Dr. Patricia Georgieva, pag@neaaernment.bg

1. 1st Task Force Meeting 13 and 14 July 2006 SarajevoThe Work of Bulgarian Agency toward European Standards and Guidelines Dr. Patricia Georgieva, pag@neaa.government.bg

2. Brief History • 01 August 1996: a National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency is established as an independent body set by a Government Decree • 15 June, 1999: the Agency is reformed after the amendments of the Higher Education Act • 18 February, 2005: the Agency is reformed again after the amendments of Chapter 10th of the Higher Education Act

3. Current status NEAA is a government agency, which complies with the requirements of: • The Higher Education Act • The Statute of the Agency, adopted by a Government Decree and published in the State Gazette • The Code of Public Administration

4. NEAA Activities • Evaluation and accreditation of institutions • Evaluation and accreditation of subjects • Evaluation and accreditation of professional programmes within the regulated professions • Evaluation and accreditation of doctoral programmes • Ex ante evaluation of new institutions, new faculties and branches, and new subjects

5. Cyclical basis of activities: The length of the cycle depends on the accreditation result and varies from 6 years to 18 months for institutions and subjects that failed to get accredited

6. NEAA structure: • Accreditation council (10 members) chaired by the President of the Agency • Vice-president supervising the Follow up Committee • 8 standing committees in 9 broad fields of higher education • 1 standing committee for the Follow up • Department for the evaluation, accreditation and the follow up processes and procedures • Department for services (financial, legal, information, administrative)

7. NEAA Resources Human resources: • 43 permanent staff, 46 on a long term contract (3 years), over 350 on a short term contract (between 2-3 months). Financial resources: • Financial resources provided from the government subsidy and from the fee charged for evaluation and accreditation

8. The external quality assurance process: Is based on a 6-steps model including self-review, external evaluation by a group of peers, site-visit ending with a report, presentation of the report to the standing committee or the Accreditation Council, accreditation decision with recommendations, and a follow-up procedure to review actions taken in the light of recommendations.

9. Appeals and complaints • Evaluation conclusions and accreditation decisions of the Agency are subject to appeal directly at the High Administrative Court, as stipulated by the HE Act. • Complaints are presented in an oral or written form at the decision making body (the Accreditation Council or the Standing Committee) before its final decision.

10. NEAA Accountability procedures • The Agency prepares accountability report for its activities and resources every 6 months and sends its annual report to the Government through the Minister of Education and Science • There is a non-conflict of interests mechanism in the work of the short-term external experts; • There is an anti-corruption mechanism for the permanent Agency staff • The feedback mechanisms are under development