European Union cooperation in quality assurance in higher education By Enrique Aguado Asenjo

1. 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

2. Quality of higher education http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/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)

3. Quality in Higher Education (HE): • recent in the history of the EECC/EU • prior to the Bologna process • Lisbon strategy • the European Qualifications Framework

4. 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)

5. 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”

6. 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

7. Principles: • autonomy • adaptability • internal and external assessment • involvement of all the key players • publicity

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

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

10. 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;

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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,

15. 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)