The Promotion of the "Bologna

Process" to Achieve High Quality in

Academic Teaching and

Learning Processesby

N.M. DURAKBASA,

P. H. OSANNA,

L. KRÄUTER, M. BLAIM

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Table of Content

1. Introduction

2. Basic Definitions Used in the General Area of Quality

3. The Political Discussion on Quality of Higher Education in Europe

4. Assuring and Managing Quality in Higher Education and the Implementation in Austria

5. International and European Institutions for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

6. Legal Basis of Quality Assurance and Quality Management in Austrian Higher Education Area

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1. Introduction

Quality is one of the most important issues concerning higher education in the last decade.

The growing importance of quality assurance (QA) and quality management (QM) has several reasons due to changes in economic and scientific structures ( Fig. 1).On an international level the importance of QA and QM is exposed by the so-called "Bologna Process" which aims to build a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in the near future.

In Austria the importance of quality in higher education (HE) is obvious in the government’s plan to build a new "Elite University".

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1. Introduction

Fig. 1: Reasons for the growing importance of quality in higher education

Quality in Higher Education

Transformation of Industrial Society to Information Society

Liberalisation and Economisation

Allocation of ressources and

accountability

Internationalisation and Globalisation

Competitiveness and Compatibility

(e.g. ECTS)

Expansion and Differentiation

Structural problems (e.g. high drop out rates)

Economic downturn and

changes in job market

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2. Definitions

2 concepts: QA QM

EN ISO 9000:2000 QA is part of QM

QA comprises: all planned and systematic activities implemented within quality system to provide adequate confidence and fulfil quality requirements.Related to: Inputs Processes Outputs

In the field of HE QA is implemented by:• Evaluation • Accreditation • Certification • Audits

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2. Definitions

QM comprises: all activities of management function that determine the quality policy, objectives, responsibilities and implement them within the quality system (QS) such as:• Q-Planning, • Q-Control, • QA and • Q-Improvement

QM is an umbrella term for all kind of activities concerning quality.QA focuses on providing internal & external confidence in the quality of processes, products and services.

The aim of QA: not improve quality BUT to assure a specific level of quality.

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3. Discussion

24th September 1998:The European Council’s recommendation on European cooperation in QA in HE: •) assuring the quality of learning and teaching, •) establishing transparent QS, •) supporting the cooperation of member states, •) implementing internal & external Q-audits in HE and

19th June 199929 European countries (incl. Austria) signed the so called «Bologna Declaration», consolidate EHEA until 2010. In order to reach this goal, the following objectives were set:

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3. Discussion

• Establishing a system of easily readable and comparable degrees, based on 2 main cycles: undergraduate and graduate;

• Establishing a system of credits such as ECTS;

• Promoting the mobility of students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff;

• Promoting European co-operation in QA and developing comparable criteria and methodologies;

• Promoting the necessary European dimensions in HE with regards to curricular development, inter-institutional co-operation, mobility schemes and integrated programmes of study, training and research;

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3. Discussion

19th May 2001, « Prague Communiqué » Key issue: quality (management) systems to assure the high level of quality and to improve the comparability of qualifications within the EU. best practices of QA in HE and to develop scenarios for the mutual acceptance of evaluation, accreditation and certification methods.

19th September 2003, « Berlin Communiqué »Support an effective QA in HE and the development of comparable Q-criteria & QA method. on institutional, national & international level.

20th May 2001,« Bergen Communiqué » Further progress concerning the participation of students and international co-operation is necessary. Agreement to the QA standards and guidelines recommended by ENQA & establish a peer review system for QA agencies. Demand on practical implementation of ENQA in co-operation with EUA, EURASHE and ESIB.

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4. Quality in HE @ AUT

ISO/IEC 17000:2004 Accreditation The formal act of acknowledging the competence of an institution to fulfil specific tasks such as quality inspections, certifications (of persons, products, quality systems etc.) and calibration. In Austria only private universities have to be accredited by simply fulfilling some minimal requirements.

The institution responsible for the accreditation of private universities in Austria is the Accreditation Council.

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4. Quality in HE @ AUT

There is no common definition of the term « evaluation » in Q-standards such as ISO 9000. Therefore evaluation is often confused with similar terms like audit or revision.

