David Bowie, MBA

1
David Bowie, MBA

• Challenges in developing
• Bologna-Style collaborations
• with EU partners

2
Introduction

• What is the Bologna Process?
• Background to the Barcelona/Oxford
  Brookes/Maastricht collaboration
• Issue different academic/cultural traditions
• Issue different approaches to quality assurance
  systems
• Issue British institutional administrative
  systems as barriers
• The situation today
• Conclusion

3
What is the Bologna Process?

• Bologna involves several activities aimed at
  harmonising European HE
• Two-cycle system
• Bachelor degrees (3 year) very different for
  continental HE
• Master degrees (1/2 year) generalist
  (conversion) and specialist (developmental)
• Different number of credits for Masters and
  European Masters
• Doctoral
• System for comparable academic grades,
  accumulation and transfer of grades (ECTS)
• Encourage mobility of students, teachers and
  researchers
• Cooperation with quality assurance
• Many accreditation bodies (EPAS, EQUIS) expect
  significant European collaboration as part of
  accreditation process

4
Background

• Background to the Barcelona/Oxford
  Brookes/Maastricht CP
• St Ignasi, Esade, Barcelona Maastricht Hotel
  Management School visit OBU to vet us in Spring
  2005
• Masters in Innovative Hospitality Management
  Semester 1 Barcelona, Semester 2 Maastricht,
  Work Placement
• Key strategic driver for OBU - BS seeking Equis
  accreditation with visit in January 2006
• Visit to Barcelona June 2005 agreed principal
  idea
• Meeting in Brussels November 2005 deeper
  negotiations
• Meeting in Maastricht February 2006 more ..
• 1-1 Meeting in Stanstead May 2006 more ..
  (very important)
• Meeting in Barcelona June 2006 more reviewed
  students coursework for first time
• Established excellent rapport (working dinners)
  identified barriers to progress

5
Issue different academic/cultural traditions

• Very, very different country specific
  academic/cultural traditions
• Spanish
• Hierarchical, conservative and strong regional
  linkages
• Jesuit origins with opus dei links money not an
  issue
• Great tradition of catholic humanist educational
  mission
• Important to conduct business with people they
  like
• Very long, unstructured meetings
• Dutch
• Typically well-organised, structured and
  efficient
• Focus on Problem Based Learning approach to
  management
• Key role of Jeroen Spanish lecturer working in
  Maastricht
• Both
• Worked effectively together on basis of trust
  similar scale/values
• Close to their students, excellent work placement
  links and alumni relations
• Limited development of quality systems and
  plagiarism not important

6
Issue different approaches to quality assurance
systems

• Board meets 2/3 times per year and discusses
  all aspects of collaboration from individual
  students performance on modules to strategic
  decisions
• Entry criteria not formalised although Dutch
  government insist on IELTS 6.5
• Each partner responsible for modules and some
  shared across both semesters and institutions
• No learning outcomes (move to competences model
  as part of Bologna), no assessment criteria, less
  formal approach to moderation
• No external examiner, and weak internal QA
  systems
• Evidence from coursework sample suggests poor
  approach to referencing and plagiarism - teaching
  tradition less rigorous on this crucial point

7
Issue British institutional administrative
systems as barrier

• LPAG and APQU raised enormous internal legal
  barriers
• Language of contract and whose law will the
  contract be written under
• Who is the lead university important in terms
  of EU funding
• Is the award
• joint - all partners equal one certificate
• Dual one certificate from each partner for
  same programme
• Double (or Triple) may or may not mention
  other partners or OBU in association with .
• What rights do students have to appeal, complain
  etc and who has the final say?
• Who can students appeal to .
• Can a student sue OBU, even about issues at our
  partners, because under UK law we might be
  perceived as the easiest target
• The detailed CONTRACT and specific obligations etc

8
The situation today

• Still in negotiations and our costs may
  eventually prevent collaboration from
  progressing!
• Move from original idea of a tripartite degree
  award to OBU becoming a sub-contactor delivering
  one component of the Degree
• Idea to gradually enhance quality systems and to
  provide partners with support to improve
  students approach to referencing
• Idea to help partners learn how to prevent
  plagiarism and adopt better practices
• Encourage academic teaching exchange
• Much to learn from each other
• Eventually we may develop a new European
  Masters together and with a 4th partner

9
Conclusion

• Must like the people
• Need to be clear about the strategic drivers for
  embarking on a time-consuming and expensive CP
• Enormous cultural barriers
• Enormous quality assurance issues for British HE
• Enormous legal issues for OBU
• Highly enjoyable .

10

• Any questions