Assessment of the degree programmes in Public Administration at Leiden University

Transcription

1 Assessment of the degree programmes in Public Administration at Leiden University QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University / March 2011 / Q252

2 Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities (QANU) Catharijnesingel 56 P.O Box RA Utrecht The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0) Fax: +31 (0) Internet: European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) P.O. Box AE Enschede The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0) Fax: +31 (0) Internet: QANU/EAPAA 2 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: General Part 5 1. About this report 7 2. Task and composition of the assessment committee 7 3. Working method of the assessment committee Domain-specific requirements Public Administration, Public Governance, and Governance and Organization (PAGO) Programmes, Part II: Programme Report Report on the bachelor s programme Public Administration and the master s programme Public Administration at Leiden University 21 Appendices 63 Appendix A: Curricula vitae of the members of the assessment committee 65 Appendix B: Composition of the assessment committtee per site visit 69 Appendix C: Programme of the site visit to Leiden University 71 Appendix D: Joint QANU-EAPAA assessment framework 73 Appendix E: List of materials studied by the committee during the site visit 79 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 3

4 4 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

5 PART I: GENERAL PART QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 5

6 6 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

7 1. About this report In this document, the Public Administration 2010 assessment committee reports its findings. The report consists of two parts: a general part and a programme report. The assessment committee assessed fifteen degree programmes offered by seven universities in the Netherlands. Its findings are laid down in separate reports for the various universities. The assessment was jointly organized and conducted by QANU (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities) and EAPAA (the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation). The purpose of the co-operation between QANU and EAPAA was to enable programmes to apply for accreditation both at national level and at European level. The general part, which is the same in every report produced by the assessment committee, summarizes the tasks, the composition, the documentation and the working methods used by the committee. This part of the report also contains the domain-specific requirements for Public Administration, Public Governance and Governance and Organization Programmes that were used by the assessment committee. The programme report describes the evaluation and assessment of the programmes offered by a specific university. The programme part is structured in accordance with the accreditation criteria of the NVAO (the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders) and EAPAA. 2. Task and composition of the assessment committee 2.1. The task of the assessment committee The task of the Public Administration 2010 assessment committee was to evaluate and assess fifteen degree programmes at seven universities in the Netherlands on the basis of an assessment framework which incorporates the accreditation criteria defined by the NVAO (the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders) and EAPAA (the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation). The assessment committee was expected to assess relevant aspects of quality of the programmes involved on the basis of information provided by the faculties and programmes in self-evaluation reports and of the outcomes of discussions held with representatives of various target groups during the site visits. The assessment committee has been requested to assess the following programmes (including the Dutch name when applicable, the modes of study and the CROHO registration number): Utrecht University Bachelor s programme Public Administration and Organization Science (Bestuurs- en organisatiewetenschap, full time, 50007) Master s programme Public Administration and Organization Science (Bestuurs- en organisatiewetenschap, full time and dual, 60446) Tilburg University Bachelor s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 56627) Master s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 66627) QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 7

8 Leiden University Bachelor s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 56627) Master s programme Public Administration (full time, 60020) Radboud University Nijmegen Bachelor s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 56627) Master s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 66627) Erasmus University Rotterdam Bachelor s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 56627) Master s programme Public Administration (full time, 60020) VU University Amsterdam Bachelor s programme Public Administration and Organization Science (Bestuurs- en organisatiewetenschap, full time, 50007) Master s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time and part time, 66627) University of Twente Bachelor s programme Public Administration (Bestuurskunde, full time, 56627) Master s programme Public Administration (full time, 60020) Master s programme European Studies (full time, 69303) 2.2. The composition of the assessment committee The assessment committee consisted of four chairs and twelve members. The site visits were conducted by a chair and four additional committee members. The list below contains the names of all members of the assessment committee and specifies in which assessments each of them participated. Appendix A lists short curricula vitae of the committee members. Chairs: prof. dr. C. (Christoph) Reichard, emeritus professor of Public Management, Universität Potsdam (DE), for the assessment of the programmes of Leiden University, Radboud University Nijmegen, VU University Amsterdam and the University of Twente; prof. dr. J.J. (Jaap) Boonstra, professor of Organizational Change and Learning at the University of Amsterdam, professor of Organizational Dynamics at Esade Business School in Barcelona, for the assessment of the programmes of Utrecht University; prof. dr. J.A. (Hans) de Bruijn, professor of Public Administration at Delft University of Technology, for the assessment of the programmes of Tilburg University; prof. dr. H. (Harald) Sætren, professor of Administration and Organization Theory, Universitetet i Bergen (NO), for the assessment of the programmes of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Members: prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç, professor of Public Finance, Univerzita Mateja Bela (SK), for the assessment of the programmes of Utrecht University, Tilburg University, Leiden University, Radboud University Nijmegen and Erasmus University Rotterdam; 8 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

