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