Quality management implementation at University

1. Quality management implementation at University Dr. Juan Viñas Salas Rector Lleida University AMSE ANNUAL CONFERENCE BARCELONA 5-7- JUNE 2008

2. The Legitimacy of Quality Assurance in Higher Education • One of the basic elements of EHEA is the quality in HE and the development of QA systems for HEIs; • The standards and guidelines for QA adopted by European ministers in Bergen in 2005; • The progress of implementation was reviewed again in London in 2007.

3. Diversity exists: • Ministers agreement in Berlin 2003: national QA • systems should include a ”system of accreditation, • certification or comparable procedures”. • The HE systems in Europe vary, maintly • for historical reasons alone: • old - new universities • public - private • - comprehensive - special HEIs • etc.

4. EHEA with the recognition of titles and studies within European Universities makes necessary to implement a Quality Assurance program to assess similarities in teaching outcomes • Medical training has health care implications that makes it specific and different to others

5. AGENCIES HIERARQUIE ENQA NATIONAL AGENCY QUALITY EVALUATION UNIVERSITY SETTINGS

6. Evaluation Standards in Medical Education There is a real need to: • Evaluate • Enhance • Accountability • Confront - the methods and results of all University Higher Education in Europe for the EHEA Quality Assurance In Medical Education this need is worldwide for its health care implications

7. MEDICAL SCHOOL COMPLEXITY • undergraduate medical education • postgraduate training: • Specialization • Continuous Medical Education • Research: • Basic • Applied interaction with the clinical service

8. Types of University Settings Evaluation • Institutional Evaluation: • Governance • General organize aspects • Specific Evaluations • Quality of Teaching: - curricula - methodology - outputs • Health Care Quality Assurance

9. QUALITY ASSURANCE • Quality Circle • Q.A. focused on: • Structure • Process • Results • Continuum of Quality • Undergraduate • Postgraduate • Accreditation or improvement • Quality of: • Medical School and • Health Care System

10. Rector’s Challenges Differences between Centres and Studies Different Staff opinions Need of more Resources Need of European standards and guidelines

11. Staff vision of Q.A. Evaluations • A mandatory extra-work that takes extra-time • A bureaucratic extra-work that have little positive effects of their own professional work • A rectorate office imposition because of no trust in staff and need of university marketing • A necessary complementary work for increasing quality in teaching, research and health care providing • Need of university transparency and accountability for generating society complicity and help

12. Actions to be implemented • Continuous information-education about the need of life-long learning in all professional aspects, not only technical: • Teaching • Self growing • Research • Management • Implication of Staff in the process • Implication of Students in the process • Make Staff leave the QA evaluation as a “enjoying process”

13. PITFALLS TO AVOID IN QUALITY ASSURANCE • Excess bureaucracy • Received as a “police inspection” • Excess of extra work • Few related to outcomes • Not accepted as a improvement tool • Conforming with the assessments • Non integrated in staff normal work

14. Need of University Social Implication • It is a mistake to ask for more University financing just for social reasons: we are not priorities as: 1- health care 2- social settings 3-Education non university • We must combine it with social needs for producing money efficiency: to gain/gain increase of general economy: I+D+I • Increased value: - quality, prestige, better health care

15. Justification of Quality Assurance • Quality assurance and quality improvement are two necessary objectives that all organization must assume and work towards it. There is no other option. • Personal ethics. To work with the maximal quality as possible is a challenge that every human being must have as a value. It is one of the different items that help one to be happy in his/here own life. The selfish increases if one works with quality. • Social ethics. There is a need of security in health care for every citizen

16. The audit criteria must be based on European standards • and guidelines: • - the more detailed criteria can be set in consultation with • the HEIs, and they are public • - the audit process involves partly a peer review, but • includes also student and labour market representatives; • the audit report must be published, and be public; • It is worthwhile that the Quality agency gives a • qualitycertificate to the HEI that has passed the criteria

17. The leadership and governance of each HEI plays an important role in the implementation of its QA system. (But still every university already has ’quality’.) A system that is based on a quality culture that embraces everybody in the institution. The leadership has to be the initiator of the strategic quality improvement in the institution, and its role is further enhanced in the dissemination of good practices through national and international networks.

18. Really exists a ”Common European language” in what is quality terminology in different cultural and historical contexts and its interpretation? - can the standards be applied consistently? - how about legal documents? ENQA Workshop on ’Language of the European Quality Assurance’, in June 2006

19. Different approaches for Q.A. Assessment • Each Medical School, according with the HEI can decide itself which type of quality system it is following (ISO, EFQM, etc.) or developed their own that fits best their very strategy and tasks; • Every Medical School should be willing to go through the audit. Their motivation based largely on enhanced national and international competitiveness and visibility. • Each audit based on a specificcontract between the Medical School and the Agency, and thus must not been seen as limiting its the autonomy.

20. Higher educationinstitution (HEI) HEI support institution (state) • providing optimized programmes • ensuring accountability • procuring effectivity/efficiency • inducing optimal programmes • demanding accountability • checking effectivity/efficiency quality/quality assurance Students Society (e.g., labour market) • guaranteed quality • transparent information • (external) acceptance • guaranteed quality • transparent information • matching needs

21. The way ahead: • Internal quality assurance processes need to be sufficiently financed on a continuous basis • decisions about course and program design, monitoring and approval should be informed with employers’ views - Health care Responsibles -. • quality management bodies inside the HEIs should involve students on a more systematic basis • involvement of international reviewers has to be financially supported by the government

22. Summary • Medical School is different as teaching implies health care system and patient’s care; its cost is very high. • Many people implicated in medical students training are not linked with University Staff: Hospital and Primary Care physicians, nurses and other Health Care Professionals, etc. • Q.A. of Medical Schools must be closely related to results, to outcomes • There are different specific models of Q.A. evaluation of Medical Schools. ENQA should agree a common European Standard Model.

23. Summary • Universities must give high autonomy governance to Medical Schools • Health Care providers must be linked with Medical School responsibles • Universities Quality Assurance Offices must help medical Dean’s Office work

24. Thank you very much