University Accreditation Commission SELF-EVALUATION REPORT

Transcription

1 University Accreditation Commission SELF-EVALUATION REPORT Poznań, November 2008

2 SELF-EVALUATION REPORT Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. History of UAC and its role in the Polish higher education system 3. Methodology and procedures used by UAC 4. Standards concerning the accreditation of a field of study 5. Internal quality assurance 6. Compliance of UAC s operations with European Standards and Guidelines 7. Analysis of weak and strong parts of UAC 8. Future plans 9. List of abbreviations 10. List of tables 11. List of appendices 12. Appendices 2

3 1. Introduction The external review, the University Accreditation Commission is subject to, has the following purposes: University Accreditation Commission wants to confirm in this way its exceptional position in Poland as the best non-governmental quality assurance agency in the country and to send to the university sector the confirmation that it observes European standards and procedures and operates with the methods accepted by European agencies and European Quality Assurance Register. It also intends to improve its position in Europe and especially throughout the Bologna countries. The University Accreditation Commission as a quality assurance agency wishes to be included in the European Quality Assurance Register, therefore it is required to undergo external review to demonstrate that it operates in full or substantial compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG) as well as it fulfills the conditions specified by the European Quality Assurance Register. In this way the University Accreditation Commission also wants to fulfill the requirement of a regular audit, as specified in paragraph 3.8 of ESG. The University Accreditation Commission also finds in the review procedure, thus in preparing the SER and then in collecting opinions and remarks of the panel of experts, an excellent opportunity to confront its practice with the European standards, to identify its strengths and weaknesses and to improve its activity in such a manner.

4 2. History of UAC and its role in the Polish higher education system General information On October 18 th, 1997 the Agreement of Polish Universities Concerning the Quality of Education was signed. The Agreement aimed at the creation of the standards of education quality at universities according to those of the European Union, upgrading of the quality of education and the promotion of high-quality courses of studies. As a result of this agreement on January 31 st, 1998 according to the resolution of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities (CRPU) the University Accreditation Commission was established. The goals of UAC s activity were: the creation of an accreditation system of courses of studies at universities, promotion of students mobility both in the national and international dimension, enhancement of the education quality, creation and implementation of the standards of education quality at universities and recognition of the HEI s ensuring high quality of education. UAC carries out its mission by conducting assessments of the quality of education offered by higher education schools interested in obtaining the confirmation of this quality. Accreditation is voluntary and it is accorded to a concrete field of study (not to the whole institution or its department). The activity of UAC covers Polish universities, but it may also cover other Polish higher education schools upon their request for the accreditation of their courses of studies. UAC consists of vice-rectors of the schools-signatories of the aforementioned Agreement. The tenure of UAC members is equal to the term of academic authorities (in years years, from this year 4). In its 10 years of activity UAC accorded the accreditation in 40 fields of study and accomplished more than 400 accreditation procedures. As the accreditation is accorded generally for 5 years, UAC acting in a regular way has already started reaccreditation procedures. About twelve hundred professors as experts preparing standards and members of assessment groups were involved in the activity of UAC. Basic principles of the activity of UAC Polish universities have always been seen as a special part of the Polish higher education sector. The university education has traditionally been strongly related to research, and academic excellence was the most important factor for the assessment of both the faculty and the students. For many years (till the beginning of 90s), due to a limited enrollment and the system of entry examinations, university students represented the top group of school graduates and were additionally subject to a strong selection during the first two years of their university career. The graduates were often better educated than those leaving other European universities, but at the same time in terms of the number of students per total population, Poland was located far behind other developed European countries. 4

