International Developments In Assuring Quality In Higher Education

Originally published in 1994, International Developments in Assuring Quality in Higher Education describes a range of national and international developments which evaluate the quality of education provided by public and private tertiary institutions. The book is based on papers from a conference organized by the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education, and held in Montreal in 1993. Regional perspectives from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, North America and Western Europe are followed by an account of national quality assurance agencies in Chile, Denmark, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Quebec, Romania, Scotland and the USA. There are also chapters on the work of UNESCO and the World Bank in promoting quality in higher education in industrialising nations. Together these papers supplement the account of international initiatives.

Originally published in 1994, International Developments in Assuring Quality in Higher Education describes a range of national and international developments which evaluate the quality of education provided by public and private tertiary institutions. The book is based on papers from a conference organized by the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education, and held in Montreal in 1993. Regional perspectives from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, North America and Western Europe are followed by an account of national quality assurance agencies in Chile, Denmark, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Quebec, Romania, Scotland and the USA. There are also chapters on the work of UNESCO and the World Bank in promoting quality in higher education in industrialising nations. Together these papers supplement the account of international initiatives.

This book analyses the range of potential measures national quality assurance agencies may have to employ to deal with the new issues caused by Cross Border Higher Education (CBHE). The expansion of CBHE raises quality problems, which are currently assessed differently depending on the countries concerned. This has been exacerbated by the growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which have developed very quickly and can be prone to rogue providers. This book considers the steps that have already been taken to ensure quality as well as those ahead. It is important that the swift growth of CBHE is not just seen as a means to increase the revenues of higher education institutions faced with decreasing public funding but also as a means to keep educational standards high.

Introduction: The background for and the ambitions of the current book -- PART 1. The Global Study. External quality assurance: The landscape, the players and developmental trends -- Quality assurance: Legitimacy, efficiency and control issues -- External quality assurance: Comparative reflections -- Institutional quality management: Comparative reflections -- PART 2. Regional Studies. QA in higher education in Africa: A synoptic view -- The Arab States: Quality assurance trends in higher education -- Internal and external quality assurance of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region -- Eastern Europe: Quality assurance trends and challenges -- Latin America and the Caribbean: Quality assurance trends and challenges -- Northern America: Quality assurance trends and challenges -- Western Europe: Quality assurance trends and challenges.

The significant growth of number of students enrolled in tertiary education institutions in the recent past decades has caused an unprecedented expansion of higher education systems. The rapid and constant social, economic and technological mutations and international competition make the importance of qualitatively well-educated citizenry and labor forces very decisive. Globalization has developed a powerful impact on the development of higher education and imposes new challenges for the organization (standards, financing, regulations). Systems of higher education tend to detach from the national models and adopt a more "global" orientation. The implementation of quality assurance is one of the recent and most decisive transformations of higher education. Different higher education systems are trying to develop assessment tools (internal and external) to improve the quality of teaching, research and extension activities, and these are either based on experiences of selected countries or are extensively country specific. The quality assurance procedures that were often dependent on national directorial traditions have gradually tended to converge and led to a setup of common tools and standards. Countries under a centralized system tend to impose a uniform and general model while decentralized systems give greater freedom to universities to set up their own quality. International rankings of universities also contribute to impose a set of transnational standards and values, which is also being considered as indicative by the stakeholders. The present book tries to look at the quality assurance mechanism, international rankings and its impact in both absolute and comparative fashion in context of 11 countries from different parts of the world.

Quality accreditation in higher education institutions (HEIs) is currently a buzzword. The need to maintain high-quality education standards is a critical requirement for HEIs to remain competitive in the market and for government and regulatory bodies to ensure the quality standards of programs offered. From being an implicit requirement that is internally addressed, quality assurance activities become an explicit requirement that is regularly audited and appraised by national and international accreditation agencies. HEIs are voluntarily integrating quality management systems (QMS), institutional and program-specific, in response to the political and competitive environment in which it exists. Through its higher education department or by creating non-profitable accreditation bodies, many governments have implemented a quality framework for licensing HEIs and invigilates its adherence based on which accreditation statuses are granted for HEIs. Global Perspectives on Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education Institutions provides a comprehensive framework for HEIs to address quality assurance and quality accreditation requirements and serves as a practical tool to develop and deploy well-defined quality management systems in higher education. The book focuses on the critical aspects of quality assurance; the need to develop a concise and agile vision, mission, values, and graduate attributes; and to develop a system that effectively aligns the various activities of the HEI to the attainment of the strategic priorities listed in the institutional plans. The chapters each cover the various facets of the quality assurance framework and accreditation agencies' requirements with practical examples of each. This book is useful for HEI administrators, quality assurance specialists in HEIs, heads of academic departments, internal auditors, external auditors, and other practitioners of quality, along with stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in quality assurance and accreditation in higher education.

The Global Trends in Higher Education Quality Assurance: Challenges and Opportunities in Internal and External Quality Assurance provides a comprehensive coverage of the trends and developments in higher education quality assurance as they refer to legitimacy/trust, efficiency and relevance.