Development and Development and Evaluation of Evaluation of Joint Study ProgrammesJoint Study Programmes

Almantas Šerpatauskas

Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education

Current situation in Lithuania

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Number of JSPTotal number of

programmes

Professional bachelor 8 438

Bachelor 3 674

Master 21 612

TOTAL 32 1724

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Development of new Joint Study Programmes (2014)

Applications received

Positive decision

Negative decision

Professional bachelor 6 6 -

Bachelor 2 2 -

Master 12 11 1

TOTAL 20 19 1

Partner institutions from Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, South Korea, etc.

• First evaluation of JSP was started in 2012.

• Until now SKVC evaluated 5 JSP.

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Evaluation of Joint Study Programmes in operation

Joint study programme – Joint evaluation procedure!?

• Efforts to perform joint evaluation (accreditation) procedure with other agencies:

- common agreed criteria;- one expert team;- one site visit;- one report;- one decision on accreditation recognized by all

agencies.

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Reality…..

• Finally evaluation was carried out by SKVC only;• Collaboration with other agencies – limited to

nomination of peers;• Single site-visit to HEI: in 1 case – outside Lithuania;

other cases – in Lithuanian HEIs;• Evaluation report sent to other agencies. No feedback

regarding further actions received (with 1 exception).

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Lessons learned

• Problems with initiation, coordination of evaluation procedure. Which agency? Who covers evaluation costs?

• In different countries programmes are accredited for different period of time.

• Contacts with official authorities in other countries regarding legality of HEI and JSP, accreditation requirements, etc.

• Agreement on evaluation criteria, requirements for (J)SP in all countries, requirements for SER, peer team composition, training, place for site-visit, requirements for reporting, etc.

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To be taken into account by HEIs

• Check if JSP is legally possible in chosen country;

• Ask if chosen partner has right to start JSP of the same level, type;

• Discuss with partners in detail what has to be done in order to start JSP. What are the requirements? Is it possible to meet requirements of all countries involved?;

• Make sure that programmes will be of the same level in different countries (MSc in one country=MSc in another);

• Agreement should be detailed enough to cover all aspects of development and implementation of JSP;

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• When writing the SER analyse the whole programme provided at all partner institutions;

• Consult QA agency, ENIC/NARIC;

• Start programme when it is legalized in all countries involved.

Experts’ observations

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• Coordination of programme delivery, internal QA among all partner institutions;

• Financial sustainability of JSP;

• Student/teacher mobility;

• Joining of new partners.

European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

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The European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes has been developed to ease external quality assurance of these programmes: it defines standards that are based on the agreed tools of the EHEA, without applying additional national criteria.

Mainly based on the ESG and on the Qualifications Framework for the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA).

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• If some of the cooperating higher education institutions require external quality assurance at programme level, then the cooperating institutions should select a suitable quality assurance agency from the list of EQAR-registered agencies.

• If all cooperating higher education institutions are subject to external quality assurance at institutional level, they may use the European Approach in setting up joint internal approval and monitoring processes for their joint programmes.

• The European Approach may also be used for joint programmes that are offered by higher education institutions from both within and outside the EHEA.

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Standards

1. Eligibility (status, joint design and delivery, cooperation agreement)

2. Learning outcomes (level; disciplinary field; achievement; regulated professions)

3. Study programme (curriculum, credits, workload)

4. Admission and recognition

5. Learning, teaching and assessment

6. Student support

7. Resources (staff, facilities)

8. Transparency and documentation

9. Quality assurance

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Full text of European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Study Programmes can be accessed at www.eqar.eu or via www.ehea.info

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THANK YOU!

almantas.serpatauskas@skvc.lt