5 This situation started to change quite dramatically in the last decade of the twentieth century. Despite a decrease in the funding of the higher education sector there has been a dramatic increase of the number of students, which has, since then, at least tripled. A growing demand for higher education was accompanied by the development of the private education sector and by a rapid expansion of the system of fee based extramural studies at state-supported and private schools. Therefore, very quickly, a growing concern has been observed with the ways of keeping the quality standards among many of the academics. Universities still hold their special position among all higher education institutions in Poland. There is only 19 of them (the total number of higher education schools in Poland is about 400), but they provide education to more than 30% of all students in our country. Although subject to pressures resulting from the economic situation and the increasing number of students, universities still cultivate the old academic culture and try to evolve in order to respond to challenges of the new socio-economic situation, needs of the society, and more generally, of their external environment. Always willing to extend co-operation with foreign schools, universities were enthusiastic to make the most of the opportunity given by the Socrates program. However, while preparing to introduce the ECTS points, universities realised that what was really needed was a more general solution ensuring compatible and agreed quality standards, thus allowing for the mobility of students, and for a general solution to assurance and management of the quality of higher education. Very soon it became clear that the only way to achieve those goals was to create a system of accreditation. The problem was urgent and since the Ministry of Higher Education was not capable of delivering a solution in the foreseeable future it was decided to establish an organisation that, at least for the time being, would help familiarise academic communities with the idea of accreditation. A formal decision was made during the meeting of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities in January 1998, after an intensive preparatory work of the task committee formed by a group of vice-rectors from all universities and other academic schools. That decision established four basic principles of the university accreditation: accreditation would be voluntary evaluation would involve fields of study rather than the whole institutions or their departments evaluation criteria should be developed by representatives of the faculty from the units involved - separately for different fields of study the final outcome of the evaluation should be of a yes-no character rather than a multi- grade classification. It was also agreed that the necessary conditions to apply for accreditation would be the implementation of an internal system of the quality management and the ECTS. Why voluntary? Academic communities are not so much in favour of having any external bodies influencing their policies. Polish universities, similarly to other universities around the world are not necessarily fond of rapid changes - in other words - they prefer evolutions to revolutions. Therefore, it was assumed that the introduction of the university accreditation might be successful only if the faculty members accept the need for it and decide to join in voluntarily. If so happens accreditation will result in a creation of a kind 5

6 of a good quality club and as such it will attract new members seeking recognition of their qualities. One of the basic principles of accreditation - voluntary accreditation - adds a positive feature to it. Why fields of study rather than institutions? All higher education institutions in Poland are noticeably differentiated and this is true also for Polish universities. They differ in terms of size and structure. Also, within each university one finds outstanding departments of which a given institution can be proud and such units which, so to say, deviated from their path to excellence. Therefore, accreditation of whole universities or faculties would not create an atmosphere of a serious self-assessment and improvement, but would rather stimulate protective behaviour with a final result of having all universities accredited without inducing real changes. Moreover, such unspecific accreditation would have to be based on very general criteria and it is well known that using macroscopic parameters one often gets a false picture of events on a microscopic level. Finally, there are several areas of education subject to intensive and sometimes even revolutionary changes: librarianship is evolving towards information management and services, environment protection has nearly as many meanings as there are schools teaching it, also there is a general trend for introducing all kinds of interdisciplinary studies, new curricula etc. One can expect that at least in some fields of study evaluations will have to be based on flexible and changing standards. This is yet another reason for having assessment criteria designed by representatives of a given faculty from units involved - separately for different fields of study. Without an agreement on compatibility of curricula and harmonised standards, an increase of students' mobility both within a university and also between different schools would be unimaginable. Such an agreement is an indispensable necessity for opening channels of continuous education and especially for switching students from one level of the university education to another. Two-grade scale of evaluations The creation of an objective, quantitative assessment of the quality of education is simply inconceivable. Moreover, even if it were possible, the process of "measurement" would take a prohibitively long time, probably about ten years. Thus, the period between data collection and its future assessment in a subsequent situation would make collected information unreliable because the data would simply become void and therefore of little use. Up until now, the only tested method is peer review - a practice most commonly used in evaluations of scientific projects and publications. Such an evaluation, however, by its nature is of a qualitative rather than quantitative nature. Therefore, the natural outcome of such an assessment should be good enough or not good enough. Now, after 10 years of activity we are ready to introduce the system of four-grades evaluations (outstanding, good, acceptable, non-acceptable). Serving the universities but opening for other schools As it follows from the above discussion UAC has been established to help universities sustain the quality of education, support the development of new courses, help universities solve problems of student mobility (on a national and international scale), 6

