EQAR and its Expectations of the Reviews of Agencies
1. European Quality Assurance
Register for Higher Education
EQAR and its Expectations
of the Reviews of Agencies
ENQA Training of Agency Reviewers
Ljubljana, 22 September 2016
Colin Tück
2. European Quality Assurance Register
for Higher Education (EQAR)
Mission: enhance
transparency and trust in QA
EHEA's official register of
QAAs that comply
substantially with the ESG
Registration and periodic
renewal based on external
review
Decisions by independent
Register Committee
QA experts nominated by
ENQA, ESU, EUA, EURASHE,
BusinessEurope, Education
International
43 registered QAAs
Governmental members
without registered agency
3. Further monitoring
Registration based on external review of agency
Annual updates on reviews and countries
Substantive change reports
Third-party complaints
Periodic renewal every 5 years
4. Reviews for EQAR
registration
ENQA; 32
German
Accred-
itation
Council;
8
Others; 3
Review coordinators Requirements
Independent coordinator
Panel representing various
perspectives
Interviews with all
stakeholders
Access to all evidence
Economic model
Reviews with dual purpose,
e.g. ENQA and EQAR, or
GAC and EQAR
5. Changes in application
process (2015)
New Old
Application Before review After review
Check of eligibility First step of process Prior check optional
External review Follows eligibility check Before application
Flags No longer used In approval decision
Publication policy: Full documentation Decision only
6. Relevant documents for
reviewers
General
Policy on Use and
Interpretation of the ESG
for the European Register
To be read in conjunction with
the full text of the ESG
Replaces “Practices and
Interpretations”
New element: “Reports
should at least demonstrate”
Procedures for Applications
and specific policies
https://eqar.eu/documents/official.html
For each agency
Eligibility confirmation
letter
(via ENQA)
Previous decision
(EQAR website)
Substantive Change
Reports
(EQAR website)
Complaints
(if any, EQAR website)
8. Coverage of reviews
All external QA activities within the scope of the ESG
Obligatory and voluntary
Within the EHEA and outside the EHEA
See eligibility confirmation letters to agencies
International/cross-border activities
Clear procedures and criteria
Activities “discovered” during review
Analyse if potentially relevant
Consultative activities
Clear separation needed
Transparency: different nature, what is ESG and what is not
9. Review report
Clarity
Link between evidence and conclusions
Avoid vague statements
Separate ESG compliance and further recommendations
Dissenting opinion if major disagreement
Specifically address different activities under ESG 2.1 – 2.7
Subheadings are useful
Demonstrate that all activities comply with the ESG
Conclusion could differ between activities
Standard 2.1
Link between agency's standards and ESG 1.1 – 1.10
10. Decision-making
Conclusions for each standard Overall judgement
Review panel
Substantially compliant
Not substantially compliant
either ...
… or
Register Committee decision
Full compliance
Substantial compliance
Partial compliance
Non-compliance
Compliance
(full or substantial)
Partial compliance
Non-compliance
All standards
One or more
One or more → holistic judgement
Clarification requests to panel chair if needed
If conclusion differs from panel, explained in public decision