Quality Assurance from you to them or them to you! Anthony J Vickers UK Bologna Expert

Definition I am defining Quality Assurance to be that associated with policies and procedures regarding HE and not the accreditation of subjects. Subject accreditation is as important and is sometimes managed together with the policies and procedures.

Outline Who is involved, who is the “you” and who is the “them” Which way is the flow – who is in charge? What is happening at the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) level? What is happening at National level? What is happening at Institutions?

Who is involved? Who is the “you” and who is the “them”? By “you” I mean teachers By them I mean whoever takes an interest in what you do? We shall now look at the situation in England.

Stakeholders Who assesses who and why in the UK? Governments Agency Peer Agencies Teachers Students Institutions

Which way is the flow – who is in charge? What I mean is who is in control? This varies immensely across the EHEA In England the autonomy of Universities remains strong but the Government uses financial levers to meet its political objectives. It is however probably true to say that Universities would not have moved so fast on matters of QA if those levers had not been used. It is best for a University to be proactive and meet the challenge of QA.

What is happening at the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) level? “The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA adopted in Bergen (ESG) have been a powerful driver of change in relation to quality assurance. All countries have started to implement them and some have made substantial progress. External quality assurance in particular is much better developed than before. The extent of student involvement at all levels has increased since 2005, although improvement is still necessary. Since the main responsibility for quality lies with HEIs, they should continue to develop their systems of quality assurance. We acknowledge the progress made with regard to mutual recognition of accreditation and quality assurance decisions, and encourage continued international cooperation amongst quality assurance agencies.” The London Ministerial Communiqué, 2007

“The first European Quality Assurance Forum, jointly organised by EUA, ENQA, EURASHE and ESIB (the E4 Group) in 2006 provided an opportunity to discuss European developments in quality assurance.” “We encourage the four organisations to continue to organise European Quality Assurance Fora on an annual basis, to facilitate the sharing of good practice and ensure that quality in the EHEA continues to improve.”

“We thank the E4 Group for responding to our request to further develop the practicalities of setting up a Register of European Higher Education Quality Assurance Agencies. The purpose of the register is to allow all stakeholders and the general public open access to objective information about trustworthy quality assurance agencies that are working in line with the ESG.”

What is happening at National level? The Bologna Process is driving activity across the EHEA All 46 Bologna signatory country have to complete a Bologna Stocktaking Card for each Ministerial Summit. Green is good and Red is bad!

There are strong activities in some countries The activities in the EHEA within countries is most easily seen by looking at the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education ENQA web site.web site

What is happening at Institutions? Quality Assurance Audits Formalisation of historic quality assurance policies and procedures Change where necessary to meet national and international standards

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