European Union cooperation in quality assurance in higher education

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European Union cooperation in quality assurance
in higher education By Enrique Aguado
Asenjo Sector manager Education, Employment,
Social Issues, Science and Research Delegation of
the European Commission in Croatia
May 2005
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Quality of higher education http//europa.eu.int/s
cadplus/leg/en/cha/c11038.htm Council
Recommendation (EC) no 561/98 of 24 September
1998 (OJ L270) on European cooperation in
quality assurance in higher education Quality
procedures in European Higher Education (an ENQA
survey, 2003) Report of the Commission to the
Parliament and others on the implementation of
the aforementioned Council Recommendation
(COM(2004)620 final)
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• Quality in Higher Education (HE)
• recent in the history of the EECC/EU
• prior to the Bologna process
• Lisbon strategy
• the European Qualifications Framework

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The overarching goal of the Lisbon strategy
The Union must become the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world
capable of sustainable economic growth with more
and better jobs and greater social cohesion
(European Council, March 2000)
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QA Objective To safeguard and improve the
quality of higher education while taking due
account of national conditions, the European
dimension and international requirements, making
European higher education a world quality
reference
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How Calling on the Member States to introduce
transparent quality-assessment and
quality-assurance mechanisms into their higher
education systems and to promote cooperation
between the authorities responsible for quality
assurance in higher education
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• Principles
• autonomy
• adaptability
• internal and external assessment
• involvement of all the key players
• publicity

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• Council recommendations to the Member States
• follow-up measures
• continuous exchange of experience
• cooperation

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• The role of the Commission
• to support the cooperation
• to report
• to liaise in a wider context

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• Balance, seven years after the Council
  Recommendation of 24/09/1998
• in 2004 almost all Member States had set up
  quality assurance systems
• the systems in function operate along the lines
  set out in the 1998 Council Recommendation
• eight evaluation or accreditation types are in
  use

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• Balance, seven years after the Council
  Recommendation of 24/09/1998
• shift towards the use of more objective external
  criteria and standards
• self-evaluation is a requirement of most of the
  evaluation and accreditation schemes
• the site-visit is a standard element of the
  evaluation process

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• Balance seven years after the Council
  Recommendation of 24/09/1998
• external experts are included in the composition
  of the external evaluation expert group
• reports are published in most cases
• mostly the evaluated institutions are held
  responsible for follow-up on the recommendations

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• Balance seven years after the Council
  Recommendation of 24/09/1998
• Most countries are involved, in varying degrees,
  in bilateral, multilateral, European and global
  cooperation on quality assurance and
  accreditation these trans-national initiatives
  have similar objectives
• to identify comparable criteria and
  methodologies
• to foster the well functioning of quality
  agencies

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• Balance seven years after the Council
  Recommendation of 24/09/1998
• with relation to the ENQA
• extension of ENQA membership to agencies from all
  40 Bologna Signatory States,
• introduction of the reforms needed for ENQA, and
• reinforcement of its cooperation with the
  ENIC/NARIC network,

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CARDS assistance in quality assessment 1. CARDS
2002, Higher education mobility, Diploma
recognition and legislation cluster 3.
Development and implementation of the quality
control system ( 0.6 million) 2. CARDS 2003,
Furtherance of the Agency for Higher Education in
its quality assurance role and the development of
a supportive information system ( 0.75 million)