7 finally - organise continuous education and in the long run - ensure international recognition of Polish degrees and certificates. However, it was clear from the very beginning that university accreditation should be extended also to other schools, especially for collegiate schools and higher education institutions offering the same courses as those taught at the universities. The majority of colleges offer their students the Bachelor's degree and therefore many of the graduates want to continue education at universities. Secondly, there are majors taught mostly at schools other than universities and in such cases it would only be natural to think of creating joint accreditation paths instead of doubling efforts and creating independent accreditation systems. The main activities of UAC Accreditation is the main area of UAC s activity. First units were accredited upon preparing the necessary documents and process principles in June Throughout ten years of its activity the University Accreditation Commission performed over 400 accreditation processes in 39 fields of study and within the scope of Artes Liberales Academy program conducted jointly by several universities. In total 393 certificates of high education quality have been issued, including 23 for the period of two years. Accreditation renewal processes are currently being conducted. A significant complement of the UAC s activity is MOST Student Mobility Program, adopted by CRPU in 1999 and which was commenced in the academic year 2000/2001. This program enables students from the universities forming UAC to do part of their studies (one semester or one academic year) in another higher education institution which is a member of UAC so that it counts as part of their course of studies. Nearly one thousand people take advantage of such a possibility every year. All organizational activities related to the implementation of this program (determination of the student number limits for each higher education institution, coordination of applications, delivery of the necessary documents etc.) are performed by the UAC s Office. The University Accreditation Commission also provides a convenient platform for experience exchange and exchange of information on issues important for the academic community in Poland. Within the activities of UAC projects of electronic registration of candidates for studies have been developed, interventions have been made to resolve urgent issues (e.g. teacher standards), common positions of universities have been developed (e.g. in the scope of teaching foreign languages or requirements to be fulfilled by a higher education institution in order to provide the macro-field of study). A survey concerning the stage of the implementation of the Bologna Process in Polish universities was performed twice (2004 and 2006). Since 1999 the University Accreditation Commission has annually issued a Bulletin containing basic data on higher education institutions signatories of the Agreement Concerning the Quality of Education. Apart from the Bulletin many valuable publications devoted to the evaluation problems, such as: - Ewaluacja a jakość kształcenia w szkole wyższej [Evaluation and the education quality in a higher education institution], edited by Anna Brzezińska, Jerzy Brzeziński and Andrzej Eliasz (SWPS Publishing House, 2004) 7

8 - Ewaluacja procesu kształcenia w szkole wyższej [Evaluation of the teaching process in a higher education institution], edited by Anna Brzezińska and Jerzy Brzeziński (Humaniora Foundation Publishing House, 2000) - Proces Boloński zbiór dokumentów [Bologna Process Set of documents] (UAC, 2004) have been issued within the framework of UAC. The University Accreditation Commission cooperates with other organisations or institutions for education quality assurance. The Agreement on mutual recognition of the accreditation of the chemistry fields of study was concluded between UAC and the Accreditation Commission for Technical Universities in the fall of In 2008, UAC concluded an agreement on mutual accreditation of chemistry fields of study with the European Chemistry Network. First common accreditation certificates were granted this year in June. UAC was a co-founder of the Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEE Network) and participates in its activities on a regular basis. In prof. Stanisław Chwirot, the chairman of UAC, was a member of the Network s Steering Committee, whereas, since 2006 prof. Marek Wąsowicz, the present chairman of UAC, has held a seat on the Steering Committee. 8

9 3. Methodology and procedures used by UAC The accreditation process conducted by the University Accreditation Commission is: voluntary the accreditation system is developed for a given field of study only when at least five units of various universities providing this field of study are interested in the accreditation diverse the education quality standards are developed by experts selected from among persons proposed by communities interested in accreditation. UAC required only that these standards were not lower than those resulting from the corresponding legal acts and imposed the necessity to implement the ECTS system and the internal system for the education quality assessment and management. The experts who develop standards are suggested that these should be significantly higher than the legally required minimum so that the university accreditation may lead to the establishment of the High Education Quality Club positive the organizational unit requests for the education quality certificate and knows the standards to be fulfilled in order to obtain the accreditation. The preparation of the request involves deep self-evaluation. Further, its outcomes are verified by the evaluation team inspection. Moreover, in case of the refusal to grant the accreditation the decision is not publicly announced temporary the CRPU s education quality certificate is granted for a definite period of time for five years in principle and in exceptional cases for two years. After the expiry of this period the entire accreditation process is repeated and an additional assessment criterion is the implementation of the evaluation team s recommendations mentioned in the minutes from the previous inspection open the basic goal of the university accreditation is the promotion of the high education quality at the higher level. Therefore, the university accreditation system is open for each school providing a field of study for which there are accreditation procedures (participation in the accreditation process is presented in Table no.1). 9

