Quality Assurance: The Voice of the

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Quality AssuranceThe Voice of the VictimThe
View of a HE Amateur

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Traditional Understanding of QA

• University needs only
• Selection of professors
• Provision of facilities, infrastructure
• This paradigm is based on the concept that good
  professor knows and does what is good for the
  student provided he/she has got the means to do so

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Traditional Interpretation of Academic Freedom

• The classic Humboldtian approach
• Freedom to serve KNOWLEDGE
• (The ultimate truth what matters not the
  society or the students)
• The original concept was to protect professors,
  students and science from external (political,
  clerical, etc.) influences
• (Some current academic resistence takes that
  concept to hide behid )

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The Humboldtian Way of Quality Management

• Quality is the responsibility of the professor
• University is responsible for high reputation
  academic environment
• Government is responsible for support
• (that university is a top down one, it
  is administered rather than governed)

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Do we really need to deal with Quality issues?

• Is the university worse than any time before?
• Is there a need to provide substantially
  different education than before?
• Who has raised the issue?
• Is it really quality that we are concerned about?

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Humboldtian QM is a failure by now

• GLOBALIZATION
• Mass higher education
• Alternative knowledge providing (private,
  corporate, virtual, etc.)
• Diversification of educational needs
• Conflits of interests (between professor,
  university and government)

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What do we mean by quality?

• Something is of quality if it is fit for purpose
• HE has no single purpose, but a multitude of
  often conflicting purposes
• Is it clear what are the students needs, what do
  they really want?

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Free Trade vs Public Service

• Shall we rely on market mechanisms of QA, or
  administer quality by national, European or other
  authorities?
• Who is responsible for quality in the renewed
  setting?
• (US has proposed WTO to handle HE in the
  framework of the GATTS talks)

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Accreditation (the other Monster)

• Accreditation is a measure of consumer protection
  it points out when goods or services may
  endanger the customer
• It will not solve the quality problems by itself
  (improper use of it may even be discriminatory)

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What is the role of government in Quality?

• Government can hardly administer or manage
  quality effectively
• they often have narrow minded views, mechanical
  interpretations, overload universities with
  bureaucracy (i.e. TQM as magic bullet )
• Where governments have lost control, market takes
  care of quality issues
• Government can not do miracle, university can
  do!

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Never believe what the Dutchman says, believe
what he means

• When people speak about quality they always have
  their own understanding of quality
• When quality issues are raised, it is often to
  avoid other rather burning issues
• When people address quality, find out if they
  have a clear idea of the purpose

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No Alternative of Quality for University

• Efficient and effective quality management is the
  key to strategic survival of the university
• Quality is more about stakeholder satisfaction
  than academic standards
• Quality is more about institutional culture than
  rules and regulations
• Quality is specific and not universal
• Quality is concrete not abstract

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Its for U to do it!

• The only reliable and efficient agent for quality
  is the university itself
• University must constantly monitor stakeholder
  satisfaction and establish feedback mechanisms
• Work out healthy balance between short term and
  long term quality
• Carefully handle the conflict of interest between
  internal and external stakeholders

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CAPITALIZE ON QUALITY TRENDS!Be
Proactive!Learn first, than Lead not only follow!