ASIIN

1. Perspectives for Accreditation of Engineering Programs in Europe – The „European Accredited Engineer“ – Project ICEE Conference at the Silesian University of Technology, 25-29.07.2005 Akkreditierungsagentur für Studiengänge der Ingenieurwissenschaften, der Informatik, der Naturwissenschaften und der Mathematik ASIIN

2. Content • Prevailing Conditions of Accreditation in a European/International Setting • Impediments for transnational recognition in Europe • Points of Orientation: - The FEANI-Index/Register - The „EUR-ACE“- Projekt - The European Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications • Accreditation in the transatlantic setting – the example of the „Washington Accord“

3. General Context Paris (1998) Bologna (1999) Prag (2001) Berlin (2003) Bergen (2005) Completion of the European Higher Education Area until 2010 Goals: European knowledge society characterized by high mobillity and permeability, lifelong learning Promotion of comparability and combatability of degrees: Two cycle study system, ECTS, adoption of a system of easiliy readable and comparable degrees, Diploma Supplement, permeability of study structures Promotion of the European Dimension in Higher Education Transnational cooperation in the field of quality assurance : The EUR-ACE-project, the FEANI-register ENQA/ECA Recognition of degrees in Europe Common European Market Goals: freedem of movement of workers, right of establishment, freedom of services. Declaration of Lisbon, Barcelona: „to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.“ The European Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications : Goal: „ A clear, secure and quick system for the recognition of qualifications in the field of the regulated professions is required to ensure free movement.“ The EC institutions and member states should facilitate employment and the provision of services through wholesale consolidation of the existing regimes of professional recognition in the regulated professions.

4. The European Union Facts & Figures (I) 446 millions of citizens 25 countries 3.971.457,70 qm2 22 languages 25 different HEI systems and quality assurance systemsGrowing „grey“ HEI market Member States (15) New Members since 01.05.2004 Candidate Countries (3)

5. European HEI Qualification Systems The German Diplom System The Bologna Modell“ TCD Doctorate Long Postgraduate SCD Graduate Long FCD Short Study Programe 3-4 Years Undergraduate Undergraduate

6. Variety of Academic Titles in Europe for Engineers Akademiingeniør Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Science Civilingeniør Civilingenjör Diplom-Ingenieur Diplom-Ingenieur ETH Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) Diplomi-Insinöör Diplomirani Inženir Doktor-Ingenieur Dottore in Ingegneria Engenheiro Europa-Ingenieur Ingenieur (grad.) Ingeniør Inginer Insinööri Ingeniero Químico Ingeniero Superior Ingeniero Técnico Ingénieur civil Ingénieur diplomé Ingénieur industriel Ingénieur technicien Inženyr Inžinier Inżynier Magister Inżynier Master of Arts Master of Engineering Master of Science Okleveles mérnök Okleveles üzemmérnök Sivilingeniør Teknikfræðingur Teknikumingeniør Verkfræðingur

7. The two types of recognition systems in Europe I The Continental European Tradition Having successfully passed an Engineering study programme at an institution of higher education qualifies the graduate to automatically become an engineer. II The Anglo-Saxon Tradition You must graduate successfully from an engineering study programme, you then will have to establish proof of a certain period of further training on the job and finally there will be formal test/interview by two well established collegues.

8. The European Landscape: Context for the development of accreditation schemes 1.) Characterised by mostly public higher education systems; institutions and programmes derive their formal degree-awarding capacity from the state. Because of the diversity of both degrees and institutions, public knowledge about their quality is not sufficient across national borders and even sometimes within one country. 2.) In some countries the academic degree constitutes the automatic admission ticket to the job market whereas in others additional prerequisites are demanded to acquire professional status (e.g. registered engineer) 3.) Degree and institutional diversity is matched by a great variety of national quality assurance and accreditation systems (some of them are national, others decentralized). There are few mechanisms in place to recognise the results of an evaluation and accreditation. 4.) Problem of a growing non-official higher education sector and the phenomenon of trans-national education with a lack of regulatory codes.

9. The European Federation of National Engineering Associations - FEANI • FEANI is a non-for profit organization concerned with the recognition of professional engineers in Europe. It unites national associations from 26 European countries and represents the interests of over 2 million professional engineers. • FEANI provides the key mechanisam for European Institutions to resove issues related to the recognition of the professional qualification of engineers and it awards the pan-European title of European Engineer (EUR ING) as guarantee of competence for professional engineers. • Furthermore it maintains the FEANI-Index, a list of higher education institutes and the engineering courses, FEANI has recognised as meeting its standards.

10. FEANI Index and Register INDEX List of Schools and Courses accredited by FEANI 9 600 Courses 2 600 Disciplines (Course names) 970 Universities Register List of registered EUR INGs 27 000 Registered European Engineers

11. min 2 E Engineering Profession Experience E Education min 3 U U Training T Engineering Education At age of 18 years Sec. School B Secondary Education FEANI Standards for the EUR ING Register EUR ING Formation (U+T+E) min 7 years Accredited by FEANI

12. Conditions to become a EUR-ING The formula is: Secondary education + at least 3 years of an engineering education in a higher education institution recognized by FEANI) + 2 years (of university academic work/recognised training programme/validated professional engineering experience) + two more years of professional experience. 1 When you graduate from a 3 year university programmes at least 80% of the content must be in Basis sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry, fundamentals of electrical engineering) and engineering subjects (Electromechanical Convertors, Modelling of Processes and Simulations, Sensors and Convertors, ..), if you come from a four year programme its 70 %, for a 5 year programme its 60%. 2 3 The ratio of Engineering subjects to basis sciences must be within 1-5.

