Internal quality assurance of JP
Features of an internal quality assurance scheme for the Joint Programme may be:
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Within the consortium, forming a committee/group with the task of coordinating the quality assurance activities specific to the JP.
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Agree on a process for changes to the JP course list. The process may differ between compulsory and elective courses. See the Unite! On-line toolkit Filtering tool for regulations at each university: https://joint-edu-offerings.unite-university.eu/joint-programmes-filter
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Discuss how the JP consortium shall handle the result of QA activities at a partner university affecting courses being a part of the Joint Programme.
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Decide on evaluation questionnaires and the structure and timeframe for collection of feedback from students and staff engaged in the JP. Also decide how the JP consortium management shall respond to the outcome. Both current and upcoming cohorts shall be informed about changes made due to the feedback.
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Appoint student representative/s for the programme to be part of committees;
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If possible, create an alumni tracking system. This could be a task for one of the partner universities. Alumni are the best promoters for the JP, make use of them!
External quality assurance of JP
Reports from an external body or people not directly connected to the universities are valuable to show that the graduates' skills and knowledge meet the requirements and expectations of the labour market. External quality assurance often requires extra funding from the consortium budget, which is why each consortium must consider what is realistic. Examples to be considered:
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List information on external reviews that the JP will be exposed to. Will the external review assess the part offered by the assessed university only, or the full programme? How can the result be an asset for the Joint Programme?
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Representatives from industry or Advisory Board could be part of the QA committee/group for the JP. This is especially relevant if companies or research institutes are connected to the programme as associate partners. It will show how relevant the JP is to the labour market? Such reports are valuable when applying for extension of funding.
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Possibility for an external group to, for example, make a review of the theses every three years or so. Funding would be required to cover this task.
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The European Approach can also be considered as an external quality assurance method. It is an accreditation method especially created for JPs. Read more in the “European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (EA)” chapter.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (EA)
Background
The European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (EA) has been developed to ease external quality assurance of Joint Programmes. During the past years, Quality Assurance Agencies and other stakeholders have been working together to develop and test various methods to ease the external quality assurance of joint programmes and to reflect their joint character. The Bucharest Communiqué (2012) committed to recognize quality assurance decisions of EQAR-registered agencies on joint and double degree programmes. The European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes is a specific method which defines standards that are based on the agreed tools of the EHEA (European Higher Education Area), without applying additional national criteria. This is expected to facilitate integrated approaches to quality assurance of joint programmes and to reflect their joint character.
In the Bucharest Communiqué (April 2012), ministers agreed on the following:
“ We will allow EQAR-registered agencies to perform their activities across the EHEA, while complying with national requirements. In particular, we will aim to recognise quality assurance decisions of EQAR-registered agencies on joint and double degree programmes. (…) We encourage higher education institutions to further develop joint programmes and degrees as part of a wider EHEA approach. We will examine national rules and practices relating to joint programmes and degrees as a way to dismantle obstacles to cooperation and mobility embedded in national contexts. ”
In addition, BFUG (Bologna Follow-up Group) included in its work programme 2013-2015 the task to develop a policy proposal for a specific European accreditation approach for Joint Programmes which should be applied to all those Joint Programmes that are subject to compulsory programme accreditation at national level. The “European Approach” was approved by EHEA ministers in May 2015.
In EHEA, there are various methods of external quality assurance: accreditation, evaluation or audit (study programmes and/or institutions). These different approaches have their common denominator in the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The ESG applies to quality assurance procedures of all types of programmes, including joint programmes. EA is mainly based on the ESG and on the Qualifications Framework for EHEA (QF-EHEA). The EA takes into account the specific features of a joint programme and specifies the “standard” approach accordingly. These criteria and procedure are developed and tested in the JOQAR project
Steps with European Approach accreditation procedure
The following is a summary of EA accreditation procedure for joint programmes by EQAR.
The first step is to find out if any of the cooperating universities require external quality assurance at programme level (e.g. programme accreditation or evaluation is mandatory). If yes, the cooperating institutions should select suitable quality assurance agencies from the list of EQAR registered agencies and ask for offers to carry out a single evaluation or accreditation of the entire joint programme. The agency role is to coordinate the procedure and recognize the accreditation decision in relevant countries.
The chosen agency will use the Standards and the Procedure to carry out this evaluation or accreditation which then is to be accepted in all EHEA countries. Depending on the national legal framework, the external quality assurance decision should come into force or be recognized in all countries where the programme is offered.
