Bern 29 April 2004
European Initiatives in Quality Assurance and Accreditation:
JQI and ECA
Ton VroeijenstijnQA-consultants bvThe Netherlands
Bern 29 April 2004
NVAO
European Consortium for AccreditationECA
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
http://www.jointquality.com/
Bern 29 April 2004
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.
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
NVAO
European Consortium for AccreditationECA
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
NVAO
European Consortium for AccreditationECA
Bern 29 April 2004
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.
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
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
Bern 29 April 2004
Some obstacles
Cultural differences
National prejudice
National protectionism
Language problems
It is a challenge to keep diversity, while promoting quality, equivalency and transparency.
Top Related