The Use of Evaluative and Comparative Information In the Management of Tertiary Education Systems. B

1
The Use of Evaluative and Comparative Information
In the Management of Tertiary Education
Systems.Bratislava, June 16th and 17th 2005 A
brief introduction to ARRAJuraj BartaARRA
Slovakia
2

Academic Rating and Ranking Agency (ARRA)

• established by two former students leaders and
  two experienced academics in Summer 2005
• an objective, unbiased and generally acceptable
  quality assessment can be conducted most easily
  by an independent body ARRA is a NGO
• we know that involvement of people from outside
  the academia is a key success factor of the
  project

Barta, Slovakia
3

Main goal

• To provide objective, unbiased information on
  quality of education and research conducted by
  HEIs in Slovakia
• To make the schools comparable
• To give those who are interested (applicants,
  business, students, policy makers, general
  public) useful, easily understandable information
  on various aspects of quality of education and
  research

Barta, Slovakia
4
Organisation

• General Assembly the decision making body
  consisting of ARRA founders
• Board of Experts 12 people with rich academic
  background in various fields, responsible for
  relevance and trustworthiness of ARRA statements
  (and more than 20 other cooperating experts)
• Board of Trustees 10 people from outside the
  academia (business, media, NGOs), supervisory body

Barta, Slovakia
5

Success factors Independence

• No representatives of HEIs (rectors, deans)
• No direct involvement of the Ministry
• Close cooperation with respected experts,
  experienced researchers and teachers (Board of
  Experts)
• Board of Trustees independent supervision

Barta, Slovakia
6

Success factors Expertise

• Board of Experts professors from various
  schools and research fields, respected
  personalities
• Cooperation with about 20 experts from academia
• World Bank Experts D. Thornhill and L. Purser
  with a number of recommendations, experiences,
  tips and suggestions for improvements

Barta, Slovakia
7

Success Factors Verifiable Data and Transparency

• First step using only the data from publicly
  verifiable resources
• All the soft data will be obtained from
  reputable research agencies and on representative
  samples
• We would like to encourage the schools to collect
  and publish data
• Everything we base the QA results on will be
  transparently published

Barta, Slovakia
8
Thank you!Juraj BartaARRA