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A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

The Role of QA Agencies in HE in the 21 st Century. 1 st International Conference on Assessing Quality in HE, Lahore, 11-13 Dec 2006. Dr David Woodhouse Executive Director AUQA. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y. Briefing Outline.

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A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

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  1. The Role of QA Agencies in HE in the 21st Century 1st International Conference on Assessing Quality in HE, Lahore, 11-13 Dec 2006 Dr David Woodhouse Executive Director AUQA A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  2. Briefing Outline • The Growth in Quality Assurance Systems • Transnational Developments • Regional Networks • Transnational ‘Agencies’ • National Issues • International Issues • Concluding Observations 2 A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  3. The Growth in QualityAssurance Systems • The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) was formed in Hong Kong in 1991 by 18 quality assurance agencies. • Now, after 15 years it has about 150 member organisations, around 100 of which are quality agencies. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  4. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • increased numbers of students, leading to a change in the nature of tertiary education and a feeling that it is necessary to check explicitly that institutional QA procedures are keeping pace with the change, as it is more difficult to do things well for large groups than for small select groups. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  5. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • increased numbers of students, so more money, both public and private, is being spent on HE, leading to an increased desire on the part of all those who are paying to ensure that the money is being well spent. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  6. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • increased government attention to national needs for graduates, leading to governments wanting to hold HEIs explicitly accountable for the nature of the graduates they produce. HE institutions have long expected the public to trust them to do a good job, but have sometimes failed this trust, and the public is now insisting on a higher level of external checking. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  7. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • increasing demand for HE, leading to increasing numbers of private providers, some of dubious provenance, leading to a demand for stringent external checks. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  8. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • in some countries, decreasing micro-management by governments of HEIs in return for the introduction of an external QA process. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  9. Reasons for this rapid growth in quality assurance agencies include: • globalisation, leading to transnational mobility of students and educational export, which in turn leads to a need to have a national QA process that is visible to other countries (for educational export, this is akin to export quality processes in other industries). A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  10. Transnational Developments 2.1 Regional Networks • Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN, 2003) • In all cases, networks are created to share information and good practices between QA agencies, and increasingly to make use of each other’s judgements about HEIs and their operations. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  11. 2.2 Transnational ‘Agencies’ • To facilitate mutual recognition of quality agencies by each other, INQAAHE has set down a set of Guidelines of Good Practice for agencies themselves. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  12. 2.3 National Issues Some of the issues related to HE that concern many national governments are: • The meaning and purpose of HE: does it continue to be HE if the number of students increases? Where is the boundary between HE and technical education? A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  13. 2.3 National Issues • Funding, including sources of increased funds; accountability for the funds; value-for-money (whether government money or students’ money) • National development - economic and social – and the role of teaching and research in this A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  14. 2.3 National Issues • Credit transfer, including student mobility and recognition, both during and after study; qualifications frameworks • Standards and ranking of institutions and programs • ‘For-profit’ education providers. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  15. 2.4 International Issues Issues in the second category are multi-nationally-oriented and/or multi-nationally determined, and include: • Export of education: What considerations are relevant to the sale of HE abroad? Education as trade: what are the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)? A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  16. 2.4 International Issues • Import of education: What considerations are relevant to importing foreign HE? How do we know whether it is culturally or academically appropriate for our society? • Electronic modes of education: What foreign HE is coming, unbidden and unmonitored, into our country? On-line education. Flexible learning. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  17. 2.4 International Issues • Borderless or transnational education: Who is responsible for education that crosses national borders when quality agencies are mainly national? • Cross-border recognition of qualifications for work and study: This includes recognition of partial credit towards completing a qualification at another institution; recognition of a complete qualification for further study elsewhere; and recognition of qualifications for licensing and practice. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  18. 2.4 International Issues • What do we know about the qualifications of immigrants? Conversely, can graduates of institutions in our country get jobs or do further study abroad? Bologna Process. • Bogus institutions (‘degree mills’) and trivial programs: how can we police and deal with these to protect people from being deceived? A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  19. Concluding Observations There are (or can be) disadvantages in setting up a quality agency. It is incontrovertible that it represents extra work for the HEIs, so the question is whether the benefits outweigh this. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  20. Concluding Observations The benefits of having a quality agency easily outweigh the drawbacks. The outline above shows that, now and for the foreseeable future, the lack of a quality agency would seriously hinder a country’s participation in global activities. More positively, a quality agency can provide: A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  21. independent validation of good performance, • independent consultation for improvement, • incentives for self-inspection and improvement, • a basis for comparison, • consumer protection, and • accountability. A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  22. Concluding Observations In summary, the future of quality assurance in higher education is as follows: • all or almost all countries will have one or more national quality agencies • being part of such a QA system will be essential for any institution to be credible • these agencies will increasingly operate internationally A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  23. they will increasingly collaborate and recognise each other’s actions and decisions • some significant international agencies may arise • quality agencies will not be immutable, but will change character in step with the system (eg from capacity-building, through rigorous accreditation to light-touch auditing). A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  24. Discussion or Questions? A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  25. Further information about:AUQAhttp://www.auqa.edu.au APQNhttp://www.apqn.org A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

  26. David Woodhouse Executive Director, AUQA 26 A u s t r a l i a n U n i v e r s i t i e s Q u a l i t y A g e n c y

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