The role of Quality Assurance in Higher Education: challenges, developments and trends
Day 1 – Thursday 15 February 2018
08:30-09:25 Registration for day 1
09:30-09:50 Welcome Remarks
Christoph Grolimund, Director, Swiss Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation (AAQ), Switzerland; President, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). Hassmik Tortian, Programme Specialist, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO. Nicolas Mathieu, Secretary General, Swiss Commission for UNESCO, Switzerland
09:50-10:30 Keynote Speaker
Patrick Aebischer, President Emeritus, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland - "Quality in higher education - a very personal view"
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-13:10 Session 1 - Quality Assurance and the Diversification of Provision in Higher Education
Facilitator: Padraig Walsh, Chief executive, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), Ireland; Advisory Council Member, CHEA International Quality Group
Keynote speaker: Ebba Ossiannilsson, Swedish Association for Distance Education, Leader of EDEN SIG for QE in TEL, ICDE Focal Points on Quality, Sweden - "Quality models in online and open education around the globe: State of the art and recommendations"
Case Study 1: George Ubachs, Managing Director, European Association for Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU); European Coordinator, ICDE Quality Network - "Towards a common understanding of QA in various forms of study provisions, including online, open and flexible education: conclusions of the EADTU-ENQA Peer learning activity"
Case Study 2: Florian Rampelt, Director of Education, Kiron Open Higher Education, Germany - "Quality assurance tools for MOOC-based curricula"
Case Study 3: Ahidoba De Franchi Mandscheff, Center of continuing education and distant learning, Geneva University, Switzerland - "The challenges of QA of distance education seen by a traditional university"
13:15-14:30 Lunch Buffet
14:30-17:15 Session 2 - The Role of Quality Assurance in Fostering Sustainable Development
Facilitator: Michal Karpíšek, Secretary General, European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE)
Keynote speakers: Peter Wells, Chief Officer, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO - "Higher Education and the way forward to ED2030"
Round table A: What Role for higher education institutions in sustainable sevelopment
- Moderation: Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, International Association of Universities; Executive Director, International Universities Bureau
- Perspectives from: Filomena Amador, Department of Education and Distance Education, Universidade Aberta, Portugal. Rietje van Dam-Mieras, emeritus professor Sustainable Development and Innovation of Education, Leiden University, The Netherlands. Tony Donohoe, Head of education, social and innovation policy, Irish Business and Employers Confederation IBEC, Ireland.Marie-Claire Graf, Student, University of Zurich; President, Swiss Association of Student Organisations for Sustainability (VSN-FDD-FSS), Switzerland. Katarina Gårdfeldt, Ex-Director, Centre for Environment and sustainability, University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University; Director-General, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, Sweden
Keynote speakers: Katharina Resch, University of Vienna, Postgraduate Center, Austria, Coordinator of the EU-funded Project UNIBILITY
Presentation of the 2017 - "Guidelines for universities engaging in social responsibility"
17:20-17:40 Conclusions of Day 1
Tia Loukkola, Director Institutional Development Unit, European University Association (EUA). Michaela Martin, Programme Specialist, International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO
Day 2 – Friday 16 February 2018
08:14-08:40 Registration for day 2
08:45-09:15 Introduction
Manos Antoninis, Director of Global Education Monitor, UNESCO - "Quality assurance for accountability in higher education – a global perspective"
09:15-12:40 Session 3 - Relevance of External Quality Asssurance: Accountability and Improvement
Facilitator: François Pernot, Director of European & International Department, High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES), France
Keynote speaker: Judith S. Eaton, President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation CHEA, USA - "Is academic quality though accreditation possible and demonstrable?"
Case Study 1: Caty Duykaerts, Executive Director, Agence pour l'Evaluation de la Qualité de l'Enseignement Supérieur (AEQES), Belgium - "For an integrated and progressive methodological approach, guaranteed by AEQES"
Case Study 2: David Avery, Senior Partnership Manager, FutureLearn, Camden, London, UK - "Relevance of today’s external quality assurance and its impact on quality of education under digital transformation at FutureLearn"
Case Study 3: Dagmar Provijn, Senior Policy Advisor, Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), The Netherlands & Flanders - "Institutional reviews in Flanders"
Round Table B: Increased student involvement in quality assurance: what impact?
- Moderation: Anna Gover, Policy & Project Officer in the Institutional Development Unit, European University Association (EUA)
- Perspectives from: Adam Gajek, Vice President, European Student Union (ESU). Fernando Galán, Policy and Project Officer, EURASHE. Geneviève Le Fort, Vice Rector for Quality, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Switzerland. David Metz, Special Advisor, Danish Accreditation Institution (AI), Denmark. Alan Tait, Professor Emeritus of Distance Education and Development, The Open University, UK
12:40-14:00 Lunch Buffet
14:00-16:15 Session 4 - Quality Assurance: Internationalisation and Mutual Recognition
Facilitator: Karl Dittrich, President, European Quality Assurance Rgister for Higher Education (EQAR)
Keynote speaker: Deirdre Lennan, International Policy Officer, International Cooperation Unit, European Commission, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture - "The next 10 years of the internationalization of higher education"
Round Table C: Meaningful internationalisation rather than just student mobility statistics
- Moderation: Sabine Pendl, Director of the Office of International Relations, University of Graz, Austria; Vice-President, European Association for International Education (EAIE)
- Perspectives from: Marta Fajó Pascual, Vice Dean of International Relations and Student Mobility, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain. Rolf Gollob, Director of the Center « International Projects in Education », Zurich University of Teacher Education, Switzerland . Jessica Shinnick, Centre of International Affairs, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Keynote speaker: Teresa Sánchez Chaparro, Chair of the ENQA Recognition Working Group, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) - "Internationalisation of QA services in Europe and the impact on academic recognition"
16:20-16:40 Special guest
Christine Bulliard-Marbach, National Councilor, President of the Commission on Science, Education and Culture (CSECN), Switzerland - “Higher education, quality assurance and lifelong learning from the policy makers’ point of view”
16:45-17:05 Conclusions of Day 2
Martin Hauser, ret. Em. Professor (Universities Fribourg/CH and Bucharest/RO); expert working with UNESCO. Maria Kelo, Director, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA); Member, EQAR Executive Board
17:05-17:15 Closing Words
Hassmik Tortian, Programme Specialist, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO. Tatiana Trufanova, Project Assistant, National Accreditation Agency (NAA), Russia. Christoph Grolimund, Director, Swiss agency of quality assurance and accreditation (AAQ), Switzerland