ACE Denmark

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ACE Denmark - an accreditation operator

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The Professional Secretariat

The Professional Secretariat (PS) is ACE Denmark’s engine room. This is where the main task is solved. PS facilitates the accreditation of all Danish university study programmes. This involves:

- preparation of a rotation plan for the programmes, - setting-up and preparation of the expert panels to assess the study programmes,

- organising university visits and - authoring the concluding reports.

In addition, PS handles a number of analysis and disse-mination tasks in relation to national and international experience and trends in the quality assurance field.

The Council Secretariat

The Council Secretariat (CS) undertakes secretarial duties for the Accreditation Council. CS prepares the Council’s meetings and facilitates its contact and dialogue with stakeholders in different areas. These include the operators ACE Denmark and EVA as well as professional organisations, universities, student orga-nisations, public authorities and the political environ-ment, e.g. in the Danish Parliament.

The Administrative Unit

The Administrative Unit (AU) sets out the framework for ACE Denmarks many activities. AU reports to the director and undertakes assignments relating to communication, law, finance and general service functions.

Networks

ACE Denmark is a member of a number of interna-tional and nainterna-tional organisations, which enables it to share knowledge, experience and practice across countries and systems.

ACE Denmark is a member of, among others, the fol-lowing networks:

- Danish Evaluation Society (DES) - Nordic Quality Assurance (NOQA)

- European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR)

- European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)

- European Consortium for Accreditation (ECA) - International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).

Please refer to page 7 for the full list of networks.

ACE Denmark - the accreditation operator

ACE Denmark is based in the old university quarter in the heart of Copenhagen. ACE Denmark’s 35

employees solve a broad range of tasks in support of our main task – accreditation of university study

programmes. As part of the Accreditation Institution, ACE Denmark is an independent government

institution comprising three secretariats and a management team.

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The Accreditation Council

As the decision-making authority, the Council is an independent unit in the Accreditation Institution. The Council makes decisions on the accreditation of all higher education study programmes in Denmark, both new and existing. The chairman and members of the Council must between them possess knowledge and experience on quality assurance, higher education, research and labour market conditions for graduates. The Council has nine members. At least one member must have international experience and one must be a student. Women and men are equally represented. The decisions of the Accreditation Council are based on recommendations from the two accreditation ope-rators, ACE Denmark and EVA. Guidelines, recommen-dations and decisions are made public on

www.acedenmark.dk.

ACE Denmark is the accreditation operator for bache-lor, master’s and professional master’s programmes. The secretariat of the Accreditation Council is placed in ACE Denmark’s organisation. ACE Denmark is charged with a number of analysis and dissemination tasks involving the collection of national and international experience of relevance to accreditation.

EVA

EVA is the accreditation operator of professional ba-chelor, academy profession and diploma programmes as well as the specialisation courses (adult education and continuing training). In addition, EVA undertakes evaluations, development activities and studies of early childhood education, primary and lower secondary education, upper secondary education, higher education and adult education.

Who is involved?

The Accreditation Institution was established by law as an independent institution in 2007 and

compri-ses the Accreditation Council as the decision-making authority and ACE Denmark as the accreditation

operator.

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International standards

An important part of the process towards increased European transparency within the field of education has been a set of joint quality assurance standards and guidelines – the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG).

The ESGs were approved at the Bologna Ministerial Meeting in 2005 in Bergen, which set up a separate fo-cus on professionalisation of quality assurance within higher education. The standards contain requirements for the universities, for external quality assurance and for external quality assurance institutions such as ACE Denmark and EVA.

The Bologna Process

The adoption of the Bologna Declaration in 1999 kicked off a process aiming to create an open space for higher education in Europe. To strengthen the European educational sector and improve its global competitiveness, the Declaration focuses on aspects such as free mobility for students and teachers, mutual recognition of degree structures and quality of edu-cation.

The process has resulted in different concrete measu-res such as the introduction of ECTS points and a joint European focus on the establishment of a qualifica-tions framework for educational levels. In Denmark, this process was followed up by the Government’s Globalisation Strategy in 2006.

World-class study programmes

External quality assurance makes a difference

External quality assurance of study programmes contributes to ensuring a stronger focus on different quality dimensions within higher education which must be acted upon. However, it is also very important that external quality assurance makes a difference to the users, i.e. applicants, students and the employers who are going to take on the graduates. This has a number of consequences for the way in which external quality assurance is organised and carried out. In line with the ESGs, it is vital that external quality assurance:

- provides users with relevant and readily accessible information

- stimulates development - is cost-efficient

- is credible.

In 2006, the Danish Government presented the Globalisation Strategy to strengthen Denmark in the

increased international competition. According to this strategy, the Danish higher education university

study programmes must rank among the best in the world. Denmark must have a highly-qualified

and competitive workforce with a high degree of mobility. To achieve this, all higher education study

programmes must meet international quality and relevance standards, the European Standards and

Guidelines (ESG).

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External quality assurance in Denmark

Danish higher education study programmes have been subjected to external quality assurance since the establishment of the Evaluation Centre in 1992. In the period 1992-1999, the Evaluation Centre evaluated the majority of the higher education study programmes in Denmark.

For universities, there were no statutory requirements to follow up on these evaluations. Before the Eva-luation Centre was set up, the presence of external examiners at exams was the only external quality assurance performed for the higher education study programmes.

Focus on accreditation

In 2000, the Evaluation Centre was replaced by EVA. Since 2004, EVA has accredited study programmes for the professional bachelor title, in addition to which EVA has undertaken accreditation of institutions wishing to use the University College designation for a period of time starting in 2005.