10 Table no.1 ACCREDITATION GRANTED IN Total Catholic University of Lublin Pontifical Academy of Theology A. Mickiewicz University University of Gdańsk Jagiellonian University Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University University of Łódź M. Curie-Skłodowska University Nicolaus Copernicus University University of Opole Rzeszów University University of Szczecin University of Silesia Warsaw University University of Białystok University of Warmia and Mazury University of Wrocław University of Zielona Góra University of Gdańsk and Medical Universtity of Gdańsk University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz AGH Universtity of Science and Technology Pułtusk Academy of Humanities The Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow The Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Pedagogical University of Cracow University of Podlasie Collegium Civitas Gdańsk University of Technology Cracow University of Technology Technical University of Łódź Poznań University of Technology Rzeszów University of Technology Szczecin University of Technology Silesian University of Technology Warsaw University of Technology Wrocław University of Technology Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław Academia Artes Liberales program Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities Warsaw University of Life Sciences

11 The accreditation procedure for a given field of study is commenced when at least five universities file accreditation requests. The number of higher education institutions requesting accreditation may be lower in case of unique fields of study provided by few higher education institutions (such as musicology). The requirement of five units requesting accreditation does not apply in case of the accreditation renewal for a successive period. So far UAC regulations relate to fields of study mentioned in the list announced by the Minister of Science and Higher Education. Many universities currently established, with the Minister s consent, specific fields of study (such as acoustics at Adam Mickiewicz Universtity); other similar requests await the decision to be made. This means that, in the future, UAC will need to consider the possibility of conducting accreditation processes for such new fields of study as well (thus at the request of one higher education institution). The development of the accreditation system for one field of study lasts from one to one and a half year. The accreditation of a field of study for which standards have already been developed lasts approximately 4 months. The specificity of the UAC s activities involves inclusion of persons appointed by the academic community into the accreditation process. The particular standards of the assessment are therefore developed with the participation of the representatives of stakeholders. The faculty (department) requesting accreditation for a particular field of study presents at the same time a list of candidates for the group of experts, evaluation teams and appellate teams to UAC. The list of candidates should include two independent academics employed in the higher education institution requesting accreditation and three independent academics from the outside this institution. Moreover, the list should contain basic information about the achievements of the candidates (along with a written consent to become candidates). From all of the proposed candidates UAC selects a group of experts, between six to twelve individuals, including the chairman of the group and evaluation teams, after the standards are approved. The group of experts and the evaluation teams are elected for the period of four years. The task of the group of experts is to prepare, within two months since the appointment, particular standards of the quality of education for a given field of study. These standards should meet the aforementioned requirements and generally specify higher requirements than those resulting from the commonly effective regulations. The particular standards are subject to approval by UAC. During the first three years of UAC s operation the group of experts carried out a systematic review of the standards of the quality of education which was related to the need to specify and modernize the contents of the curriculum of a given field of study. The University Accreditation Commission has developed a new formula of standards, greater importance is attached to the determination of education goals and the examination of their outcomes. The new formula of standards (through the introduction of a greater number of the assessed education process elements, the teaching staff and the infrastructure supporting the teaching process) should also facilitate diverse final assessments (according to the four degree scale), which will provide better knowledge about the extent of compliance with four groups of standards related to: the teaching staff with research taken into consideration, the teaching process, the internal quality assurance system and the teaching infrastructure. 11

