THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

1. THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES International Seminar: “THE DYNAMICS OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA” Chisinau, 8-9 December 2005 Prof. Luc E. WEBER, University of Geneva Chair CDESR, Council of Europe

2. Contents • The consequences for Universities of the fast changing environment • Challenges for Universities • Challenges at system level • Towards an effective European strategy Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

3. The consequences for Universities of the fast changing environment Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

4. The fast changing environment • What is changing for Higher Education and Research • The environment • Globalization • Scientific and technological progress • Emergence of new super economic and scientific powers • Europe is challenged to become a “Knowledge Society” (Lisbon Agenda) • The sector • The creation of the European Higher Education Area by 2010 with 45 countries (the Bologna Process) • The creation of the European Research Area (with more than 25 countries) Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

5. What are the consequences for the HE&R sector? • Increased competition and acceleration of events: • Increasing competition with the outside world • For financial resources, • competition from other public services • increasing demand for HE & R • increasingly demanding private sector • From new types of HE institutions • private universities (non for profit or for profit) • corporate universities, • distance and trans-border education • Inside the sector • Increasing competition due to more transparency: (institutions should better profile and position themselves in order to become more attractive) • Funding is also becoming more difficult due to the increasing costs of teaching and research • Universities are bound to be more transparent and accountable • Universities (and science) do not enjoy anymore unlimited trust Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

6. The challenges of quality assurance for Universities Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

7. Necessary Responses of Universities • Better governance and leadership • Medium and long term visions and strategies • Good daily management • Human resources • Students’ support • Financial resources and facilities • Increased transparency and accountability • Development of an effective internal quality culture • However, universities are too often only reactive, • Because they are not autonomous (vicious circle) • Or because of a failing internal quality assurance system Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

8. The challenges of quality assurance at system level Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

9. The pioneers • A few countries set up evaluation agencies (The Netherlands, England, France, ….) • A few countries conducted punctual evaluation, in particular of the state of a discipline • EUA (more than 700 members in 45 countries): Program of institutional evaluation launched 11 years ago: • More than 150 evaluations in 35 countries (incl. system-wide), almost 20 follow-up evaluations • Institutional approach focused on developing the capacity for change through the development of • Internal quality • Strategic leadership Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

10. The ministers of education in the framework of the Bologna process • Bologna Declaration (1999): …”Promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies”.. • Prague communiqué (2001): ….”Ministers called upon the universities and other higher education institutions, national agencies and ENQUA, in cooperation with corresponding bodies from countries which are not members of ENQUA, to collaborate in establishing a common framework of reference and to disseminate best practice”…. • Berlin communiqué (2003): …”At the European level, Ministers call upon ENQUA through its members, in co-operation with the EUA, EURASHE and ESIB, to develop an agreed set of standards, procedures and guidelines on quality assurance, to explore ways of ensuring an adequate peer review system for quality assurance and/or accreditation agencies or bodies, ……..”. Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

11. Bergen communiqué (2005) “….we urge higher education institutions to continue their efforts to enhance the quality of their activities through the systematic introduction of internal mechanisms and their direct correlation to external quality assurance. We adopt the standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area as proposed by ENQA. We commit ourselves to introducing the proposed model for peer review of quality assurance agencies on a national basis. We welcome the principle of a European register of quality assurance agencies based on national review…. …….We underline the importance of cooperation between nationally recognised agencies with a view to enhancing the mutual recognition of accreditation or quality assurance decisions.” Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

12. Quality assurance is in a state of flux (adolescence) Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

13. QA is in a state of flux • Quality assessment and culture is in a state of flux (theoretically and practically). • Many actors and diversity or strategies • ENQUA, European Network of Quality Assurance • ECA, European Consortium for accreditation • EUA, European University Association • National or branch specific organizations • Imprecise terminology • Political agenda, activism and mistrust • Tendency to “reinvent the wheel” (the experience of others is not taken into account!?) • The most delicate questions are: • The distinction between accreditation, evaluation and the development of a quality culture • The respective methods, their limits and shortcomings Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

14. Accreditation, evaluation, quality culture • Accreditation • This is an authorization to practice (minimumabsolute level for teaching and learning, research and institutional organization) • Desirable for new institutions private or public, as well as LLL programs • Applies to institutions and/or teaching programs • Aims: • serves to protect the name “University” and to guarantee that an institution or a program satisfies a minimum quality standard • Serves to protect the investment made by the students-consumers • Is basically the responsibility of the State (regulatory role of the State); • Accreditation could also serve to assess: • If a program has reached some specified standard (business, engineering) • The internal quality assurance procedures of an institution • The final aim of accreditation is NOT the assessment of the relative quality level and is promoting quality enhancement only indirectly Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

15. Quality assessment or evaluation • More ambitious and delicate: goal is to assess the relative quality of • an institution, • a teaching program, • a faculty or department • and/or a discipline in a country • Necessary for • The knowledge society (improving the quality of teaching and research) • The Bologna process (building trust; accreditation will not be sufficient to secure acceptance in good research universities) Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

16. Quality culture (quality enhancement) • Extended ongoing effort on the part of an institution (and encouraged by the State) to develop a capacity for change through the development of: • Internal quality • Strategic leadership • This effort must be • supported by external evaluations • and monitored (evaluated) externally from time to time Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

17. Towards an effective European strategy Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

18. “Standard and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA. Basic principles • Focused on HE institutions • Universities should be responsible to develop an internal quality culture. It implies • Self-evaluation • Visit of peers • However, independent agencies (national or trans-national) should • Set the framework (general rules) • Control the process in each institution Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

19. Widely accepted principles • The quality assurance systems should • Include all stakeholders, • Results must be made public, • Procedures should be independent of governments, interest groups and universities • Follow guidelines that are transparent • Cost effective • Promote institutional autonomy and foster innovation • Be deeply inspired by the subsidiarity principle Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

20. Be “formative” instead of “summative” (University people react particularly badly to “summative” evaluations) • Be geared at enhancement: prompt institutions to develop internal quality measures as they are the first beneficiaries (and not only a rhetoric adaptation to what is required) • Must emphasize self-evaluation • Give the priority to quality and not quantity: University output is difficult to measure • Diversity of output • Long delay between service and its impact Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

21. Evaluate according to the mission statement and not according to preset standards • Be independent from funding • Look at quality under the point of view of the institution’s capacity to change • Be articulated in three steps • Self-assessment (SWOT) • Visit by independent peers • Formalized follow-up Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

22. Role of the State • The State should monitor and evaluate the quality procedures within universities • This implies that the authorities should be convinced that institutions are the first beneficiaries of quality assurance and best placed to do it (subsidiarity principle) • However, the State is responsible to make sure that universities are implementing a solid internal evaluation system • Legal obligation (Ireland) • Evaluation of the internal procedures by a national or international agency • Make sure that the agency is internationally recognized Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

23. When should the State do more? • The State should probably • Regulate private institutions • Protection of the term “university” • Consumer protection • Regulate LLL programs • The State should also be positive to evaluation-accreditation initiatives taken by professional organizations (ABET, EQUIS) Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

24. Conclusion Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

25. The fast changing environment and the increasing cost of research and teaching makes it more and more important for universities to be lead, governed and managed. ……. Quality assurance is an essential step towards that. • It is obviously in the interest of Universities • It is a responsibility of the State to make sure it happens Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance

26. THANK YOU Weber The Growing Importance of Quality Assurance