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European Initiatives in Quality Assurance and Accreditation:

JQI and ECA

Ton VroeijenstijnQA-consultants bvThe Netherlands

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NVAO

European Consortium for AccreditationECA

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CHANGES IN EQA

Pre-Bologna National setting National needs Fitness for purpose Process oriented Improvement/accoun-

tability

Post-Bologna European dimension International needs Fitness of purpose Out-put oriented Criteria based accreditation

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DEVELOPMENTS AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

1995 European pilot project for implementation national systems

1997 Recommendations of the European commission 2000 ENQA 2001 Joint Quality Initiative 2003 European Consortium for Accreditation

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http://www.jointquality.com/

• Based on a tour d’Europe of a Dutch/Flemish delegation• Founded in Maastricht September 2001

Action program:• Cross border quality assessment • Sharing experience and discussing standards of BaMa• Initiate cross-national benchmarking • Franchising and quality assurance • Comparison of conceptualisations of accreditation 

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http://www.jointquality.com/

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Master’s degrees are awarded to students who: 

have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that is founded upon and extends and/or enhances that typically associated with Bachelor’s level, and that provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often within a research context; can apply their knowledge and understanding, and problem solving abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study;

 have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate judgements with incomplete or limited information, but that include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgements;

 can communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously;

 have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous.

 

 

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http://www.jointquality.com/

Dublin descriptors • already used in some countries in the accreditation framework

• important because the discussion is about competencies

• but descriptors too generic, opertaionalisation needed

• therefore discussion about European Qualiyfication framework, including Doctorate

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NVAO

European Consortium for AccreditationECA

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ECA ECA is an agreement for co-operation between 12

accrediting bodies in 8 countries (The Hague June 2003, Cordoba, October 2003)

Participants : Austria : Der Österreichischen Akkreditierungsrat Der Fachhochschulrat Germany: Akkreditierungsrat ZeVa, FIBAA ,ACQUIN, AQAS Ireland: HETAC The Netherlands and Belgium: NVAO Norway: Nokut Spain: ANECA Swizerland: OAQ

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NVAO

European Consortium for AccreditationECA

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ECA• project organization with fixed output: mutual recognition

•Fixed time schedule: mutual recognition before the end of 2007

• evaluation of activities end of 2004

•Funding by the participants

Mutual recognition: formal acknowledgement of accreditation decisions in one

country by the competent authority in an other country

INTERMEDIATE AIMS•development of a common framework for accreditation serving national needs and the needs of the European Higher Education Area.

•exchange of experiences and good practices concerning accreditation, especially with regard to the European dimension

•to develop criteria and procedures for mutual recognition of accreditation decisions

•to contribute to the development of accreditation in the light of the Bologna process and the follow-up of Berlin 2003.

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Working groups on: mutual recognition a European Qualification framework European format report political paper Bergen 2005 Alternative approaches for accreditation

Next meeting: Bergen June 2004

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NVAO

European Consortium for AccreditationECA

Bern 29 April 2004

Basic condition for Europe wide Quality Assurance is a common framework

Shared descriptors BA/MA/Ph.d

Shared idea about basic quality

Subject specific benchmark standards for learning

outcomes

Equivalent quality assessment system/quality model

Principals of good practice for an EQA-agency

Equivalent accreditation system: quality label has

international value

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Some obstacles

Cultural differences

National prejudice

National protectionism

Language problems

It is a challenge to keep diversity, while promoting quality, equivalency and transparency.