The accreditations were carried out according to a methodology based on the Evaluation Centre’s model; however, the difference was that they resulted in a formal quality stamp, with which study programmes were recognised at professional bachelor level. With the 2007 Accreditation Act, accreditation became the key method for external quality assurance in Denmark within higher education.

Accreditation as a method

The accreditation method involves a direct assessment of whether a study programme or an institution meets a number of predefined quality criteria. Accreditation is characterised by resulting in an authoritative approval/non-approval of a study programme or an institution. As a further result of the authoritative approval, the subject may obtain special rights such as the right to offer new study programmes and degrees.

Clear quality standards

The purpose of the accreditation system is to create the best possible and most relevant university study programmes. This is ensured by having clear and consistent standards for quality and relevance. The advantage of accreditation over other methods is that it provides a clear and, in principle, comparable assessment of whether the quality and social

relevance are satisfactory. This may not only be used in international cooperation and, thus, to strengthen the university sector in Europe; but will also be of great added value to Danish society.

Added value to society

Accreditation is of value to students who spend several years qualifying for work. They are entitled to an academically robust education and to be taken seriously. Ultimately, this will benefit the labour market which is going to take on the graduates based on relevant competences. And it benefits the rest of society which finances the education system. Denmark needs competent graduates to develop the knowledge society of the future.

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Institutions of relevance to ACE Denmark:

National authorities:

FIVU – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education UI – Danish Agency for Universities and Internationalisation UVM – Ministry of Children and Education

KUM – Ministry of Culture Denmark EVA – The Danish Evaluation Institute Scandinavian quality assurance institutions:

NOKUT – The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education

FINHEEC – The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council Högskoleverket – The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education

Iceland: Ministry of Education Specialised networks:

DES – The Danish Evaluation Society

ENQA – European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

IQA – Internal Quality Assurance (under the auspices of ENQA) EQAR – European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education

NOQA – Nordic Quality Assurance

Qrossroads – Information on accredited study programmes in Europe

ENIC/NARIC – European Network of Information Centres / National Academic Recognition Information Centres EUA – European University Association

EURASHE – European Association of Institutions in Higher Education

ESU – European Students’ Union

INQAAHE – International Network for Quality Assurance Agen-cies in Higher Education

Publications:

- Leaflet on European trends (in Danish)

- ”Accreditation – why and how?” (in English)

- Summer magazine – a quiet revolution” – focus on the ESG (in Danish)

- ”Accreditation in DK” (Leaflet for students, in Danish)

- The Accreditation Institution’s self-evaluation 2010 (in English)

- ENQA’s evaluation of the Accreditation Institution 2010 (in English)

- Guidelines for the accreditation of both new and existing study programmes (in Danish)

- The Council’s Report 2010 – 2011 (in Danish)

Please visit our website to download and order publi-cations and leaflets:

Danish: www.acedenmark.dk/viden-om English: www.acedenmark.eu

More information

Akkreditering - hvorfor og hvordan?

Læs om ekstern kvalitetssikring af uddannelser på universiteterne i Danmark.

AKKREDITERING I DK INTERNATIONAL TENDENS Akkreditering skal ses i sammenhæng med en fælles‐ europæisk bølge af kvalitetssikring. Formålet er at sik‐ re de studerende uddannelser af høj international standard, og derved styrke Europas konkurrencedyg‐ tighed indenfor vidensområdet globalt. ET STÆRKT EUROPA Akkreditering er en del af Bologna‐processen, der har til formål at: ■ styrke det europæiske universitetsområde ■ sikre gennemskuelighed ■ sikre gensidig anerkendelse af uddannelser ■ sikre fri mobilitet for studerende og forskning TILTAG FRA BOLOGNA Du kender sikkert flere af de Bologna‐tiltag, der gælder for hele Europa: ■ ECTS ■ ens gradsstruktur: 3+2+3 (bachelor, kandidat, Ph.d.) ■ internationalt karaktersystem ■ akkreditering/auditering ■ europæiske minimumsstandarder KONTAKT: W: acedenmark.dk @: [email protected] T: (+ 45) 3392 6900 ACE Denmark, Studiestræde 5, 1455 København K Produceret af ACE Denmark 2010. Version 1. kvalitet relevans gennemsigtighed internatio‐ nalisering dynamik studenterindflydelse kvalitetssik‐ ring minimumkrav merit åbenhed pædagogik jobudsigter evaluering forskningsbasering Hvad ved du om ... … i den danske universitetsverden? KONTAKT OS... ER DIN UDDANNELSE AKKREDITERET? Klik ind på acedenmark.dk hvis du vil vide mere om… ■ akkreditering af din uddannelse ■ internationalt samarbejde og udvikling ■ ACE Denmark som arbejdsplads BLIV PANELMEDLEM! Prøv kræfter med evaluering og indgå aktivt i en akkre‐ ditering? Vi søger altid skarpe studerende til vores paneler. Du skal: ■ studere på en kandidatuddannelse ■ vide noget om studieforhold Tilmeld dig på acedenmark.dk

ACE DENMARKS SOMMERMAGASIN 2011 En stille revolution: Tema om de europæiske standarder for kvalitetssikring af videregående uddannelser illustreret ved eksempler fra Sverige og Skotland.

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Studiestræde 5 DK-1455 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel.: +45 3392 6900 [email protected] www.acedenmark.dk

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