In case all cooperating universities are supposed to carry out external quality assurance at institutional level only and have self-accrediting status, they may use EA in setting joint internal approval and monitoring process for the joint programme if they find it useful . EA may be used for joint programmes which are offered by universities from both within and outside the EHEA. Universities from non-EHEA countries are encouraged to find out if their national authorities would accept Standards (part B) and recognize the decision of EQAR registered agency.
European Approach should be applied depending on the needs of the cooperating higher education institutions and the requirements of their national frameworks.
Procedures for External Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in the EHEA
1 Self-Evaluation Report [ESG 2.3]
The external quality assurance procedure is based on a self-evaluation report (SER) which is jointly created and submitted by the consortium (cooperating institutions). It demonstrates the compliance of the programme with the Standards of Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in the EHEA (Part B). The report also contains information about the national frameworks of the cooperating institutions, for ex. the positioning of the joint programme within the national higher education systems.
2. Review Panel [ESG 2.3 & 2.4]
The selected EQAR registered agency appoints a panel of at least four members. These members combine expertise in the relevant subject(s) and expertise in world of work in the relevant field and expertise in quality assurance in higher education. The panel should include members from at least two countries involved in the consortium offering the programme and at least one student.
3. Site Visit [ESG 2.3]
During the site visit the review panel discusses the joint programme based on the self-evaluation report and will assess whether the programme complies with the Standards (part B). The site visit includes discussions with representatives of all consortium partner university members and management of the institutions, the programme, the staff, the students and other relevant stakeholders, also alumni.
4. Review Report [ESG 2.3 & 2.6]
The review panel prepares a report that contains relevant evidence, analysis and conclusions with regard to the Standards (part B). The report should also contain recommendations for further development of the programme. The conclusions and recommendations should pay particular attention to the distinctive features of the joint programme. The institutions have the opportunity to comment on the draft version of the review report and request correction of errors.
5. Formal Outcomes and Decision [ESG 2.5]
If required, the agency should take a decision on the basis of the review report and the recommendations for the decision, considering the comments by the consortium partner universities as appropriate. In case the review results in an accreditation decision, it grants or denies the accreditation (with or without conditions), based on the Standards (Part B).
6. Appeals [ESG 2.7]
The institutions should have the right to appeal against a formal outcome or an accreditation decision.
7. Reporting [ESG 2.6]
The agency should publish the review report and the formal outcome or the accreditation decision on its website.
8. Follow-up [ESG 2.3]
If applicable, the agency agrees with the consortium a follow-up procedure to assess the fulfillment of conditions or recommendations.
9. Periodicity [ESG 1.10]
The Joint Programme should be reviewed periodically every 6 years. If there is a positive accreditation decision, it is granted for 6 years. If there are changes in the consortium offering the Joint Programme during the 6-year period, the agency should be informed.
Even though the EA was adopted by EHEA ministers in 2015, it is not a legally binding agreement and requires implementation at the national level. The EA can be used in any country, but the question is if it is accepted/is legally binding or not . There are higher education systems in which institutions have a right to use the EA at their own choice. In some cases, institutions might use EA on the basis of an individual, case-by-case agreement with their government or national QA agency.
Joint programme accreditation
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Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)
In order to describe the accreditation procedure(s) for Joint Programmes, it is first necessary to point out that
the implementation of the key commitment on external quality assurance across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is currently at different stages
, and this diverse pace of implementation is also reflected at the
Unite!
Alliance level, as shown on the following map and detailed below:
The countries on the map are divided as follows:
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green - fully aligned with the ESG.
A fully functioning quality assurance system is in operation nationwide, in which all higher education institutions are subject to regular external quality assurance by an agency that has successfully demonstrated compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG) through registration on EQAR.
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Yellow - partially aligned with the ESG.
A fully functioning quality assurance system is in operation nationwide but only some higher education institutions are subject to regular external quality assurance by an agency that has successfully demonstrated compliance with the ESG through registration on EQAR.
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Orange - not aligned to the ESG.
A quality assurance system is in operation nationwide, but has not (yet) been fully aligned to the ESG.
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Red - no quality assurance system is in operation.
Within Unite! , 8 out of 9 partners belong to “green” countries:
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Technische Universität Graz TUG - Austria
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Aalto University – Finland
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INP Grenoble-UGA - France
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Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUDa) – Germany (Alliance coordinator)
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Wrocław University of Science and Technology WUST - Poland
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Universidade de Lisboa UL - Portugal
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Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya UPC - Spain
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KTH Royal Institute of Technology – Sweden
while Politecnico di Torino (POLITO, Italy ) falls under the “yellow” countries.
This different implementation stage of the ESG among the universities belonging to the Unite! Alliance impacts on the design process of Joint Programmes within the Alliance since the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes is not available in “yellow” countries and consequently the accreditation procedure to follow has still to be carried out at national level for one partner (Politecnico di Torino).
