1. Managing Quality to Support Excellence Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj November 2010

2. Presentation outline Excellence and enhancement The journey of enhancement A model for developing quality cultures: some founding principles Conclusions

3. Some implicit assumptions underlying ‘excellence’ A fixed point Relatively simple and recipe driven Ignores autonomy and diversity of institutions Ignores diversity of students and diverse approaches to learning

4. The journey of enhancement “Institutions taking deliberate steps to bring about improvement in the effectiveness of the learning experience of students.” (QAA Scotland Handbook for ELIR)

5. The journey of enhancement (2) Built on the bedrock of assurance Not a light touch – a different touch Should chime with the culture of universities

6. A model for enhancement: some founding principles Enhancement based Support and enable those that can make a difference – the agents of change Partnership working The key role of students as partners

7. A model for enhancement: some founding principles (2) Internal, national and international aspects Independence and transparency The long term nature of real change Reflexivity

8. Some concluding remarks “What emerged was home-grown….Scottish certainly, but based on the pooling of expertise and knowledge of literatures on teaching, learning, change and quality from a wide range of sources…..The QEF brought right to the fore the simple and powerful idea that the purpose of quality systems…is to improve student experiences and, consequently, their learning” (Saunders et al)

9. PS “The approach that we review here is ambitious, distinctive and, SO FAR, successful” (Saunders et al)

10. Some contacts sharpnorman@hotmail.com www.qaa.ac.uk (go to section on QAA Scotland) www.qaa.ac.uk www.enhancementthemes.co.uk www.sparqs.ac.uk Sharp, N. December 2009 Quality Cultures and the assurance of quality in Universities. In Quality Assurance Review for Higher Education, Vol 1 No. 2 pp 164-174