Guidelines for Good Practice for Awarding Joint Degrees

How to award a joint degree in such a way that it is recognisable and indeed recognised? When is a joint degree regarded as an official degree in countries outside, but sometimes even inside, the joint programme consortium? How can the design of the joint degree and the Diploma Supplement facilitate access to the labour-market?

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Handbook for the training of panel members for external QA procedures

As a result of the E-TRAIN project a handbook for the training of panel members for external QA procedures has been published. The handbook has been written by Dr Gillian King.

This handbook gives practical guidelines on how to organize effective training sessions for panel members. All steps of the training process are covered in the handbook, from the planning phase up to the necessary evaluation of the delivered trainings. It is believed that both quality assurance agencies and higher education institutions, and also the individual experts, can profit from its reading.

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A coordination point for joint programmes - Feasibility Study

This report established what kind of information and assistance on quality assurance, accreditation and recognition of degrees a coordination point regarding joint programmes will have to provide. The results of ECA’s study indicate a strong demand amongst both the joint programmes and the QA agencies for a more centralised, international approach and underpin the foundation of a coordination point regarding joint programmes.

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Guidelines for the Training of Experts

This publication presents guidelines and advice on the way forward in the development of ECA's training of experts that take part in external quality assurance procedures.

The guidelines included in this publication have been brought together through input from E-TRAIN's Focus Group and E-TRAIN's Stakeholder Group. The Focus Group consists of European quality assurance experts while the Stakeholders Group consists of representatives of ECA Members.

This publication is the starting point for the development of a European approach to the training of experts that will take part in external quality assurance procedures.

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Guide to good practices for the training of experts

This publication presents an overview of current practices in the training of experts that take part in external quality assurance procedures. Included are perceived good practices; those practices that agencies consider exemplary on how they train experts that take part in their external quality assurance procedures.

The practices included in the publication are the results of an extensive survey among quality assurance agencies. The results have been analysed and condensed by E-TRAIN's Stakeholder Group, which consists of representatives of all ECA members.

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Discussion Paper: Private Higher Education Institutions and Quality Assurance (2010)

In almost all European countries private higher education institutions (PHEIs) form a considerable part of the Higher Education sector. In this discusion paper the authors (who are members of ECA WG 2) deal with the specific characteristics of the private higher education sector; with the definition of PHEIs; and with the diversity of this sector, which has been translated into a number of dimensions to classify the PHEIs. Based on these dimensions the risks regarding the accreditation or evaluation of the programmes the PHEIs deliver are discussed. The discussion paper concludes with some recommendations for the QA agencies in evaluating PHEIs.

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Joint programmes: Too many cooks in the kitchen? (2010)

In June 2010 the TEAM II Dissemination conference Joint programmes: too many cooks in the kitchen? was organised in Graz, Austria. During this conference important topics related to accreditation of joint programmes and recognition of qualifications by these programmes were discussed.

In this conference publication, we have given room for important stakeholders of European higher education such as the European Commission, EUA, EURASHE, ESU and ENIC-NARICs to present their perspectives on these issues. We also raise some discussions which are important for future developments of accreditation of joint programmes and recognition of qualifications awarded by these programmes.

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How to assess and accredit joint programmes in Europe (2010)

Joint programmes are confronted with several quality assurance systems in different countries. Normally, these joint programmes have to undergo the external quality assurance procedures of all the countries involved.
Could it however be possible for the relevant quality assurance agencies to cooperate? And if they cooperate, can they reduce their procedures to one single accreditation procedure regarding a joint programme? If so, what should the outline of such a procedure be?

These and similar questions are addressed in this report: "How to assess and accredit joint programmes in Europe - Methodologies tested and proposed by ECA's TEAM² project"

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The recognition of qualifications awarded by joint programmes (2010)

Does an ENIC-NARIC recognise a degree awarded by a joint programme that is offered by a consortium of three institutions, if the joint programme is not recognised as such in one of the countries concerned? ENIC-NARICs of the countries where the joint programme is recognised would say yes. Most ENIC-NARICs however would regard this joint programme arrangement as a means for a non-recognised programme or its institution to flee the national regulatory framework and thus they would not recognise that degree.

THis report is the result of a survey among ENIC-NARICs and the ENIC-NARIC workshop. It is published in the framework of the TEAM2 Project and funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme.

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The recognition of qualifications from joint programmes: the perspective of HEIs (2010)

The number of joint programmes in Europe is still increasing. Consequently the number of degrees awarded by these programmes are also increasing. We know that national recognition authorities have diverging practices when recognising such degrees. However, such degrees are also being recognised by credential evaluators at HEI's.

What do we really know about their practices? What is e.g. the current state of affairs when institutions receive applications from graduates of these types of programmes, and need to ‘recognise’ qualifications awarded by joint programmes?

The report below is seeking to give new insight into these and similar issues.

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Bologna Beyond 2010 - Position Paper (2009)

ECA's Position Paper regarding the Bologna Follow-Up Group's "Bologna Beyond 2010" Report was published in advance of the Ministerial Meeting in Leuven 2009.

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State of the art on learning outcomes (2009)

This report provides an overview of the current state of affairs regarding the use of learning outcomes in accreditation procedures. It builds on a survey among ECA members and was produced by ECA's Working Group 4.

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The Benefits of Mutual Recognition of Accreditation and Quality Assurance Decisions (2008)

This publication followed the ECA Barcelona 2007 conference during which 12 mutual recognition agreements were signed.

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Advancing mutual recognition of accreditation decisions (2007)

Bologna Process London 2007 - Position Paper

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Bologna Process Bergen 2005 - Position Paper (2005)

Accreditation in the European Higher Education Area
In preparation for the Conference of European Ministers for Education in Bergen, 2005

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