Presentation of the Tempus Project

1. Presentation of the Tempus Project Number 517340-TEMPUS-1-2011-1-IT-TEMPUS-SMGR (2011-2503/001-001) “Documentation for quality assurance of study programmes” (DoQuP) Alfredo Squarzoni University of Genova DoQuP Presentation

2. Items of the presentation • Quality and Quality Assurance (QA) of Study Programmes (SPs) • Project aims and contents DoQuP Presentation

3. Quality and Quality Assurance of study programmes Quality of study programmes is certainly one of the objectives of the Bologna process, whose main aim is the harmonisation of the tertiary educational systems in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In this context, Quality Assuranceis the instrument to make programme quality transparent and trustworthy for students and employers. DoQuP Presentation

4. According to the ISO definition, for programme quality we intend “the grade (level) of fulfilment of the objectives established coherently with the needs and expectations of all those who are interested in the education service provided, that is the ‘interested parties’”, or, in other words, “the level of accomplishment of the ‘quality requirements’ established coherently with the needs and expectations of all the interested parties”. DoQuP Presentation

5. Always according to the ISO definition, for programmequality assurance we intend “the activities (processes) in the framework of a quality management system aimed at ‘ensuring trust’ in meeting the quality requirements to all interested parties”. DoQuP Presentation

6. To be ‘of quality’, first of all a programme should be ‘fit in purpose’, which means that the outcomes of the learning process meet the needs and expectations of students, academic staff and employers, ensuring personal development and employment. In particular, the programme learning outcomes, i.ewhat a student is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate after completion of the learning process, should be aligned with the competences necessary to carry out the role expected for the graduates in the labour market. DoQuP Presentation

7. But to develop true quality,a SP must be also ‘fit for purpose’, which means that the academic strategies are suitable for achieving the declared aims of the programme. Quality of a programme means guaranteeing both fitness in purpose and fitness for purpose. DoQuP Presentation

8. European Standards and Guidelines for QA Today the definition of suitable academic strategies in order to promote programme quality can rely on the standards and guidelines for internal QA established in the document of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (http://www.enqa.eu/pubs_esg.lasso), adopted by the European Ministers of 45 countries in the Bergen meeting on May 2005 and which has found a generalised acceptance in the European context. DoQuP Presentation

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10. These standards represent the key aspects that, according to ENQA, characterise the quality of a SP and that have to be considered in order to assure programme quality. In other words, they define the (macro)requirementsfor quality. Then the ENQA document associates each standard the guidelines: they represent behaviours and procedures the SP should adopt in order to assure its quality. DoQuP Presentation

11. It is important to note that the purpose of these standards and guidelines is to provide a source of assistance and guidance to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in developing their own QA system, as well as to contribute to a common frame of reference, which can be used by institutions. It is not the intention that these standards and guidelines should dictate practice or be interpreted as prescriptive or unchangeable. DoQuP Presentation

12. What programme QA requires • According to the European Standards and • Guidelines, programme QA requires: • the adoption of a management system for quality. A management system for quality must identify the processes to be managed and how they should be managed. The management system for quality should also foresee the management of a self-assessment process: to assure quality means also to assure that every effort will be made to promote improvement of quality, and “improvement of quality” is the main aim of quality assessment processes. DoQuP Presentation

13. The management of a documentation process. • A clear documentation of learning objectives, educational process, learning context and learning outcomes is an essential and necessary aspect of the QA of SPs. • The attention on QA of SPs is often concentrated on the methods and procedures for quality assessment. • But QA of a SP must be primarily based on the documentation of the fulfilment of the programme quality requirements. • Furthermore, information and data necessary to assure quality of SPs are a necessary reference also for self-assessment and external assessment of the programme quality. DoQuP Presentation

14. The definition and the implementation of a documentation system for the QA of SPs in the Partner Countries (PCs) constitute the wider objectives of the DoQuP project. DoQuP Presentation

15. Project aims and contents The project aims to define and to implement an on-line documentation system for the QA of SPs in the PCs, consistent with the European Standards and Guidelines for QA. This aim will be pursued through the cooperation of all the project partners, national authorities included. The documentation system to be defined and implemented will have to make all the information and data necessary to assure the quality of SPs available. DoQuP Presentation