ISO 9000 does not provide a definition of the term « certification ». The term is often used to describe the acknowledgement of conformity as a result of an audit.ISO/IEC 17000:2004certification is the acknowledgement of an independent body that products, processes, persons or systems meet specific requirements. The result of this process is a written acknowledgement statement.

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4. Quality in HE @ AUT

Within ISO 9000:2000 audit is defined as systematic examination to determine whether or not criteria or requirements are fulfilled. In practice audit often means the examination of the fulfilment of Q-criteria. In this context these types of audits exist: •) internal / external audit•) institutional / sub-institutional audit

TQM - Total Quality Management is a comprehensive management strategy and corporate philosophy developed by Feigenbaum and first used in Japan about 50 years ago now it is the state of the art in QM.

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4. Quality in HE @ AUT

TQM focuses on continuous improvements of processes, products and services with the involvement of the entire workforce.

The basic principles of TQM are:•) full customer orientation,•) commitment of the top management, •) involvement and motivation of all employees, •) continuous improvement,•) prophylactic avoidance of failure, •) considering the Next Operation As Customer (NOAC) &•) benchmarking.

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4. Quality in HE @ AUT

EFQM - European Foundation for Quality Managementa non-profit organisation for coordinating and supporting excellence in QM. The EFQM Excellence Model (EM) the framework for assessing organisations based on nine criteria:

5 × 'Enablers': cover what an organisation achieves4 × 'Results': cover what an organisation achieves'Results' are caused by 'Enablers' 'Enablers' are improved by using feedback from 'Results'.

The TQM & EFQM model is rarely applied in the Austrian HE area, only a few vocational schools have implemented.

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5. Int. & EU Institutions

INQAAHE - International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (1991)Head office is in Dublin, Ireland. www.inqaahe.org . The main purpose is to collect and disseminate information on current and developing theory and practice in the assessment, improvement and maintenance of quality in HE.

ENQA - European Network for Quality Assurance (2000)Head office is in Helsinki, Finland. www.enqa.net . ENQA is the counterpart to INQAAHE to promote European co-operation in QA.

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5. Int. & EU Institutions

EUC - European Committee for Quality AssuranceHead office is in Bruxelles, Belgium.EUC is responsible for the accreditation of education institutes and professionals such as teachers and trainers.

ECA - European Consortium for Accreditation (2003)Head office is in The Hague, The Netherlands. ECA is a joint initiative of national accreditation agencies in Europe. The ultimate aim of ECA is the achievement of mutual recognition of accreditation decisions. ECA co-operates with quality organisations and initiatives such as ENQA, JQI und ENIC/NARIC.

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6. QA & QM for HE in AUT

In Austria QA and QM at universities mainly is based on the following 2 legal regulations:

1) Universitätsgesetz 2002 (= federal university law 2002)

It contains general appointments such as tasks, objectives and financing and special appointments for particular universities.In § 14 the legislator obligates the universities to implement a QS system. In addition periodical internal evaluations are mandatory whereas the evaluation period must not exceed 5 years.

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6. QA & QM for HE in AUT

Unfortunately the legislator fails to define what makes up an appropriate QM – system, especially the system’s components. Apart from internal & external evaluation no other Q-methods or concepts such as QM according to international standards (ISO 9000) are mentioned. This means that powerful Q-tools like TQM or EFQM are excluded.

Moreover the scope of evaluations is reduced to research and teaching. Other university areas (e.g. management or administration) which should be evaluated periodically are not mentioned.

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6. QA & QM for HE in AUT

2) Universitäts-Akkreditierungsgesetz 1999 (= federal university accreditation law 1999) It regulates the national accreditation of private universities.

§ 2 contains all requirements which a HE - institution has to meet for a successful accreditation. In particular the institution has to be:• located in Austria, • provide graduate programmes • comparable to international programmes• engage teaching staff in compliance to int. standards• provide adequate infrastructure (facilities, equipments,…)

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6. QA & QM for HE in AUT

One has to question oneself, whether or not the compliance with minimum requirements of the Universitäts-Akkreditierungsgesetz 1999 contributes to continuous improvements of Austrian private universities.

In the author’s mind this is not the case.

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The End

of the presentation

Thank you for your attention!