The role of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education ENQA latest developme

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The role of the European Association for Quality
Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) latest
developments in quality assurance in Europe

• Peter Williams
• President
• ENQA
• Chief Executive
• The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
  Education, UK

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Overview

• The role of ENQA
• latest developments in quality assurance in
  Europe
• The European Standards and Guidelines
• The European Quality Assurance Register
• The current position and longer-term needs
• A possible trajectory for 2020 and beyond?

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The Role of ENQA
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ENQA

• network founded in 2000 association in 2004
• independent umbrella organisation for European QA
  agencies
• activities meetings, workshops, conferences,
  publications
• representative of QA agencies in Bologna Process
  (consultative member)
• co-operation within E4 (ENQA, EUA, ESU, EURASHE)
• structure Board, General Assembly, Secretariat

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Membership of ENQA

• ENQA membership requires external review and
  substantial compliance with ESG (cf. EQAR)
• external reviews of ENQA member agencies by 2010
  to confirm Full membership
• external reviews conducted by national
  authorities or by ENQA
• review reports scrutinised by ENQA Board
• 36 Full members, 11 Candidate members
• associates and affiliates 192
• ENQA Full membership is de facto accreditation of
  European QA agencies

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Latest developments in quality assurance in
Europe
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Current QA activities in Europe

• Most countries now have quality assurance or
  accreditation agencies
• Mixture of programme accreditation, institutional
  accreditation, and non-accrediting quality
  assurance reviews
• Some countries are moving/have moved from
  programme focus to institutional focus
• Some moving the other way
• Current ENQA project will show the dynamic
  landscape
• Increasing use of European Standards and
  Guidelines (ESG)

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European standards and guidelines (ESG)

• drafted by ENQA in consultation with EUA, EURASHE
  and ESIB
• approved by the Bologna ministerial conference in
  Bergen in 2005
• consist of
• ESG for internal QA within HEIs (Part 1)
• ESG for the external QA of higher education (Part
  2)
• ESG for external QA agencies (Part 3)

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What are standards?What are guidelines?

• Standards in this context are not meant to
  imply standardisation or requirements
• standards are statements of basic good
  practice they are short and general
• Guidelines are meant as illustrations of the
  standards in action they provide additional
  information and explain why the standards are
  important

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ESG Part 1 HEIs internal quality assurance

• 1.1 Policy and procedures for quality assurance
• 1.2 Approval, monitoring and periodic review of
  programmes and awards
• 1.3 Assessment of students
• 1.4 Quality assurance of teaching staff
• 1.5 Learning resources and student support
• 1.6 Information systems
• 1.7 Public information

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ESG Part 2 external quality assurance

• 2.1 Use of internal quality assurance procedures
• 2.2 Development of external quality assurance
  processes
• 2.3 Criteria for decisions
• 2.4 Processes fit for purpose
• 2.5 Reporting
• 2.6 Follow-up procedures
• 2.7 Periodic reviews
• 2.8 System-wide analyses

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ESG Part 3 external quality assurance agencies

• 3.1 Use of external quality assurance procedures
  for higher education
• 3.2 Official status
• 3.3 Activities
• 3.4 Resources
• 3.5 Mission statement
• 3.6 Independence
• 3.7 External quality assurance criteria and
  processes used by the agencies
• 3.8 Accountability procedures

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What the ESG ARE

• Generic, not specific, standards and guidelines
• A view of what should be done, not how it should
  be done
• A source of assistance and guidance

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What the ESG are NOT

• Prescriptive
• A checklist
• A compendium of detailed procedures
• A European quality assurance system

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London Communiqué extracts on QA

• ESG have been a powerful driver of change in
• relation to QA. All countries have started to
• implement them and some have made substantial
• progress. External QA in particular is much
  better
• developed than before student involvement at
• all levels has increased Since the main
• responsibility for quality lies with HEIs, they
• should continue to develop their systems of QA.
  We
• acknowledge the progress made with regard to
• mutual recognition of accreditation and quality
• assurance decisions, and encourage continued
• international cooperation amongst QA agencies.

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The European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR)

• a publicly available, web-based, information tool
  consisting of a list of QA agencies operating in
  Europe
• voluntary, entry through compliance with ESG,
  evidenced by an external review
• information available at www.eqar.eu (first
  applications in June 2008)
• contains basic information, such as
• agencys name and contact information
• QA services provided by the agency
• Whether member of ENQA
• country where the agency is established
• countries in which the agency operates

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EQARs purposes

• promotes student mobility by providing a basis
  for the increase of trust among the HEIs
• reduces opportunities for accreditation mills
  to gain credibility
• provides a basis for governments to authorise
  HEIs to choose any agency from the Register, if
  that is compatible with national arrangements
• provides a means for HEIs to choose between
  different agencies, if that is compatible with
  national arrangements
• serves as an instrument to improve the quality of
  the quality assurance agencies and to promote
  mutual trust among them.

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Current QA needs in Europe

• A need for information about quality
• A need for public confidence in providers
• A need for reassurance about the value of
  qualifications
• A need for providers confidence in what theyre
  doing
• A need to encourage academic ownership of quality
  and standards
• A need for a means to judge international
  comparability

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All of which suggest a requirement for

• Strong internal quality cultures and associated
  actions
• External verification of quality
• Up to date information about quality
• Clearly understandable standards for QA
• A common language and vocabulary

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Personal concerns

• ESG are being given more weight than they were
  originally intended to bear
• Too many QA agencies are fixated on processes and
  not on purposes
• Fitness for purpose is not the predominant driver
  of external QA processes at present
• There is a lot of information but limited
  communication in QA systems
• Compliance approaches work against improvement
• Ready opportunities for self delusion

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European quality assurancethe longer term needs

• Common concepts
• Common language
• Shared understandings and values
• A European HE quality culture?
• Qualifications recognition
• Comparable academic standards
• Useful information for stakeholders
• Improved academic professionalism
• Better higher education
• Cost-effective quality assurance

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European quality assurance a possible trajectory
for 2020 and beyond?

• institutions take more responsibility for their
  own quality and quality assurance
• External national programme quality assurance/
  accreditation ultimately replaced by selective
  international accreditation and by
• External national institutional quality assurance
  /accreditation
• Shared values and understandings (European
  standards and guidelines)