Rolf Heusser, „Institutional assessment: a new trend in external quality assurance“

1. Rolf Heusser, „Institutional assessment: a new trend in external quality assurance“ OAQ/CRUS Conference „Internal quality assurance at higher education institutions. Requirements and good practices“Bern, 2 December 2005 RH/December 2005

2. „Internal quality assurance at higher education institutions. Requirements and good practices“ Intervention by Rolf Heusser • International context of external quality assurance • Trends in external quality assurance in Europe • Institutional assessments – strengths and challenges • Case study: Switzerland RH/December 2005

3. International context for QA in higher education • Increasing number of providers in HE / new providers • Internationalisation of education and research • Increasing autonomy of HE institutions  Call for transparency and accountability RH/December 2005

4. International dimension of quality assurance Internationalrecognition of qualifications Access to labour market Accreditation/ Quality Assurance Cross-border education GATS RH/December 2005

5. Berlin conference 2003 «Quality (...) has proven to be at the heart of the EHEA» • Goals for 2005: • Implementation of national quality assurance systems • Including a system of accreditation or comparable procedures • Evaluation of programmes and institutions • International cooperation and networking RH/December 2005

6. National Agencies for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Europe, 2005 Evaluations / Audits Accreditations RH/December 2005

7. Trends in external quality assurance in Europe • Widespread use of accreditation • From input to output orientation • Internationalisation of accreditation and quality assurance (mutual recognition agreements, peer reviews of QA-agencies) • From systematic programme assessments to institutional assessments RH/December 2005

8. Strengths Focus on „educational quality“ Useful information for students/employers Link to national recognition practices Direct international comparison of qualifications possible Weaknesses Very demanding in resources Sensitive to programme changes Restricting autonomy of HEIs at programme level Limited impact on institutional quality processes Programme assessments - Strengths and Weaknesses RH/December 2005

9. Institutional assessments – Strengths • Enhancement of institutional quality mechanisms and facilitation of the development of a quality culture • Sustainable effects at the level of institutional management • Respect of the autonomy of HEIs • Resource saving method RH/December 2005

10. Conferences of Berlin 2003 and Bergen 2005 Berlin: „ ... the primary responsibility for QA in higher education lies with each institution and this provides the basis for real accountability“. Bergen: „ ... we urge the HE 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 QA“. RH/December 2005

11. Institutional approaches to external QA, Europe 2005 CountryMethodStart CH Quality Audit 2003 DK Institutional Audit 2004 F Institutional Evaluation 2004 N Quality Audit 2003 S Quality Audit 1995 UK Institutional Audit 2003 RH/December 2005

12. Institutional assessments – Challenges and open questions Challenges: • Limited information about educational provisions • No direct international comparison of qualifications possible Open questions: • How can we assure good quality of study programmes? • How to guarantee that institutional assessments can be used for the purpose of transnational recognition of qualifications? RH/December 2005

13. Institutional assessment – Use for purpose of mutual recognition agreements Institutional assessments should • focus on internal quality assurance- and management processes of HEIs; • use an accreditation approach (due to close link to recognition); • be based on transparent and internationally accepted standards (ENQA standards and guidelines 2005); • assure that sufficient and reliable information is available about the quality of educational provision (and research) HEIs should have a good management information system RH/December 2005

14. Institutional assessment – Case study Switzerland • From 2002 - 2005 the OAQ has carried out 102 accreditation/evaluation procedures, one third of them concerned institutional assessments • Quality audits have been carried out at all Swiss universities in 2003/04 (results on the OAQ homepage: www.oaq.ch) • Guidelines for internal quality assurance at Swiss universities have been developed (on the basis of ENQA standards) RH/December 2005

15. New University Law in Switzerland Possible elements of future external quality assurance system • Equal treatment for the whole tertiary sector • Respecting primary responsibility of HEIs for quality assurance • Institutional accreditation as mandatory element, focussing on internal QA-systems of HEIs • Programme accreditations selective and on demand • Compatible with international standards and guidelines RH/December 2005

16. Summary and conclusions • Accreditation and quality assurance are key elements for the implementation of the Bologna process • Trend towards institutional assessments in Europe • Focus on internal quality assurance systems of HEIs • ENQA standards as reference system • Switzerland is very well positioned to fulfil these new requirements RH/December 2005