13. Members of the European Standing Observatory for the Engineering Profession and Education Feani Cluster Engineering Council C.T.I ASII ESOEPE Founded in Sept, 2000 O.D.E SINAI CNEAA UACER SEFI E 4 RAEE

14. The EUR-ACE Project To address these problems and to establish a common standard for the accreditation of engineering programmes and graduates in Europe, the EUR-ACE Project has been developed under the auspices of the “European Standing Observatory for the Engineering Profession and Education” (ESOEPE). The EUR-ACE Project was officially initiated at a kick-off meeting in London on September 2-3, 2004. It has a budget of almost EUR 500,000 -- including a grant of almost EUR 350,000 from the EU-Commission Socrates Programme. The participating institutions and organisations will within a year develop and test a common standard for the accreditation of engineering courses in a 5-stage process. Also, a detailed proposal will be formulated on how to set up and run the system that must become self-supporting within five years.

15. The EUR-ACE Project: Objectives • The EUR-ACE project is a contribution to the realisation of the European Higher Education Area. It aims at setting up a European system for accreditation of Engineering education, with the following main aims: • provide an appropriate “European label” to the graduates of the accredited educational programmes in Europe, while distinguishing between a first and second study cycle • improve the quality of educational programmes in engineering • facilitate trans-national recognition by the label marking • facilitate recognition by the competent authorities, in accord with the EU Directives • facilitate mutual recognition agreements.

16. Current Status of the EUR-ACE Project: Phase 1 • The 14 project partners have agreed on a document describing joint standards and procedures. • The document includes output standards for FCD- and SCD programmes. These standards describe the competences graduates of Bachelor and Master programmes should have acquired during their studies. • FCD must be awarded a minimum of 180 ECTS credits, SCD no less than 240 ECTS credits. • Additional criteria and procedural guidelines (composition of audit team, duration and structure of the on-site visit, decision-making processes, standardised rules for the publication of results) for European accreditation procedures have also been defined. • The “EUR-ACE Standards and Procedures” were sent to all stakeholders together with a request to review and comment on the document.

17. Current Status of the EUR-ACE Project: Phase 2 • The first testing phase of the project runs from December 2004 to the end of February 2005. • The document “EUR-ACE Standards and Procedures” is currently compared to national standards and commented upon in more than 20 European countries. • In some countries, virtual “dummy” accreditation processes are carried out or actual accreditations on the basis of the “EUR-ACE Standards and Procedures” prepared. • In countries where accreditation agencies (for engineering programmes) do not yet exist, Higher Education Institutions have agreed to have a pilot accreditation run for one or several of their engineering programmes. Others will host national work shops to discuss the results of the EUR-ACE Project. The “EUR-ACE Standards and Procedures” will be revised on the basis of the results of this first testing stage and subsequently re-tested between May and October 2005.

18. European Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (I) Precondition: According to article 149 and 150 of the EC-contract the member states are exclusively responsible for the content and organisation of the educational system and vocational training in the respective country. Problem: These national rules may conflict with the freedom of movement, the freedom of establishment and the freedom of services (Art. 39, 43 and 49 EC-contract), especially in regulated professions. The large number of legal provisions on professional recognition have lead to a patchwork of intransparent regulations on the national as well as on the EU level – the engineering profession alone is regulated by three directives. Goal: Create a system of recognition of professional certificates of qualification which is consistent, transparent and more flexible, to be achieved through specifications on how comprehensive automatic recognition may be facilitated. This will be a decisive contribution to achieving the goal of flexible markets for labour and services.

19. European Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (II) Solution: Directive KOKM/2002/119 will reformulate all sectoral and general directives and integrate them into one common directive. This directive also aims at simplifying the conditions for cross-the-border provision of services. Developments in the field of engineering: Until now: To be allowed to practice a regulated engineering profession, an application in the host country must be filed which is to be processed within three months and under consideration of educational levels and language competence. In the past, national regulations were often interpreted restrictively. New: To promote the freedom of movement, freedom of establishment and the freedom of services while ensuring an adequate level of qualification, various professional associations and organisations have established common platforms at the European level under which professionals meeting a number of criteria related to professional qualifications are given the right to carry the professional title awarded by those associations or organisations. The directive will take these initiatives into account while promoting a more automatic character of recognition under the general system.

20. The members of the Washington Accord Members : Australia (Institution of Engineers, Australia) since 1989 Canada (Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers) since 1989 Hong Kong (Hong Kong Institution of Engineers) since 1995 Irland (Institution of Engineers of Ireland) since 1989 New Zealand (Institution of Professional Engineers, New Zealand) since 1989 South-Afrika (Engineering Council of South Africa) since 1999 United Kingdom (Engineering Council) since 1989 USA (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) since 1989

21. The Washington Accord Dublin IoEI London EC Düsseldorf ASIIN Ottawa CCoPE Baltimore ABET Tokio JABEE Hong Kong IoE Members Provisional Member ASIIN Johannesburg ECSA Canberra IoE Wellington IoPE

22. Further international activities of ASIIN: The participation in the 6 x 4 EULAC project This project is based on a strategic alliance between Latin America/The Caribbean and Europe dating from 1999. In summer of 2004 the equivalent of the Bologna Higher Education Area was founded in the city of Merida for the countries in Latin and South America. In the 6 x 4 EULAC-project many HEIs have consented to practice transnational cooperation with regard to 6 study field and 4 axes (professional competences, academic credits, evaluation and accreditation, training) Contributions of ASIIN: assistance in the creation of an accreditation council and an accreditation agency for engineering programs in Central America. Participation in the EULAC project (Accreditation of Electrical Engineering Projects).

23. Additional Information • http://www.asiin.de • http://www.feani.org