Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 1 Quality Assurance at Ghent University (Flanders)

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 2 Joke Claeys Ghent University Department of Educational Affairs Educational Quality Management Office

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 3 Ghent University Founded in 1817 by King William I 4 faculties: Arts & history Law Medicine Science 16 professors 190 students

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 4 Ghent University faculties - Students: over Number of staff: over 6400 * 909 professors * 893 assisting academic staff * 781 other scientific staff * 1668 externally financed researchers * 2179 administrative and technical staff

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 5 Since the beginning of the nineties: a continuous growth from about to students has occurred. This is unique in Flanders.

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 6 Context in Flanders: inhab. Basic higher education (bachelor/master) ( ), of which: - higher education: universities: share UGent: 35 %

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 7 Mission (some excerpts): - distinguishes itself as a socially committed and pluralistic university, open to all students, regardless of their ideological, political, cultural and social background -defines itself in a broad international perspective, all the while accentuating its individuality in terms of language and culture -offers a broad spectrum of high-quality research-based educational programmes,… -opts for a decentralised, dynamic organisation model

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 8 Central administration Rector Vice rector RegistrarBursar Dep of Personnel & OrganizationFinancial Department Dep of Administrative Affairs ICT Department Dep of Research AffairsDep of Infrastructure Dep of Educational AffairsDep of Student facilities

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 9 Department of Educational Affairs 4 offices: - Educational Quality Management - Student and Career Advice - Student Administration and Study Programmes - International Relations

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 10 Structures in quality assurance - Central office for quality assessment - Faculty level: 11 quality cells containing: some professors (one director of education per faculty), one full staff member, some students, one or more administrative member

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 11 Decision making bodies General: - Central: board of directors (34 members), executive committee, management committee - Faculty: faculty board Education: - Educational board: advisory to the central bodies * Vice rector + director of education * Representatives of the faculties: professors, assistants, students * Experts

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 12 Quality Assurance of education in Flanders Central element in the startup: Decree on universities (June 12th, 1991) Art 122 Imposes a continuous monitoring of the quality of education: internal and external QA are mentioned

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 13 Realisations: - Internal QA: student questionnaires - External QA: peer review: visitations of the first generation

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 14 Ghent University: student evaluation (since ) - The evaluation of education is considered as an essential part of the quality system. - The users of the education, namely the students, are ideally placed to judge it.

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 15 Student evaluation: what about ? (1) - An impression of the satisfaction of students with the services offered by the university - Specific: the perception of several aspects of the teaching and learning activities, namely:

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 16 Student evaluation: what about ? (2) - The teaching process itself - The examinations - Supporting services: study guidance, library, electronic learning environment - Infrastructure: audiences, laboratories, buildings,…

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 17 External QA: - First round: Peer review of all basic study programs - Strongly inspired by the Dutch approach by VSNU (now QANU), e.g. manual

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 18 Flemish Interuniversitary Council (°1976) - Autonomous body, representing the universities, financed by them - Gives advice to the minister of education and science - Organises interuniversitary consultations about: * quality assurance and accreditation * educational policy * research policy * university governance * administration - It’s secretariat organises the external quality assurance for all Flemish universities

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 19 External QA: peer review (visitations) - 8 year cycle - A panel of experts judges the program - Result: - a public report on all the important issues - a related score list (comparison between institutions is possible) - recommendations for improvement

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 20 External QA: Visitations (peer review) Phases in the process: 1.The program writes a self evaluation report. Professors, assistant professors, students, alumni,… are all involved. A manual with guidelines is strictly followed.

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 21 Contents of the self evaluation report (1) 1.Profile, goals and aims 2.Program: structure, contents, teaching, evaluation 3.Dissertation and training 4.Students: numbers, success rates 5.Study timing, tutorship, information

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag Alumni: quality and work situation 7. Organisational elements of the program 8. Infrastructure 9. Personnel and personnel policy 10. Internationalisation 11. Internal quality assurance Contents of the self evaluation report (2)

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 23 External QA: Visitations (peer review) 2. - A commission of experts is composed, on the proposal of the programs involved. They act on a completely independant base. - Experts in the subject matter; 5 persons, 1 president, 1 didactical expert

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 24 External QA: Visitations (peer review) 3. The commission reads the self assessment report Site visit: 2,5 days - meetings with professors, assistant professors, other personnel involved in education, students, alumni, study guidance,…

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 25 External QA: Visitations (peer review) 5. The commission writes a report containing their evaluation of the program, recommendations, good practices,… The different programs are also compared.

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 26 External QA: Visitations (peer review) 6. - The report is published and can be consulted by future students, newspapers, other institutions,… - The Minister of Education gets a report. 7. The programs react upon the recommendations and can make adaptations to the study program.

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 27 External QA: - Second round: Programs are reviewed a second time - Reactions to recommendations and improvements are also taken into consideration

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 28 Decree on Higher Education (April 2nd, 2003 ) - Introduction of the bachelor/master structure - Obligation of Quality Assurance is repeated - Introduction of Accreditation: condition for organisation of programs

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 29 Accreditation: a second generation of external QA Antecedents: societal evolutions - Internationalisation: cooperation; mobility of professors and students - Globalisation: a market for research and study programs emerges - Liberalisation: commercial suppliers can can organise education - Evolution towards a knowledge society

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 30 Accreditation: definition A formal, public judgement made by an independant body, based upon an evaluation of quality, guaranteeing that basic standards are met

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 31 Functions of accreditation - Guarantee a certain basic quality of institutions or programs - Reinforce the existing forms of QA e.g. by strenghtening their sanctioning capacity - Create more standardisation of norms, procedures and criteria, to enhance comparability - Improve the public responsibility function of QA by giving transparant info to students, parents,…

Tempus Bitola, 8/ pag. 32 Contents of self evaluation/ style accreditation - Different arrangement, same contents as in 1st round - 6 subjects, divided in facets - The commission judges the subjects and facets - Consequences for accreditation