12 The unit is assessed by the evaluation team including from 3 to 5 individuals. Its composition (approved by UAC) is selected in such a way as to avoid crossassessment of the accredited units. Moreover, a rule applies that an individual employed in a higher education institution under assessment cannot be a member of the evaluation team. Members of the evaluation team choose a chairman from among their team, who directs the works of the team. The tasks of the evaluation team include conducting a comprehensive assessment of the education in a specific field of study in a given higher education school on the basis of the general and particular standards prepared by the group of experts. Within this scope the basic material is a request for accreditation, which is essentially the selfevaluation report prepared (according to the model suggested by UAC) by the unit of the higher education institution subject to the assessment. The necessary element of the assessment is the inspection of the higher education institution which allows to verify the information contained in the self-evaluation report and also involves meetings with the academic staff and students and the management of the faculty and of the higher education institution. After the completion of the inspection the evaluation team prepares a written report and presents it to UAC along with a request to award accreditation, to defer accreditation until specific conditions are met or to refuse accreditation. The period between the appointment of the team and the submission of the final report cannot exceed 6 months. Upon investigating the report prepared by the evaluation team UAC makes the relevant decision through the adoption of a resolution. In case the evaluation team prepares a request for two-year accreditation, deferment of the accreditation or its refusal, the Presidium of UAC transfers the report to the higher education institution concerned, which can raise its comments and objections (within 30 days). When the higher education institution questions the findings and the conclusions of the report, UAC appoints an appellate team. The appellate team consists of three to five individuals selected from among the candidates proposed by the higher education institutions who had not previously participated in the accreditation process. The appellate team may change the evaluation of the evaluation team and formulate a different conclusion. UAC makes resolutions in an open voting by the majority of votes with the presence of at least 50% of its members. By March 24th, 2007 (i.e. till the change of the Principles of the accreditation process) the resolutions of UAC on accreditation, its deferment or refusal were transferred to the approval by the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. From March 24th, 2007 the resolutions of UAC on granting the accreditation, refusal or deferment of accreditation are final in relation to processes commenced after this date. CRPU has merely the competence of the final instance to which the higher education institution concerned may appeal against the UAC s decision only in case of the breach of procedures. In such a situation the case returns to UAC which repeats the accreditation process. The accreditation of the University Accreditation Commission is granted for five years (and in exceptional cases for two years). During this period UAC monitors the compliance with standards of a given unit and in case explicit deviations are found it may upon the application of the aforementioned procedures adopt the resolution to revoke the education quality certificate granted to the unit. Upon the expiry of the five (or two) year period the unit concerned may request the renewal of the accreditation. 12

13 The accreditation process is paid. The accreditation fee is PLN and is paid when the request for accreditation is filed. The total amount is alloted for the remunerations of experts, members of evaluation and appellate teams and for the coverage of inspection costs. 13

14 4. Standards concerning the accreditation of a field of study 4.1 The development of accreditation standards The particular accreditation standards are determined for individual fields of study by a group of experts, taking into consideration the requirements stipulated in the Resolution on principles of the accreditation process of CRPU of January 31 st, Two necessary prerequisites have been stipulated in the Resolution: having implemented the internal principles of stimulation and assessment of the quality of education having developed a credit system compliant with the ECTS. The first requirement results form the basic task of UAC which is the stimulation of quality improvement and aims at the introduction of an organized and increasingly professional management of education quality into the Polish higher education institutions. The second requirement was the expression of the strategic policy of CRPU intended for the stimulation of the participation in the European student and employee exchange programs and fast and full preparation of the higher education institutions for integration with the European education systems. The implementation of ECTS is also aimed at establishing a framework for the stimulation of student mobility between domestic higher education institutions. The main general requirement of the guidlines contained in the CRPU s Resolution of 1998, on principles of the accreditation process, is compliance with the staff requirements specified by UAC for a given field of study and compliance with the particular standards developed by the group of experts. At that time, the principle of maintaining the relationship between teaching and research resulting from the tradition was recognized as important to the extent that it was included in the Magna Charta of European Universities (Bologna 1988). The other general requirements introduced in the CRPU s Resolution were as follows: the compliance of classes (lectures, seminars, practices, labs etc.) with the academic specialization and research achievements of academics conducting them employed in the higher education institution as full-time employees the participation of professors in the performance of the curriculum the number of students in a given field of study per one independent academic for which the higher education institution providing the field of study under accreditation is a primary full-time workplace. The maximum numbers will be specified by the group of experts the compliance of the study program in a given field of study and the cycle of studies, including particular subjects and issues, with the scope of knowledge and skills, which are necessary to achieve the European education standards the graduate profile specified by the organizational unit providing a given field of study examination of the students opinions about the conducted teaching classes 14

