HERE Study Visit Quality culture in practice: Scotland and the University of Edinburgh   5-6 October 2016 Edinburgh, Scotland

Background HERE Seminar: “The European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG) in practice: Implications for HEIs and higher education systems”, 19 – 20 October 2016, Lviv, Ukraine HERE Seminar: “Students in focus: Student as partners in higher education governance and quality assurance” 5-6 April 2017 in Almaty, Kazakhstan TAMs 2016 – 2017 Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan… Topics: Internal and External QA Systems; ESG theory and practice; QA implementation and students; procedures, tools and criteria for QA systems, etc.

Lviv Seminar About the seminar Better understanding of the ESG 2015 Discuss and debate in particular the institutional responsibility for QA and the need to build capacity for this Pre-survey results - Challenges Involving students in QA systematically Linking QA to the development of learning outcomes based approaches Building capacity of institutions to implement their own QA processes Internationalising QA

Pre-survey Lviv Seminar: Are you aware of the revised ESG and what is new about them?

Are students involved in institutional quality assurance? Are students involved in external quality assurance panels in your country?

Almaty Seminar About the seminar How is student participation/engagement implemented in institutions and systems? Analyse different approaches towards student participation in university governance and QA Understand the pro’s and con’s of student participation as well as the implications regarding legal framework, institutional autonomy and organisational and financial implications, but also regarding the general institutional culture, and its learning and teaching approach. Challenges Looking at the role of students around three axes: Institutional governance, QA and National reform processes

Study visit - Desired learning outcomes Generate awareness for the ESG 2015 in practice in a particular institution Discuss and debate in particular the institutional responsibility for QA and the need to build capacity for this Learn about the management of quality culture within institutions, and how students, staff and other stakeholders are engaged accordingly Understand how one institution related its quality practices to the external QA framework of a country or region, on how external and internal QA interact.

Forum Discussion 11 answers Main questions raised: How does your institution understand ‘quality culture’ and how is this supported within the institution? What is one key challenge your institution has in streamlining quality processes and in generating ownership for quality culture across the institution?

Some answers QA as a collective work/synchronization among all stakeholders QA understood as both quality management and quality of the curriculum The teaching and learning quality in accordance to the standards in each subject/area/ specialization Ongoing interactive process Challenges: Different teaching and learning traditions and cultures, which respond to different standards To involve all stakeholders (students, staff) Generating ownership for quality culture across the institution The implementation of the ESG, specifically the student-centred approach as a key principle of QA system Take into account the local needs without exiting the international standards

Discussion on lessons learnt Identify: 3 main take aways points 1 point of action Nominate rapporteur on each table Discuss for 10 minutes Then… 2 people from each table move to another table Discuss for another 10 minutes Then… 2 people move to another table Summing up: rapporteurs give 2 minute summary of discussions

Main conclusions Generating awareness of ESG Policy for QA; Design & approval of programmes; Student-centred learning, teaching & assessment; Student admission, progression, recognition & certification; Teaching staff; Learning resources & student support; Information management; Public information; Ongoing monitoring & periodic review of programmes; Cyclical external QA

Main conclusions Exploring institutional responsibility for QA, supporting quality culture, student engagement Advantages and challenges of decentralised structure, relations with central support Frameworks for continued profesional development Importance of partnership Empowerment for student engagement through sparqs and student associations

Main conclusions Considering interaction between internal and external QA Enhancement led Long term approach Adjusting to local context Key words: partnership, enhancement, communication, continuity

Virtual Community Discussion group on quality culture Share references, experiences or post questions you may have on the topic 1st HERE Newsletter Launched last 27 September 2017 SPHERE activities, news and trends on higher education reform, as well as to showcase the different actions carried out by HERE and NEOs Dissemination Available on the website

SPHERE Contacts Nicole Font Guedes: nfont@obreal.org Elizabeth Colucci: elizabeth.colucci@eua.be Nicolas Patrici: npatrici@obreal.org General queries: here@ub.edu