External Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area: Challenges and Trends Rolf Heusser, Switzerland TechnoTN Forum, Brussels, 4 May 2007

External Quality Assurance in the EHEA Presentation: 1.International dimension of Quality Assurance (QA) 2.External QA in Europe: challenges and trends 3.Future work of QA Agencies

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 International dimension of quality assurance Quality Assurance Accreditation International recognition of qualifications Cross-border education Common HE-area Bologna process Access to labour market

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Role of quality assurance in the Bologna process Berlin communiqué 2003:  Quality (...) has proven to be at the heart of the EHEA  Implementation of national quality assurance systems until 2005  Including a system of accreditation or comparable procedures  International cooperation and networking

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 National Agencies for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Europe, 2007 Evaluations / Audits Accreditations

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 European Quality labels Label initiatives supported by EU commission:  EUR-ACE: engineering  Eurobachelor and Euromaster in chemistry  European accreditation of informatics programmes  Accreditation in European professional music training  Accreditation of MA in life sciences/rural environment  EFMD initiatives: EPAS, Q3E, Queste, UNIQUe

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Challenges for external QA in Europe  Implementation of European Standards and Guidelines  Removal of barriers in the process of recognition of foreign qualifications  Shift of QA focus: from inputs to learning outcomes  Debate about institutional vs programme approach

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 European Standards and Guidelines for QAAs  ESG for internal and external QA adopted by ministers in Bergen 2005  A view of what should be done; statements of good practices  Contribution to a common frame of reference in EHEA; prerequisite for entry into planned European register  Peer review of all QA-agencies in next five years

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Recognition of qualifications - current state  Ratification of Lisbon recognition convention does not solve all recognition problems  Still case to case decisions for acceptance of foreign qualifications  Doubts on the quality is a reason on the grounds of which recognition might be denied  Mutual recognition agreements between accreditation agencies should lead to the trust needed to “automatically” recognise accredited foreign study programmes/institutions

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Political Basis for mutual recognition initiatives in Europe  Bologna Ministers Conference, Bergen 2005: „We underline the importance of cooperation between nationally recognised agencies with a view to enhancing the mutual recognition of accreditation or quality assurance decisions“.  European Parliament, 2005: “Hereby recommend that member states... promote cooperation between agencies in order to build up mutual trust and the recognition of QA/accreditation assessments, thus contributing to the recognition of qualifications for the purpose of study or work in another country“.

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 ECA – Foundation and Aim  Consortium of national accreditation organisations  Established in November 2003  15 member organisations from 10 European countries: AT, BE, CH, DE, ES, FR, IE, NL, NO, PL  Aim: mutual recognition of accreditation decisions among participating countries until 2007

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 ECA approach towards Mutual Recognition Government/Recognition bodies

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Learning outcome orientation in external QA  Overarching Qualification Framework (QF) adopted by ministers in Bergen 2005, to be implemented on national level until 2010 (NQF)  QFs are based on learning outcomes, competences and skills  There is a link between NQF and national QA system  New challenge for QAAs: develop learning outcome oriented QA/accreditation systems

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Example of learning outcome oriented accreditation system ABET – programme accreditation checks:  whether study programmes formulate explicit learning outcomes  whether curricula fit to stated learning outcomes  how students can demonstrate competences  if HEI uses assessment results for further improvement of study programmes

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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  Assures flexibility and autonomy of HEIs at programme level  Resource saving method

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Programme Assessments – Strengths  Focus on „educational quality“  Useful information for students/employers  Link to national recognition practices  Direct international comparison of qualifications possible

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Future scenarios for universities and HE OECD Report 2004:  Internationalisation of education will continue  Increased private activities/private funding of HEIs  New providers and new emerging institutions  Increased activities in LLL and in use of ICT  Important role in transfer of knowledge and innovation to society  Increasing autonomy of HEIs

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Future scenarios in HE – Open questions for QAAs  How to assure internationalisation of agencies?  Diversification of activities or staying focused?  What new methodologies are needed to cope with new trends?  How to increase flexibility of the external QA-system?  What is the adequate balance between internal and external quality assurance?

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Requirements for future work of QA-agencies QA-agencies should have the following characteristics:  They are living systems  They need capacity for dynamic change  They need to have self-regulatory power and means to maintain their organisation  They have to exchange with environment  They may produce some heat

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007 Conclusions  Quality assurance and accreditation are key elements in the international higher education area  Fair recognition of qualifications is dependent on transparent information about quality  Some progress has been made towards an EHEA, but important challenges for external QA-systems are ahead  HE is moving in Europe and QAAs have to move with it  Independence, capacities for adoptation, mutual trust building with national and international partners are essential elements for future work of agencies

Heusser/OAQ/May 2007