JAARVERSLAG 2000-2001

1
Quality assurance accreditation
the business European
angle Lucien Bollaert Education and Research
Officer Eurashe QA coordinator member E4
group President of PROSE Businet conference
Lisbon 7 October 2004
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contents

• intro short history
• the fundamentals
• the business angle
• the Berlin mandate
• the European level

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Qa accreditation1. intro short history of QA
in HE

• until 1980s inspection of financial and
  education measurables (accountability)
• 90s internal QA, more comprehensive (input
  management mission), business influence, EFQM,
  TQM
• 90s external QA, agencies, self-assessment,
  peer review, improvement
• 2000 accreditation, quality control on QA
  (meta-evaluation)
• Prague Berlin 2003 European level

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Qa accreditation1. the fundamentals

• The ultimate goal of QA is to create a quality
  culture within the institution and all its
  stakeholders in order to be constantly focused on
  the quality (control) and continuously improve
  it.
• QA should therefore be comprehensive/total,
  incorporating input (management), core processes
  (education, research social services) and
  output (results, including learning outcomes!)
• Therefore QA should be embedded throughout the
  programmes and the institution, efficiently
  focusing on quality consciousness of all
  stakeholders.
• Internal QA, external QA and accreditation are
  three distinct, but interlinked processes.

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QA accreditation2. the fundamentals

• internal QA
• aimed at improving
• quality and quality
• culture
• ownership of HEI
• (subsidiarity)
• focused on own
• mission goals
• both on programme
• institutional level
• incorporating input,
• process and output

• external QA
• aimed at quality en-
• hancement account-
• ability
• expert/peer review
• based on self-
• assessment site visit
• against indicators
• agreed at least on
• regional or national
• level
• if focused on program-
• me, institutional
• aspects come in
• and vice versa
• independent
• all stakeholders
• ending in public report

• accreditation
• links QA with
• consequences for
• recognition of degrees
• based on public
• report
• reaching threshold
• quality and generic,
• European Ba Ma
• descriptors
• refined by (inter)na-
• tional, independent
• accreditation bodies

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QA accreditation3. the business angle

• Quality
• Quality assurance
  (accreditation?)

• old
• quality is evaluation
• quality is absolute
• one feature dominates
• quality is only for co-
• ordinators
• the product is important
• fixed quality standards
• normative management-oriented

• new
• quality is process-oriented thinking
• quality is relative
• quality has several aspects
• quality is everyones concern
• the customer is important (customer-oriented)
• ever changing quality demands
• process-based
  improvement-oriented

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QA accreditation3. the business angle

• business angle organisational angle
  
  
  
  (social-)profit/service
• from improving the final product to orienting the
  process chain towards the (internal) customer
• ultimate objective quality culture everyone
  wants to improve the quality in a
  customer-supplier relationship
• TQM is to provide the right mentality and the
  proper methodology for a systematic approach to
  all the aspects of the organisation in order to
  continuously come up to customers expectations

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QA accreditation3. the business angle

• total, systematic, managed
• total input, core processes, output(competences)
  
• everybody involved (top-down, bottom-up)
• all stakeholders!
• systematic PDCA-cycle, measured
• managed vision, mission and commitment of
  management (TQM as tool of change management)
• flexibility societies, perceptions, demands
  change
• learning organisation, innovation
• accreditation?

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QA accreditation3. the business angle
EFQM/PROSE

• www.prose.be

• INPUT
• leadership
• policy strategy
• HRM
• resources
• co-operation

• CORE PROCESSES
• admissions coaching
• communication with
• students
• curriculum design
• design of course
• components
• organisation
• implementation of
• curriculum
• teaching tutoring
• student coaching
• practice-based learning
• internationalisation
• testing assessment
• graduate counselling
• alumni activities
• postgraduate education
• public services

• RESULTS
• student satisfaction
• personnel satisfaction
• appreciation by
• society
• performance
• (personnel, learning
• outcomes results,
• international,
• employment, social
• services, arts, finances
• infrastructure, dynamics)

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QA accreditation4. the Berlin mandate

• The Bologna process aims to establish a EHEA/ERA
  and to affirm the quality of it.
• The Bologna process embodies QA both as a means
  to ensure/measure and to improve the quality of
  European higher education.
• There is an intensified European discussion on
  QA.
• The importance of QA and accreditation has grown
  from Bologna via Prague (and Lisbon) to Berlin
  and will be one of the main issues in Bergen (May
  2005).

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QA accreditation4. the Berlin mandate

• Ministers recognised that the primary
  responsibility for QA in HE lies with each
  institution itself
• Ministers call upon ENQA 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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QA accreditation5. the European level

• A European level of QA and accreditation is thus
  a logic and necessary consequence of the Bologna
  process.
• Since there is a clear link between internal QA,
  external QA and accreditation any standards which
  are set should focus on both internal and
  external QA (generic learning outcomes!, Dublin
  descriptors).
• As QA should be comprehensive and the
  national/regional standards differ the standards
  should incorporate subjects of input
  (institutional and departmental level), core
  processes and output (measurables, learning
  outcomes).

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QA accreditation5. the European level

• The European level should respect the
  national/regional diversity in QA and
  accreditation.
• The European level should ensure the preservation
  of institutional autonomy while meeting the
  demands for accountability. The institutional
  choice for a Q agency should be guaranteed where
  nationally applicable.
• The inclusion of all stakeholders, such as
  students and employers, on QA and accreditation,
  such as students and employers, on all levels
  should be a standard.

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QA accreditation5. the European level

• Any registration system needs to distinguish
  between the criteria, the process of assessment
  and the operation of the register. The
  registration system should be clear, transparent,
  independent and non-politicised.
• The registration should be based on a review
  report of independent experts.
• Stakeholders such as the students and employers
  should explicitly be involved when agreeing on
  the criteria.
• The management and operation of the European
  register should be light, cost-effective and
  independent.

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QA accreditation5. the European level

• Any registration system should be based on
  standards, a code of principles of QA and
  accreditation procedures and good practice agreed
  upon by all stakeholders in such a way that it
  forms a basis for the mutual recognition of
  degrees and studies in a EHEA of international
  quality.