9 prof. dr. J. (John) Loughlin, professor of European Politics at Cardiff University (UK), as of 1 October 2010 Fellow and Affiliate Lecturer in Politics at St Edmund's College, Cambridge University (UK), for the assessment of the programmes of Utrecht University and Tilburg University; prof. dr. T. (Tony) Bovaird, professor of Public Management and Policy, University of Birmingham (UK), for the assessment of the programmes of Leiden University and Radboud University Nijmegen; prof. dr. H. (Harald) Sætren, professor of Administration and Organization Theory, Universitetet i Bergen (NO), for the assessment of the programmes of VU University Amsterdam; prof. dr. M. (Michael) Hill, emeritus professor of Social Policy, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) and visiting professor at Queen Mary College, University of London (UK), for the assessment of the programmes of Erasmus University Rotterdam, VU University Amsterdam and the University of Twente; prof. dr. M. (Mirko) Vintar, professor of Informatics in public administration and e- government, Univerza v Ljubljani (SI), for the assessment of the programmes of the University of Twente; mr. drs. A.J. (Arthur) Modderkolk, former director of the Province Noord-Brabant, former secretary of De Open Ankh foundation, for the assessment of the programmes of Utrecht University, Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Twente; dr. A.A.M. (Louis) Meuleman, secretary/director of The Advisory Council for Research on Ppatial Planning, Nature and the Environment (RMNO), for the assessment of the programmes of Tilburg University and Leiden University; dr. C.J.M. (Kees) Breed, Secretary of the Council for Public Administration and the Council for Financial Relations, for the assessment of the programmes of Erasmus University Rotterdam; drs. H. (Henk) Nijhof, party chairman Groen Links, for the assessment of the programmes of VU University Amsterdam; T. (Tom) Degen, student Public Administration at Leiden University, for the assessment of the programmes of Utrecht University, Tilburg University, Erasmus University Rotterdam and VU University Amsterdam; J. (Janneke) van der Heijden, student Public Administration at Tilburg University, for the assessment of the programmes of Leiden University, Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Twente. Given the large number of degree programmes to be assessed and the short period during which the site visits were planned, QANU and EAPAA decided at an early stage to work with a pool of committee members. For each site visit, QANU and EAPAA selected a committee from this pool. Several factors were taken into consideration for the composition of the committees, including the independence of the committee members, any potential conflicts of interest, the availability of the committee members, and their content-related expertise. Appendix B contains a list of the composition of the committee at the various site visits. Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, QANU staff member, acted as overall project coordinator of the assessment of the Public Administration programmes. He also served as secretary for the site visit at Tilburg University. Secretary for the site visit at Utrecht University, Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Twente was drs. L.C. (Linda) te Marvelde, QANU staff member. Secretary for the site visit at Leiden University was drs. R.L. (Reinout) van Brakel, advisor at PWC, on secondment at QANU for this purpose. Secretary for the site visit at Erasmus University Rotterdam was drs. J. (José) van Zwieten, advisor at PWC and on QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 9

10 secondment at QANU. Secretary for the site visit at VU University Amsterdam was drs. R.L. (Renate) Prenen, self-employed advisor. As required by the protocols used by QANU and EAPAA, all members of the assessment committee signed a declaration of independence to establish that they were in a position to judge independently, without any bias, personal preference or personal interest, and that their judgement would be made without undue influence from the institutes or the programmes to be assessed or other stakeholders. The secretaries of the assessment committee signed a declaration of independence as well. 3. Working method of the assessment committee 3.1. General preparations for the assessment In the autumn of 2009, the representatives of the programmes in Public Administration and Organization Science decided that they would use the upcoming assessment of their programmes for a dual purpose: to obtain accreditation both from the NVAO, the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders, and from EAPAA, the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation. They invited Theo van der Krogt, secretary-general of EAPAA, and Sietze Looijenga, deputy director of QANU, to develop a proposal for the assessment to achieve this purpose. Theo van der Krogt and Sietze Looijenga developed an assessment framework which combined the requirements of the NVAO and EAPAA. They used the NVAO s framework for existing degree programmes as a starting point and added standards and criteria for aspects of the programmes which are covered by EAPAA s assessment framework, but which do not play a role in the NVAO s framework. The joint assessment framework consists of six themes and 26 standards, five of which refer to requirements imposed by EAPAA exclusively. The joint assessment framework has been formally approved both by the NVAO and EAPAA. It served as the starting point for the process of self-evaluation conducted by the programmes that were assessed. The self-evaluation reports all follow the structure laid down in the assessment framework. The representatives of the programmes in Public Administration and Organization Science produced a domain-specific framework of reference which was formally approved by EAPAA. The assessment committee used this domain-specific framework as the contentrelated starting point of its assessment. QANU and EAPAA agreed on dividing the task of composing the assessment committee. EAPAA approached experts in the field of public administration and organization sciences from its own network on the basis of a proposal from the participating programmes, while QANU contacted potential student members and representatives of the professional field. Because the site visits were planned in a rather limited period of time, it was not possible to establish a committee which had the same composition at every site visit. Similarly, it was not possible to appoint one secretary who supported the committee during each site visit. Sietze Looijenga, overall project coordinator, was present at all site visits to prepare committee members for their task and to enhance the continuity and consistency of the committee s assessment. 10 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