16. Information and data will fulfil specific characteristics, directly connected with the specific objectives of the project. a) In order to promote a reform of higher education in the PCs into line with the Bologna process, the documentation system will make reference to quality requirements of SPs consistent with the European Standards and Guidelines for internal QA, which have become a reference document in PCs also. DoQuP Presentation

17. b) Information and data must enhance the quality and increase the comparability of SPs in the PCs, in order to enhance mutual trust in their quality. To this end documentation must be prepared according to drawing-up modes (extension, language, reading format), which should be homogeneous at national (and international) level. DoQuP Presentation

18. c) The documentation system must be able to promote modernisation of higher education and to increase transparency of SPs in the PCs, in order to allow all the interested parties to formulate an informed assessment of the educational process offered by SPs. This requires that the informative documentation be easily accessible on the net, have a simple structure, and be drawn up in a short and essential form, which shall optimize all aspects related to the interaction with students and job market in particular. DoQuP Presentation

19. Project outcomes and outputs The first outcome of the project will be the definition of standards or, better, of the quality requirements for the QA of SPs in the PCs coherent with the European Standards and Guidelines. The second outcome of the project will be the definition of information and data for the QA of SPs. The definition of standards for QA coherent with the European Standards and Guidelines will be the starting point for the identification of the information and data to be documented in order to assure the quality of SPs. DoQuP Presentation

20. Definition of quality requirements coherent with the European Standards and Guidelines and identification of information and data for the QA of the SPs will be theoutcomes of the first yearof the project activity. DoQuP Presentation

21. The definition of the procedures of collection and documentation of the identified information and data will be the first main outcome of the second year of activity. The process of definition of these procedures will start from the current practices of collection and documentation currently adopted in the PCs and will be finalised to the identification of the ‘best’ procedures for the PCs. DoQuP Presentation

22. The identified procedures of collection and documentation will constitute the basis for the definition, on one side, of the university facilities and resources (human and infrastructural) needed to manage the identified information and data according to the identified procedures and, on the other side, for the design and production of the software for the on-line management of the identified information and data. DoQuP Presentation

23. Definition of the procedures for the collection and documentation of the identified information and data, definition and organisation of university facilities for their collection and documentation and design and production of the software for their on-line management will be the outcomes and output of the second year of activity. DoQuP Presentation

24. Finally, implementation of facilities for the collection and documentation of the identified information and data and implementation of software for their on-line management in all the partner universities will be the main outcomes of the third and last year of the project. DoQuP Presentation

25. In this way all the partner universities will be endowed with a ‘modern’ and effective tool for the management of information and data related to the SP quality. The achievement of the project objectives, which will be possible with the support of European partners who have positive experience in this area, will give a further contribution to the realization of priorities in QA for higher education and implementation of the Bologna process in the PCs. DoQuP Presentation

26. Implementation of the proposed QA process requires cooperation among all the academic and administrative project partners, who, in the context of the project, will function as both project staff and target group. Key components of the implementation process will be regional workshops and training seminars, which will be developed with the help of the European partners experienced in QA of SPs and will be organised in PCs and EU countries respectively, and experience exchange through visits to EU institutions as well as PCs institutions. DoQuP Presentation

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28. Three training seminars, attended by academic and administrative staff involved in the QA process in the partner institutions, will introduce (i) the procedures of collection and documentation, (ii) the university facilities for collection and documentation and (iii) the design and production of the software for the on-line management of the identified information and data respectively. DoQuP Presentation

29. Conclusions • We hope that DoQuP project will be able: • to bring the current documentation process in the PCs into line with the EU Standards and Guidelines for QA; • to enhance the quality and to increase the comparability of SPs in PCs, in order to allow all the interested parties to formulate an informed assessment of the educational process offered by SPs and to enhance mutual trust in the quality of SPs; DoQuP Presentation

30. to promote modernisation of HE and to increase transparency of SPs in PCs, through an on-line management of information and data necessary to assure quality of SPs; • to promote the adoption of the on-line documentation system to be implemented by the competent national authorities, in order to guarantee its dissemination among all the universities of the PCs and its sustainability. DoQuP Presentation