Key issues in quality assuring collaborative provision

1
Key issues in quality assuring collaborative
provision

• Carolyn Campbell
• Head of International Affairs
• international_at_qaa.ac.uk

2
What is collaborative provision?

• Collaborative provision of higher education
  takes many forms including
• development, delivery or monitoring of programmes
  or a combination of all of these by more than one
  institution and leading to the award of single,
  joint or dual qualifications
• establishment of joint ventures and new
  institutions.
• It is a feature in many national HE systems but
  is a fast growing international education
  activity.

3
Why collaborate? National rationales

• Expanding provision
• Widening participation
• Maximising use of resources and expertise
• Supporting frameworks for credit and student
  mobility
• Creating new pathways to qualifications
• Institutional development and capacity building

4
Why collaborate? Institutional rationales

• Opportunities for staff and students
• Access to expertise and resources
• New markets for services
• Responding to regulatory requirements
• Competitive edge
• Enhancing reputation.

5
Collaborative provision international actors and
activities

• Promotion
• EC Erasmus Mundus programme for joint degrees
• Bilateral exchange programmes, agreements and
  Memoranda of Understanding
• Regulation and Information
• OECD-UNESCO code of practice for quality
  provision in cross border education
• OECD attempts benchmarking in Adult and HE
• UNESCO portal of recognised HEIs
• UNESCO-CHEA work on diploma mills and bogus
  degrees

6
Parallel international developments in quality
assurance

• Emergence of international and regional QA
  networks
• Development of QA standards and guidelines based
  on shared values and principles
• European Standards and Guidelines for QA
• APQN Toolkit for regulation of cross border
  education
• INQAAHE GPP
• Development of national regulatory frameworks for
  (imported) cross border education
• Development of national QA frameworks and Codes
  of Practice and guidelines on CP, joint degrees
  and TNE.

7
Collaborative provision quality assurance
challenges

• Clarity of basis for award (is it legal and
  recognised?)
• Clarity of joint and several responsibilities
  (who is responsible for what and when?)
• Compatibility between institutional systems and
  national systems at home and abroad
• Consequences of regulatory compromise
• Protecting students interests
• Managing risks.

8
Roles of quality assurance agencies?

• Implement transparent and fit for purpose
  quality assurance frameworks
• Identify, implement and disseminate good practice
  eg
• Participate in international QA projects
• Participate in networks such as APQN and INQAAHE
• Develop and maintain bilateral links and
  information sharing
• Protect the interests of stakeholders in sound
  academic standards and good quality higher
  education.

9
Quality assuring collaborative provision QA
agency approaches

• Integrated
• Separate
• National
• Transnational
• International

10
Outcomes and findings?

• Accreditation decisions eg US,
• Audit reports eg AUQA,
• Separate CP and overseas audit reports eg QAA
• System wide reflections
• QAA Learning from and Outcomes
• AUQA QA Issues in Transnational Education
• Reports from the Observatory on Borderless Higher
  Education

11
Collaborative provision in QAA institutional
audits 2002-04

• collaborative provision was scrutinised when
  feasible as part of the main institutional audit
• Learning from collaborative provision in the
  institutional audit reports
• (Series 1) was based on content from more than 50
  reports
• (Series 2) was based on content from more than 30
  reports )

12
Learning from CP in IA key issues (1)

• the arrangements of most institutions appeared to
  be consistent with QAA's Code
• many institutions enhance their QA for CP to
  address the additional risk it is seen to
  represent
• bringing CP wholly into the 'mainstream' of
  institutions QA arrangements can lead to
  features unique to CP becoming lost to view
• reports said little about recognition or approval
  of partners and rather more on the approval of
  programmes
• allowing programmes to run when approval had been
  loaded with conditions or requirements seen as
  problematic.

13
Learning from CP in IA key issues (2)

• monitoring generally sound with some interesting
  good practice
• periodic review generally sound with some
  awarding institutions shortening the period for
  CP reviews
• the robustness of external examining arrangements
  in CP questioned in some reports
• staff development an area requiring further
  development in several reports
• little information available for student support.

14
Outcomes from collaborative provision audits
2004-07

• Outcomes from collaborative provision audit (a
  separate process) will be based on content from
  30 collaborative provision audits
• 20 reports discuss widening participation
• 15 reports discuss arrangements for placements
• 20 reports mention flexible learning
• Recommendations in 10 out of 27 reports
  associated with delegation of responsibilities.

15
QAA overseas audit of collaborative provision
2007 what were we looking for..??

• Commitment to partners and students
• Recognition of complexity, risk and costs
  involved
• Time and resource allocated
• Senior responsibility
• Recognition of importance of parity of academic
  standards
• Acceptance of the academic bottom line.

16
Key issues in quality assuring collaborative
provision

• Shared goals and values
• Effective governance
• Transparent and robust regulatory frameworks
• Good communication and information dissemination
• Trust

17
More information

• See background reading list!
• www.ey.com/uk/government
• www.oecd.org
• www.unesco.org
• www.enqa.eu
• www.apqn.org
• www.inqaahe.org
• www.obhe.ac.uk