Accreditation and quality assurance in Europe

1. Accreditation and quality assurance in Europe Prof. Dr. Dirk Van Damme

2. Overview • The concept of accreditation • Accreditation as merging of recognition and quality assurance • Quality: shifting concepts and approaches • Accreditation: the context and functions • Accreditation: risks and questions Dirk Van Damme

3. The concept of ‘accreditation’ • ‘ad-credere’: giving credit, trust to someone, a service, … • norms of quality, security, safeness, … ’standards’ • on the basis of independent and expert review • public statement • market access (trustworthiness) and transparency (standardisation) Dirk Van Damme

4. The concept of ‘accreditation’ • ‘Accreditation is a formal and public statement by an independent agency and on the basis of an external quality review, that specific, previously agreed standards are met by a programme or institution of higher education’ • consequences: ‘approval’, ‘recognition’, funding, state recognition of qualifications, … Dirk Van Damme

5. The concept of ‘accreditation’ • components: • formal and public statement • of binary nature • by competent authorities • ‘ex post’ or ‘ex ante’ • previously agreed standards (basic or excellence) • after independent and expert quality review • of programme or institution (or intermediate) • restricted time validity Dirk Van Damme

6. Accreditation: recognition x QA • Recognition in (continental) Europe • state recognition of institutions, programmes and qualifications • ‘a priori’ decision by Parliament or Government • input criteria: curriculum, qualified personnel, … • state recognition of ‘effectus civilis’ of qualifications, also giving access to professions in public sector Dirk Van Damme

7. Accreditation: recognition x QA • Quality assurance • new regulatory system emerging since the late eighties • separate from recognition • focus on improvement, but with increasing importance of accountability function Dirk Van Damme

8. Accreditation: recognition x QA • Quality assurance • external drivers probably more powerful than internal ‘autonomous’ demand • massification and concerns for a potential decline of standards • diminishing confidence of stake-holders in traditional academic quality management • increasing demand for more accountability • public demand for transparency (ranking) • pressures to increase cost-effectiveness Dirk Van Damme

9. Accreditation: recognition x QA quality assurance accreditation regulation recognition time Dirk Van Damme

10. Discipline Programme Institution Theme Evaluation 6 1 1 6 Accredi-tation 21 20 5 7 Audit 12 10 14 4 Bench-marking 10 0 1 4 Accreditation: recognition x QA Dirk Van Damme

11. Accreditation: recognition x QA • still other forms of QA than accreditation • there are still recognition systems that do not rely on QA • but there is a growing interconnection and even merging of both regulatory systems • in this process, also the concept of quality itself has changed Dirk Van Damme

12. Quality: shifting concepts and approaches • two dimensions: • low – high • absolute – externally/internally relative • four approaches • excellence standards • fitness for purpose • basic standards • consumer satisfaction Dirk Van Damme

13. high excellence standards internally relative externallyrelative fitness for purpose consumer satisfaction absolute basic standards low Dirk Van Damme

14. Quality: shifting concepts and approaches • Quality is a multi-dimensional concept • Changing definitions • Any particular definition of quality at a given time-space configuration is function of interaction of those four components • Importance of social context Dirk Van Damme

15. Accreditation: the context and functions • Criticisms of first generation QA systems • externally imposed, not embedded in real institutional ‘quality culture’; still high tolerance for low quality in institutions • bureaucratic overload, impact on autonomy, cost • methodological weaknesses: benchmarking, self-referential teams, window-dressing, insufficient critical nature, role of disciplines, etc. • conservatism, ‘canonisation’ vs innovation Dirk Van Damme

16. Accreditation: the context and functions • Changing environment provokes shift … • from egalitarian massification to a more competitive higher education market • from domestic focus to internationalisation and globalisation • towards differentiation in institutions and delivery modes • from meritocracy to lifelong learning, eroding the only left monopoly, degrees Dirk Van Damme

17. Accreditation: the context and functions • towards next generation of QA arrangements • providing clear statements on an increasingly complex reality • guaranteeing transparency and convergence in a more diversified and international environment • broadening focus while keeping up same concept of ‘academic quality’ • emphasizing external functions while stressing autonomy, self-regulation and inclusiveness Dirk Van Damme

18. Accreditation: the context and functions • accreditation is expected to address some of the needs and to fulfil following functions: • guaranteeing that agreed standards are met • more independent, clear, sharp, benchmarked quality statements • strengthening international functions, transparent student information and accountability • linking QA to recognition and other regulatory systems Dirk Van Damme

19. Accreditation: the context and functions • accreditation thus implies a shift in the triangle of power in HE towards market relations • but, accreditation still may be seen as a regulatory system in the middle of the power triangle Dirk Van Damme

20. Accreditation State recognition accreditation quality assurance ranking Academia (Intl) Market Dirk Van Damme

21. Accreditation: risks and questions • Still continuing debate on accreditation • do we need it in developed HE systems? • fixed standards in a complex, diversifying, dynamic reality? • rewarding mainstream and mediocrity; jeopardising improvement functions by stressing accountability? • additional bureaucratic burden to institutions and academics, sign of distrust? Dirk Van Damme