15 the teaching infrastructure including, in particular, the availability of literature recommended for the individual subjects to students, in the library of the higher education institution the modernity of the teaching technologies applied and the adequacy of the equipment of laboratories and other teaching rooms to the number of students having documented cooperation with important academic centers providing a similar field of study; in case of foreign higher education institutions lecturer and student exchanges. Entrusting the development of particular standards to the UAC s groups of experts results from the following assumptions: each community can and should develop standards adequate to the requirements relating to the teaching in a given field of study (geographers field classes; physicists, chemists, biologists, biotechnologists laboratory classes; specialists in humanities requirements concerning the operation of the library) many disciplines of education are subject to dynamic changes of curricula and contents, which should be reflected in the periodic reviews of standards university education is inherently associated with scientific research. Thus, the research level is one of the unit assessment criteria and the requirements concerning the quality of the staff must be determined adequately to the situation in various disciplines, always in such a way that they should indicate the level higher than the average and stimulate development. The accreditation standards have been subject to dynamic changes resulting from amendments to legal regulations concerning higher education, the performance of tasks imposed by the Bologna Process. In 2002 the Minister of Science and Higher Education introduced education standards for the majority of fields of study; therefore, experts could refer to them as being in force and they stopped determining the curriculum contents. In the same year the Minister of Science and Higher Education specified requirements to be fulfilled by the unit for establishing and conducting a field of study and indicators concerning the number of students per one titular professor or doctor with a postdoctoral degree conducting the field of study. The UAC s particular standards contained requirements much higher than those introduced by the Minister of Science and Higher Education within the scope of a number of teaching staff (a number of professors or doctors with the postdoctoral degree with a speciality corresponding to the field of study) or a number of students preparing diploma theses per one professor or doctor with a postdoctoral degree, the size of student groups or representing all specialities in the field of study by employees with the postdoctoral degree. The presence of ECTS package was the condition for the possibility of requesting accreditation, which motivated its development and implementation of the national MOST student mobility program, assuming the settlement of student s achievements on the basis of ECTS credits to be used not only in case of foreign student exchange. ECTS was introduced into the Polish higher education system in

16 Three-cycle organization of studies was introduced through the Higher Education Act of July 2005 and standards for successive fields of study contain conditions for the accreditation of 1 st and 2 nd cycle of studies. In recent years UAC also attached importance to the formation of friendly study environment for the disabled people by universities. After 9 years of activity, the performance of a few hundred accreditation processes, the University Accreditation Commission developed suggestions of amendments in the Resolution on the accreditation process. These concern both the preliminary requirements of the accreditation and the particular requirements which are indications for groups of experts how to develop standards for individual fields of study. The Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities approved these amendments on March 7 th, They are valid for fields of study for which particular standards are currently developed and will be approved in the future. The first is journalism and social communication. 4.2 The effective accreditation standards Preliminary requirements Upon the amendment of the CRPU s resolution on principles of the accreditation process the preliminary requirements are stipulated in the article 22 of the CRPU s Resolution on principles of the accreditation process (of January 31 st, 1998, as amended). The preliminary requirements are as follows: the unit requesting accreditation of a field of study meets all requirements of the education standards for a given field of study specified by the Minister of Science and Higher Education, it meets conditions required by the Minister of Science and Higher Education to conduct a field of study the unit implemented an internal quality assurance system and the ECTS system (a credit system compliant with the European system (ECTS) had been introduced for a given field of study) the field of study and the level of education fulfill the staff requirements adopted by UAC in particular standards for a given field of study the unit requesting accreditation of a field of study or the unit in which the unit requesting accreditation is located is entitled to award doctoral degrees and meets particular standards concerning: the academic staff the teaching process the teaching infrastructure the internal quality assurance system The academic staff The evaluation of the academic staff, conducting classes in the accredited field of study, shall concern: 16

17 the education level and the improvement of the academic teachers qualifications teaching achievements of academics achievements of academics the work of academics for the home university Appendix no. 4 - Appendix no. 7 to the Resolution: Criteria for the evaluation of the academic staff The teaching process The evaluation regarding the teaching process shall concern: the compliance of the study program, the teaching program and the forms of classes in a given field of study and the level of studies, including particular subjects and issues, with the scope of knowledge and skills which are necessary to achieve the profile of a graduate the staff teaching classes, especially the compliance with the type of classes with the research specialization and research achievements of the academic teachers conducting classes the method of informing about the study program and the curriculum the organization of seminars and the quality of diploma theses scholarly activity of students. Appendix no. 5 - Appendix no. 8 to the Resolution: Criteria for the evaluation of the teaching process The teaching infrastructure The evaluation regarding the teaching infrastructure shall concern: the adjustment of the auditoriums, teaching rooms, laboratories and their equipment to the number of students the IT infrastructure 1) libraries, publishing houses and printing houses, academic bookstores 2) administrative facilities connected with the teaching process 3) student facilities 4) conditions for the teaching of the disabled. Appendix no. 6 - Appendix no. 9 to the Resolution: Criteria for the assessment of the teaching infrastructure The internal quality assurance system The evaluation regarding the operation of the internal quality assurance system shall concern: the method of verifying the assumptions of the study program and supervising the results of its execution the method of informing about the teaching offer and the contents of this information 17