As for the national accreditation procedures at each partner’s level, please refer to the Online Toolkit Filtering tool https://joint-edu-offerings.unite-university.eu/joint-programmes-filter. Moreover, a process map on the establishment of Joint Programmes at each partner’s level is also available here https://joint-edu-offerings.unite-university.eu/joint-programme-documents-and-templates
Implementation of European Approach and country specific rules
Austria
National external QA requirements
Institutional and initial programme accreditation
Private higher education institutions
Institutional audit
Public universities; universities of applied sciences after an uninterrupted accreditation period of 12 years
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
European Approach available to all higher education institutions.Public universities: yes (due to “self-accrediting” status of their programmes they are able to employ the European Approach)
Universities of applied sciences, private higher education institutions, yes. If such a degree programme is offered as a joint study programme with one or several recognised foreign post-secondary educational institutions, AQ Austria may employ the European Approach or recognise the procedure.
National external QA requirements
Institutional auditing system
Universities
and universities of applied sciences must regularly participate in the
external evaluations of their quality assurance system and publish the
results of their evaluation.
Institutional audits
have been implemented in Finland since 2005, and are offered to higher education institutions in six year cycles.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
European Approach available to all higher education institutions.
Due to “self-accrediting” status for their programmes, higher education institutions can employ the European Approach.
Germany
National external QA requirements
A new legal basis has been established for the accreditation system in Germany, following the resolution of the Federal Constitutional Court on 17.02.2016
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System Accreditation
is optional, and enables the institution to self-accredit its study programmes. The accreditation is limited in time for a period of eight years.
Programme Accreditation
applies for Bachelor and Master degree programmes of state or state-recognized universities in Germany. The accreditation is obligatory unless the institution has a valid system accreditation
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
European Approach available to some higher education institutions or only under specific conditions.
All German higher education institutions can opt for programme accreditation of joint degrees by an EQAR-registered agency using the European Approach, however not for joint programmes leading to double or multiple degrees.
National external QA requirements
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Evaluations of higher education institutions
are carried out every 5 years. -
Review of disciplinary ‘fields’
are carried out every 5 years. -
Evaluation of sites using a ‘top-down approach’
newly introduced in 2017. -
Evaluation of doctoral schools
are carried out every 5 years.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
European Approach available to some higher education institutions or only under specific conditions.
The European Approach could be used subject to the general conditions for recognising QA results of EQAR-registered agencies
National external QA requirements
Quality assurance in higher education is carried out through internal institutional evaluation and external evaluation by the national quality assurance agency. The system for external review (AVA) was put in place in 2013 and revised twice in 2016 and 2023 (see Ministerial Decree 1154/2021).
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Institutional accreditation
Takes place every five year. -
Programme accreditation
Takes place every three year.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
European Approach not available to higher education institutions
National external QA requirements
Institutional evaluation was carried out in Poland between 2012-2016. Following the amendments to the Law on Higher Education, institutional evaluations were suspended and changes were made to the programme evaluation criteria for general academic and practice-oriented profile.
Programmes evaluations
may result in an outstanding assessment (awarded for 8 years), a positive assessment (6 years), a conditional assessment (a date of follow-up assessment will be given) and a negative assessment.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint
European Approach available to all higher education institutions
National external QA requirements
With the introduction of a lighter touch approach, some programme accreditations may simply undergo a desk research instead of a full programme accreditations. Light touch approach is available for higher education institutions that have successfully undergone an institutional accreditation and have been certified through the institutional audit approach. In these cases only a sample of programmes is assessed, and the institution is subjected to additional annual monitoring.
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Institutional Assessment
Carried out every six years, years, at the end of each regular cycle of assessment/accreditation of all study programmes in operation -
Accredition of study programmes in operation
The usual period of validity of the accreditation is 6 years. In case of a lighter touch approach, only a desk analysis is carried out.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint
European Approach available to some higher education institutions or only under specific conditions
National external QA requirements
The evaluation of the quality of universities is the responsibility of the Autonomous Communities.
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Ex-ante and Ex-post programme evaluation.
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Institutional evaluations.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint
European Approach available to all higher education institutions
A joint university study programmes between one or more Spanish universities and one or more foreign universities leading to official Spanish university degrees may use the European Approach provided that the country of the coordinating university has subscribed to this agreement (see Royal Decree of 28 September 2021).
National external QA requirements
The Swedish higher education institutions are evaluated by the Swedish Higher Education Authority.
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Institutional review of HEIs' quality assurance processes (audit)
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Programme evaluations
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint
European Approach not available to higher education institutions