Giuliano AugustiCoordinator, EUR-ACE-IMPLEMENTATION project

President, ENAEE (www.enaee.eu)

International Forum

Higher Education Quality Assurance20-22 November 2007, Moscow, Russia

PRO-EAST project final Seminar21 November 2007

Implementation of EUR-ACE Standards 

Accreditation of an Engineering

Education Programme(according to EUR-ACE and ENAEE)

• Result of a process to ensure suitability of programme as entry route to the [engineering] profession

• Periodic assessment against accepted standards

• Peer review of written and oral information by trained and independent panels including academics and professionals

• Accreditation of programme, not of Department or University

• Accreditation of education, not of whole formation

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Quality of accredited degrees

guaranteed at all “levels”

The EUR-ACE project (2004/06)

elaborated a synthesis of existing national Standards:

EUR-ACE Framework Standards for the Accreditation of Engineering Programmes

and a proposal for the Organization and Management of

the EUR-ACE Accreditation System

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The accreditation system envisaged by this proposal, and now being implemented, is a true novelty on the global scale.

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As a first step for implementation of the EUR-ACE system, the former “European Standing Observatory for Engineering Profession and Education” (ESOEPE) was transformed into a registered international not-for-profit Association: the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education ENAEE

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Official birth date: 8 February 2006First General Assembly: 30 March 2007

Founding members: FEANI (acting Secretariat) RAEE (RU) SEFI CoPI (IT) UNIFI/TREE IEI-EngineersIreland EUROCADRES OE (Ordem...) (PT) EC (UK) UAICR (RO) CTI (FR) IDA (DK) ASIIN (DE) FOTEP/BBT (CH)

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First General Assembly: 30 March 2006Second “ “ : 17 November 2006Third “ “ : 14 November 2007

New membersAdmitted at the Second General Assembly (17/11/2006)

CLAIU MÜDEK (TR)

Admitted at the Third General Assembly (14/11/2007)IGIP

Envisaged future memberBEST

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At present (2007), ENAEE is implementing the EUR-ACE system, also thanks to two EU projects:

Under the “Socrates” programme:EUR-ACE IMPLEMENTATION (in the EU) (2006/08)

Under the “Tempus-Tacis” programme:PRO-EAST: PROmotion and implementation of the EUR-ACE STandards (in Russia) (2006/07)

ENAEE is involved also in a project under the “Tempus-Meda” programme:

LEPAC: Creation of a Lebanese Engineering Programs Accreditation Commission (2006/08)

PROmotion and implementation of the EUR-ACE Standards [ PRO-EAST ]

A project under the TEMPUS-TACIS programme(October 2006 - November 2007)

Participating Institutions:

UNIFI, RAEE, FEANI, CoPI, SEFI, TPU• Project coordinator: Oleg Boev• Deputy coordinator for EU: Giuliano Augusti• External experts: Iring Wasser, Ian Freeston.Main aims (both achieved!!!!):• Dissemination of the EUR-ACE results• Award of the first EUR-ACE labels in Russia

(21/11/2007): This is the Final Seminar of the project8

EUR-ACE systemKEY POINTS: • NOT an European Directive• NOT an European Accreditation Board• A bottom-up agreement towards a decentralized

accreditation system in which:• Accreditation is awarded by (present and

future) National (or Regional) Agencies that satisfy the EUR-ACE Framework Standards.

• The EUR-ACE label is “added” to the “national” accreditation, thus giving it an international value

• The label distinguishes between FIRST CYCLE and SECOND CYCLE DEGREES, in accord with the EQF. 9

Six Agencies form the initial “core” of the EUR-ACE system:

ASIIN (DE)EC (UK)

IEI-EngineersIrelandCTI (FR)

OE (Engineers Portugal)RAEE (RU)

The representatives of these Agencies sit in the EUR-ACE Label Committee

tasked with facilitating the development and monitoring the progress of the system10

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The initial core of the EUR-ACE system includes six countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, UK) with very different educational and professional systems,such to constitute a very significant sample of the EHEA countries, both within and outside the EU. We hope to enlarge rapidly the EUR-ACE system: at a very early stage it should include also Turkey (MÜDEK) and the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO).

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EUR-ACE

Label

Certificate

• Germany ASIIN: 16 programmes (many HEIs queuing)• Russia RAEE: 11 programmes• Engineers Ireland: 40 = 30 FCD & 10 SCD • UK ECUK: 10 • Portugal OE: 6-7 by April 2008

• France CTI: 40-50 in 2008 (some remaining difficulties)

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EUR-ACE Labels Awarded by end 2007

Yesterday 20 November 2007 I had the honour and pleasure of handing the first seven EUR-ACE certificates issued by RAEE to the representatives of the three relevant HEIs

On 12 October 2007, in view of the different meanings of Bachelor and Master in different countries, the ENAEE AC has decided to suspend the use of the terms

EUROPEAN ACCREDITED ENGINEERING BACHELORand

EUROPEAN ACCREDITED ENGINEERING MASTER

and define the programmes as either

FIRST-CYCLE EUROPEAN ACCREDITED ENGINEERING PROGRAMME

orSECOND-CYCLE EUROPEAN ACCREDITED

ENGINEERING PROGRAMME14

Summing up,

ENAEE is creating a two-tier system of accredited engineering programmes, distinct into FC and SC:

additional qualifications (e.g. for specialized degrees) are not excluded.

The experience of old-established national Accreditation bodies is being fully exploited.

This approach and the essential distinction into FCD and SCD should make the EUR-ACE system at the same time flexible and simple.

Third Cycle (Doctoral) degrees are not (yet) considered.

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Beside EUR-ACE, there exists the “global” system of the“International Engineering Accords” that appears much more complicated:

Three different accreditation “accords”:•Washington Accord•Sydney Accord•Dublin Accord

Three different “registers”:•EMF International Register of Professional Engineers•ETMF Internat. Register of Engineering Technologists•APEC Register of Professional Engineers

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Moreover, the I-E-A system includes a fundamental differentiation/barrier between “Professional Engineers” & “Engineering Technologists” (which is not in the spirit of the Bologna Process nor of the EU Directive 2005/36 on recognition of professional qualifications… and in many languages is not even understandable…),and at the same time defines all recognized (accredited) “Engineers’ ” degrees as “Bachelor”.

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Nevertheless, one of the immediate ENAEE challenges is to find a suitable “matching” with the I.E.A.Indeed, two of the EUR-ACE system partners (ECUK, IEI) are founding partners of the Washington Accord.

For up-to-date information on the EUR-ACE system,

ENAEEand related documents &

events visit

www.enaee.eu18

Giuliano AugustiPresident of ENAEE

Coordinator of EUR-ACE IMPLEMENTATION

giuliano.augusti@uniroma1.it

Tel.(+39)06.4458.5155; mobile:(+39)320.4271831

www.enaee.eu

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Earlier version of the EUR-ACE label certificates:

EUROPEAN ACCREDITED ENGINEERING BACHELOR(FIRST-CYCLE DEGREE PROGRAMME)

EUROPEAN ACCREDITED ENGINEERING MASTER(SECOND-CYCLE DEGREE PROGRAMME)20