Developing trust: Towards Mutual Recognition agreements MERCOSUR – RIACES María José Lemaitre Chile

June, 2006 MJL2 Requirements for mobility and recognition  Trust on basic, shared quality requirements  Quality: wide and flexible definitions, able to account for different options in HE  Standards: for programmes, institutions and QA agencies

June, 2006 MJL3 Requirements for mobility and recognition HE TRUST STANDARDSQUALITY MobilityRecognition Accreditation

June, 2006 MJL4 Trust  Shared cultural elements  Quality assurance mechanisms  Need to develop substantive standards  Need to establish standards for QA processes

June, 2006 MJL5 Quality  Diversity of HE  Flexible definition of quality (internal and external consistency)  Legibility of degrees and diplomas  Qualifications frameworks

June, 2006 MJL6 Standards  Substantive standards: contents of teaching and learning, clear expected learning outcomes  Standards for quality assurance processes: procedures, GGP

June, 2006 MJL7 The MERCOSUR experience  Goal: To make degrees comparable in the six MERCOSUR countries  Conditions: to respect national sovereignty and institutional autonomy  Need to operate within national QA frameworks

MERCOSUR

June, 2006 MJL9 Standards for accreditation  Three expert groups, from the six countries  Expected learning outcomes for three programmes: Engineering Medicine Agronomy  Conditions for operation (management, human resources, curriculum development, teaching and learning strategies, scholarship, learning resources)

June, 2006 MJL10 Definition of quality Quality defined as the combination of two main aspects: External consistency (adjustment to requirements from disciplinary and professional reference group) Internal consistency (ability to respond to institutional principles and priorities

June, 2006 MJL11 Quality assurance procedures  Supranational arrangement, promptly rejected  Need to reach an agreement that would allow for mutual recognition of QA decisions  Agreement on a basic set of procedures

June, 2006 MJL12 Quality assurance procedures (2)  All countries agreed to base their decisions on self assessment and external review reports  All agencies would use the standards developed by the expert groups  External review teams must include members from other two Mercosur countries  All external reviewers had to undergo Mercosur training

June, 2006 MJL13 Outcomes  All countries recognize the decisions made by the national agencies  Students from accredited programmes enjoy enhanced opportunities for mobility  Bilateral agreements have been reached leading towards automatic recognition of qualifications of students from accredited programmes  Countries without QA agencies have established their own

Red Iberoamericana para la Acreditación de la Calidad de la Educación Superior RIACES

June, 2006 MJL15 RIACES  New network of QA agencies, government organizations, associations of HE institutions, and international organizations  Established in 2003, with participation of Latin American countries and Spain  It received a grant from the World Bank to help its development and the promotion of QA activities in the region

RIACES + SPAIN

June, 2006 MJL17 RIACES: two strategic areas areas of involvement 1.Capacity building of quality assurance agencies, in order to promote their external recognition 2.Improvement of contents and procedures of agencies in order to promote integration

June, 2006 MJL18 Action plan: Capacity building of quality assurance agencies Component 1: Development of QA mechanisms within the region  Seminar on good practices for QA  Design and development of a handbook for the self assessment of agencies Component 2: Establishment of a regional information center  Exchange of experiences and development of common criteria for the assessment of graduate programs, and of distance education  Updating of the RIACES glossary Component 3: Development of the technical staff of QA agencies  Internships for technical staff in the more experienced agencies within the region  Specific projects for consultancy or advice to benefit the less developed agencies

June, 2006 MJL19 Action plan: Improvement of contents and procedures of agencies Component 4: Development programs  Workshops for harmonization of criteria on three subject areas: agronomy, engineering, medicine, based on the MERCOSUR experience Component 5: Training of external reviewers  Participation of reviewers as observers in external reviews for program and institutional accreditation

June, 2006 MJL20 Procedures  International dialogue among QA agencies and other stakeholders: Shared learning Adjustment of standards and procedures Development of mutual trust  QA of accrediting agencies GGP Improvement of information systems Support to QA agencies

June, 2006 MJL21 Final comments  Globalization brings new challenges, that must be anticipated and addressed with a long term and global approach  Networking is essential, for developing trust, for learning together, for building strong constituencies, for standing up together to the globalized world  National systems are essential, but international support makes things more effective