1. EUA Position on Quality Assurance [Padraig Walsh, Irish Universities Quality Board, IUQB] on behalf of Andrée Sursock, EUA ENQA Workshop, Berlin June 2008

2. …2… Background Since its creation, EUA has been very active in the field of Quality Assurance through: Contributing to policy development at European level The development through the Quality Culture Project The Institutional Evaluation Programme, which has carried out 250 evaluations in 39 countries

3. …3… Starting Points: 1 Europe has the legitimate ambition to strengthen its higher education institutions, which are seen as central to the development of European society: If this goal is to ensure the vitality and creativity of research and education, this aspiration has a wide range of implications for institutional governance QA must support the development of strong higher education institutions for Europe through institutional evaluations or audits

4. …4… Starting Points: 2 Because of its European scope, EUA has been intensely aware of the diversity of the higher education sector – diversity of institutional missions and profiles, legal frameworks etc.: This implies that it is difficult to come to a one- dimensional definition of quality for the purposes of QA Quality is contextual – its definition must take into account the specific institution and the national context of which it is part

5. …5… EUA position on internal quality: 1 In line with the ESG, internal quality processes must be characterised by the following principles: Institutions should be responsible for the monitoring of all their activities, including their study programmes. These internally-organised evaluations should be done with the contribution of external experts Institutions should ensure central data collection and analysis to measure institutional performance

6. …6… EUA position on internal quality: 2 In line with the ESG, internal quality processes must be characterised by the following principles: Internal quality should promote shared values and attitudes about quality rather than simply managerial processes and ensure that the internal evaluation processes foster creativity and innovation Internal quality processes must be fit for their purposes. While there is no single way to set up these processes, the cycles and scope of internal evaluations should be linked in a pragmatic way and attention should be paid to the global picture that emerges through the internal evaluation of the different activities

7. …7… EUA position on external QA processes: 1 The principles for external QA processes should avoid undue bureaucratic processes and should: Seek a balance between autonomy and accountability by promoting institutional audits based on an evaluation of internal quality processes Promote a fitness for purpose approach, culturally adapted to countries and institutions

8. …8… EUA position on external QA processes: 2 The principles for external QA processes should avoid undue bureaucratic processes and should: Include an improvement orientation that stresses the self-evaluation and confidentiality of parts of the process Support the development of internal quality processes in institutions