Process)
The creation of the European Research Area (with more than 25 countries)
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What are the consequences for the HE&R sector?
Increased competition and acceleration of events: Increasing competition with the outside world
For financial resources, competition from other public services increasing demand for HE & R increasingly demanding private sector
From new types of HE institutions private universities (non for profit or for profit) corporate universities, distance and trans-border education
Inside the sector Increasing competition due to more transparency: (institutions
should better profile and position themselves in order to become more attractive)
Funding is also becoming more difficult due to the increasing costs of teaching and research
Universities are bound to be more transparent and accountable Universities (and science) do not enjoy anymore unlimited trust
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The challenges of quality assurance
for Universities
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Necessary Responses of Universities
Better governance and leadership Medium and long term visions and strategies Good daily management
Human resources Students’ support Financial resources and facilities
Increased transparency and accountability Development of an effective internal quality
culture However, universities are too often only reactive,
Because they are not autonomous (vicious circle) Or because of a failing internal quality assurance
system
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The challenges of quality assurance
at system level
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The pioneers A few countries set up evaluation agencies
(The Netherlands, England, France, ….) A few countries conducted punctual
evaluation, in particular of the state of a discipline
EUA (more than 700 members in 45 countries): Program of institutional evaluation launched 11 years ago: More than 150 evaluations in 35 countries (incl.
system-wide), almost 20 follow-up evaluations Institutional approach focused on developing the
capacity for change through the development of Internal quality Strategic leadership
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The ministers of education in the framework of the Bologna process
Bologna Declaration (1999): …”Promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies”..
Prague communiqué (2001): ….”Ministers called upon the universities and other higher education institutions, national agencies and ENQUA, in cooperation with corresponding bodies from countries which are not members of ENQUA, to collaborate in establishing a common framework of reference and to disseminate best practice”….
Berlin communiqué (2003): …”At the European level, Ministers call upon ENQUA through its members, in co-operation with the EUA, EURASHE and ESIB, to develop an agreed set of standards, procedures and guidelines on quality assurance, to explore ways of ensuring an adequate peer review system for quality assurance and/or accreditation agencies or bodies, ……..”.
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Bergen communiqué (2005) “….we urge higher education institutions to continue their efforts to enhance the quality of their activities through the systematic introduction of internal mechanisms and their direct correlation to external quality assurance. We adopt the standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area as proposed by ENQA. We commit ourselves to introducing the proposed model for peer review of quality assurance agencies on a national basis. We welcome the principle of a European register of quality assurance agencies based on national review…. …….We underline the importance of cooperation between nationally recognised agencies with a view to enhancing the mutual recognition of accreditation or quality assurance decisions.”
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Quality assurance is in a state of flux
(adolescence)
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QA is in a state of flux Quality assessment and culture is in a state of
flux (theoretically and practically). Many actors and diversity or strategies
ENQUA, European Network of Quality Assurance ECA, European Consortium for accreditation EUA, European University Association National or branch specific organizations
Imprecise terminology Political agenda, activism and mistrust Tendency to “reinvent the wheel” (the experience of
others is not taken into account!?) The most delicate questions are:
The distinction between accreditation, evaluation and the development of a quality culture
The respective methods, their limits and shortcomings
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Accreditation, evaluation, quality culture
Accreditation This is an authorization to practice (minimum absolute level for
teaching and learning, research and institutional organization) Desirable for new institutions private or public, as well as LLL
programs Applies to institutions and/or teaching programs Aims:
serves to protect the name “University” and to guarantee that an institution or a program satisfies a minimum quality standard
Serves to protect the investment made by the students-consumers Is basically the responsibility of the State (regulatory role of the
State); Accreditation could also serve to assess:
If a program has reached some specified standard (business, engineering)
The internal quality assurance procedures of an institution The final aim of accreditation is NOT the assessment of the
relative quality level and is promoting quality enhancement only indirectly
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Quality assessment or evaluation More ambitious and delicate: goal is to assess the
relative quality of an institution, a teaching program, a faculty or department and/or a discipline in a country
Necessary for The knowledge society (improving the quality of teaching
and research) The Bologna process (building trust; accreditation will not
be sufficient to secure acceptance in good research universities)
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Quality culture (quality enhancement) Extended ongoing effort on the part of an
institution (and encouraged by the State) to develop a capacity for change through the development of:
Internal quality Strategic leadership
This effort must be supported by external evaluations and monitored (evaluated) externally from time
to time
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Towards an effective European strategy
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“Standard and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA. Basic principles Focused on HE institutions Universities should be responsible to
develop an internal quality culture. It implies
Self-evaluation Visit of peers
However, independent agencies (national or trans-national) should
Set the framework (general rules) Control the process in each institution
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Widely accepted principles
The quality assurance systems should Include all stakeholders, Results must be made public, Procedures should be independent of
governments, interest groups and universities Follow guidelines that are transparent Cost effective Promote institutional autonomy and foster
innovation Be deeply inspired by the subsidiarity principle
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Be “formative” instead of “summative” (University people react particularly badly to “summative” evaluations)
Be geared at enhancement: prompt institutions to develop internal quality measures as they are the first beneficiaries (and not only a rhetoric adaptation to what is required)
Must emphasize self-evaluation Give the priority to quality and not quantity:
University output is difficult to measure Diversity of output Long delay between service and its impact
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Evaluate according to the mission statement and not according to preset standards
Be independent from funding Look at quality under the point of view of
the institution’s capacity to change Be articulated in three steps
Self-assessment (SWOT) Visit by independent peers Formalized follow-up
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Role of the State The State should monitor and evaluate the
quality procedures within universities This implies that the authorities should be
convinced that institutions are the first beneficiaries of quality assurance and best placed to do it (subsidiarity principle)
However, the State is responsible to make sure that universities are implementing a solid internal evaluation system
Legal obligation (Ireland) Evaluation of the internal procedures by a national or
international agency Make sure that the agency is internationally recognized
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When should the State do more?
The State should probably Regulate private institutions
Protection of the term “university” Consumer protection
Regulate LLL programs The State should also be positive to
evaluation-accreditation initiatives taken by professional organizations (ABET, EQUIS)
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Conclusion
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The fast changing environment and the increasing cost of research and teaching makes it more and more important for universities to be lead, governed and managed. ……. Quality assurance is an essential step towards that. It is obviously in the interest of Universities It is a responsibility of the State to make
sure it happens
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THANK YOU