18 the method for determining the roles of all participants of the teaching process, including students 1) the method of student evaluation 2) the method of evaluating the teaching staff Appendix no. 7 - Appendix no. 10 to the Resolution: Criteria for the evaluation of the internal system of quality assurance. 4.3 Accreditation standards for fields of study Various Polish higher education institutions (technical, medical, artistic) provide 118 fields of study. A few dozen of them are provided by universities. UAC established accreditation systems for the majority of them (33 fields of study, 6 philological specialities and 1 program). Units providing them expressed a will to undergo the assessment of the community. Some university fields of study such as law, mathematics, administration did not request accreditation yet. Appendix no. 8 Accreditation granted in Appendix no. 9 Accreditation granted in Appendix no. 10 Accreditation granted in Appendix no. 11 Accreditation granted in Appendix no. 12 Accreditation granted in Appendix no. 21 Accreditation standards for the philosophy field of study Appendix no. 22 Accreditation standards for the oceanography field of study Appendix no. 23 Accreditation standards for the biotechnology field of study Appendix no. 24 Part I Accreditation standards for the first-cycle studies in chemistry, process engineering and chemical technology fields of study Part II Accreditation standards for the second-cycle studies in chemistry, chemical technology and chemical and process engineering fields of study Appendix no. 25 Accreditation standards for the slavic speciality in the philology field of study 18

19 5. Internal quality assurance The efficiency of managing people at an institution, and especially UAC, largely depends on the fact if people responsible for the results of work are able to create conditions that motivate employees to the attainment of common goals. It concerns three aspects: the impact on the group chaired by them, the impact on the other people s behavior and on goals to be achieved. Outstanding leaders, commited to work employees who form competent teams and cleary set goals are important determinants of leadership, which is an element of the system at UAC. The single-person bodies of UAC are as follows: the chairman of UAC and the secretary. The collegial bodies are: Presidium of UAC, composed of the Chairman and their deputies and Commission, composed of 19 vice-rectors appointed by universities and a person appointed by the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. The Vice- Rectors are appointed in particular higher education institutions according to the their own statutes. They shape the education quality culture in their own higher education institutions. The Secretary participates in the works of the Presidium of UAC. Groups of experts and evaluation teams are the bodies appointed by UAC for each field of study subject to the accreditation. The Chairman, Presidium and Commission develop a long-term policy of UAC concerning the achievement of goals and perform operational activities UAC meets chairmen of groups of experts and chairmen of evaluation teams. It takes decisions about their composition, approves particular standards and grants accreditation. The Secretary and UAC Office play a particular role. Their tasks include organizing the current work of the commission, maintaining contacts with higher education schools interested in accreditation, providing organizational and technical conditions for the works of UAC, groups of experts and evaluation teams. The Office maintains a web site each year issues the Bulletin How to obtain the mark of quality, organizes seminars for evaluation teams, participates in the organization of evaluation team inspections, maintains contacts with groups of experts, evaluation teams and higher education schools, conducts the national MOST student mobility program in cooperation with Universities-signatories of the Agreement for Education Quality. Appendix no. 2 The Resolution of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities of January 31 st 1998 concerning the principles of the accreditation procedure Table no. 2 The University Accreditation Commission location and its bodies Throughout over ten-year of its activity UAC aimed at the achievement of goals stipulated in its mission: stimulation of the improvement of the quality of education determination of the teaching standards development of an accreditation system for fields of study 19

20 Table no. 2 The University Accreditation Commission location and its bodies 20

21 Throughout successive years these goals were achieved by UAC which formulated long- and short-term tasks: from the popularization of the accreditation idea among the Polish academic community to the establishment of the accreditation of the fields of study. The University Accreditation Commission developed models of documents, internal principles concerning the monitoring of the compliance with the standards, the renewal of accreditation, principles of the appointment of evaluation teams. In 2009 UAC will commence the 3 rd round of accreditation of the first accredited fields of study. The Universtity Accreditation Commission appointed as many groups of experts as there are fields of study, large philology specialities and programs it accredited. The groups of experts are composed of professors or doctors with a postdoctoral degree who enjoy prestige in the academic community and ensure reliable and responsible performance of tasks. In case of unique fields of study (e.g. oceanography) professor Blanchard from the University in La Rochelle (France) (an expert in this field) was invited to be an expert. For the first round of accreditation of the journalism field of study the experts were: professor Gerd G. Kopper from the University in Dortmund (Germany) and an illustrious representative of the journalist practice (Mr Stanisław Podemski, ed.). The group of experts and the evaluation teams are elected for the period of four years. After the expiry of this period the groups of experts are appointed for the next tenure. Partly, the same individuals are appointed by the community to the groups of experts. The evaluation teams are composed of experts and other individuals appointed by experts from the list of individuals proposed by higher education institutions according to article 10. Students who are members of evaluation teams represent the student government of the higher education institution providing the field of study under assessment. The University Accreditation Commission cooperates with the local accreditation commissions within the framework of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Academic Schools they are members of the CRPAS Accreditation Commission. UAC cooperates with the Accreditation Commission of Technical Universities within the scope of the accreditation of chemical fields of study (the commissions concluded the agreement for mutual recognition of accreditation of chemical fields of study); the informatics field of study (provided by both universities and universities of technology) was accredited in cooperation with experts of this commission. UAC also cooperates with the Accreditation Commission of the Foundation for the Promotion and Accreditation of Economics Fields of study (a representative of UAC is a member of this commission). The University Accreditation Commission participates in meetings of the Quality Forum organized each year. UAC is a member of the CEEN Network. In 2008 UAC signed an agreement with the European Thematic Chemistry Network Assotiation on the common accreditation of chemical fields of study. Apart from the UAC s evaluation teams aslo international experts were members of evaluation teams. Eurobachelor Label of Chemistry and Euromaster Label of Chemistry accreditation were granted to 5 units (Appendix no. 15). UAC introduced internal principles of the appointment of groups of experts and evaluation teams. The members of these bodies are selected by UAC from the list of individuals proposed by units providing a given field of study. The unit proposes two its own professors or doctors with a postdoctoral degree and three from the outside (candidates are members of the Polish Academy of Sciences, employees of other types 21

22 of higher education institutions such as universities of life sciences, of technology, of economics and medical universities and scientific institutes). The principles of the University Accreditation Commission for the appointment of evaluation teams are shaped by experience they are composed of experts determining the standards and other individuals selected by this group from the list of individuals proposed by higher education institutions providing a given field of study. From among them teams counting 3-5 individuals are selected during a special seminar organized in order to prepare candidates for the role of evaluators of the specific field of study provided by the specific higher education institution. The teams are appointed by the very community according to the following principles: no member of a team can be a person who was or is employed in the higher education institution subject to the assessment, An individual may request to be excluded from the suggested team composition due to the broadly defined conflict of interests, mutual assessments are unacceptable (team A goes to B, B goes to C, C to A). various specialities provided within the framework of a given field of study are, if possible, represented in the team (Appendix no Appointment of expert groups and evaluation teams). UAC developed mechanisms for the preparation of the evaluation teams for the execution of difficult and peculiar tasks seminars for the evaluation teams. At these seminars members of evaluation teams obtain detailed information on tasks to be performed, on psychological conditions, on further procedures and experience of their predecessors (in case of the renewal of accreditation after the expiry of a five year period) or of similar fields of study or the model one psychology is presented. A member of the Presidium of UAC or a Secretary of UAC participates in the seminar. UAC has its own internal principles of monitoring the compliance with accreditation requirements (Appendix no. 20 Monitoring the compliance with the standards). UAC introduced a suggested schedule of the inspection of the evaluation team (Appendix no. 14). UAC has its own internal principles of the renewal of accreditation (Appendix no. 18). The participants of the accreditation process are: management and academics of the units providing the field of study requesting accreditation at universities or in other public or non-public higher education schools (if they request such accreditation), students, students of doctoral studies. During the accreditation process members of evaluation teams meet academics and students (which is obligatorily included in the inspection schedule) and additionaly with academics and students during inspections of selected classes. During these meetings the participants in the accreditation process share observations concerning the education quality and the conducted accreditation process. Members of the evaluation team exchange opinions and formulate recommendations. They transfer them to the Rector s management at the final meeting. 22