11 3.2. Preparations for the site visits Linda te Marvelde, staff member of QANU, checked the self-evaluation reports of the programmes to ensure that they could serve as a starting point for the assessment. She established that all reports fulfilled the relevant criteria of relevance and completeness. QANU s secretariat distributed the self-evaluation reports and the additional information among the appropriate committee members. The committee members were asked to phrase their remarks, comments and questions regarding the self-evaluation report and the additional documents prior to the site visit. In addition to the self-evaluation reports, the members of the committee who participated in a specific site visit read two theses for each programme. In addition, committee members studied additional theses during the site visit. The secretary of the committee selected the theses from the list in the self-evaluation report, making sure that the theses to be distributed represented the full range of marks assigned. The members of the committee received QANU s checklist for the assessment of theses to ensure that their assessments were comparable and took the relevant aspects into account. The committee members paid particular attention to the scientific level and quality of the theses, to the accuracy and transparency of the assessment and to the assessment procedure used. Before each site visit, Sietze Looijenga (and, in most cases, Linda te Marvelde) had a meeting with representatives of the programmes to be assessed to discuss and agree on the programme for the site visit and various practical arrangements. The programme was the same for all site visits, with one exception. In the case of the University of Twente, which offers the master s programme European Studies next to the regular master s programme in Public Administration, the committee had an additional interview with students of this particular master s programme. In all cases, the programme included an office hour. Both staff members and students were informed about this opportunity to speak to the committee confidentially at least one week before the site visit The site visits Every site visit started with a preparatory committee meeting, in which the committee members discussed the self-evaluation report, the additional documentation and the bachelor s and master s theses they had received prior to the site visit. The committee also discussed and agreed on the questions and issues to be raised in the interviews with representatives of the programmes and various groups of stakeholders. In every case, the committee conducted interviews with the board of the faculty which is responsible for the programmes, the management of the programmes (programme director or coordinator, chair of department or institute et cetera), students, lecturers, graduates, representatives of the professional field, members of the Education Committee and the Board of Examiners, and the study advisor(s). In addition, the members of the committee studied additional materials made available by the programmes, including learning materials, written exams, assignments and other assessments, minutes of meetings of the Education Committee and the Board of Examiners, and it explored the electronic learning environment provided by the programmes. After the last interview with the board of the faculty offering the programmes, the committee held another internal meeting, in which it discussed its findings, phrased its conclusions and gave its assessment of the themes and standards making up the assessment framework. Finally, the chairman of the committee presented the committee s preliminary findings. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 11

12 3.4. After the site visits After each site visit, the secretary of the committee produced a draft version of the report about the programmes which had been assessed and presented it to the members of the committee who had participated in the site visit. The secretary processed all the corrections, remarks and suggestions for improvement provided by the committee members and thus produced the first final draft report. QANU s secretariat sent this draft report to the institution and the faculty offering the programmes, inviting them to check the report for factual errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies. The secretary forwarded the comments and suggestions provided by the institution and/or faculty to the chairman of the committee, and, if necessary, to the other committee members as well. The (chairman of the) committee decided whether the comments and suggestions were incorporated in the report or ignored. On the basis of the committee s decisions, the secretary compiled the final version of the programme report Assessment of the themes and standards As agreed beforehand by all parties involved, including EAPAA, the assessments for the themes and standards of the joint QANU-EAPAA framework followed the criteria and guidelines laid down in the NVAO s accreditation framework for existing degree programmes. This means that the committee assessed the standards on a four-point scale (unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good, excellent), while it used a two-point scale (unsatisfactory, satisfactory) for the themes. In accordance with the formal framework, the committee interpreted the scale for the standards in the following way: unsatisfactory: the programme does not meet the requirements for basic or generic quality; satisfactory: the programme meets the requirements for basic or generic quality; good: the programme exceeds the requirements for basic or generic quality; excellent: the programme exceeds the requirements for basic or generic quality by far and is a clear example of (international) best practice. The committee used satisfactory as its default score for the standards. 12 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

13 4. Domain-specific requirements Public Administration, Public Governance, and Governance and Organization (PAGO) Programmes, 2010 Introduction The study of public administration has developed and expanded into a broad interdisciplinary body of knowledge, which tackles a variety of themes and practices on public administration, governance and organization (PAGO). The academic community in the Netherlands acknowledges that throughout the years this field has widened and now includes not only public administration but also governance and organization. This entails a diversity of approaches on the one hand, but on the other, the conviction that these approaches are connected and interrelated and worthwhile to keep together. Programmes may share basic components, but also may differ to express their specialisation in this broadened field. This parallels developments in the profession. Alumni are increasingly challenged in a wide variety of fields that put varying demands regarding professional knowledge, skills and attitudes. In this frame of reference we will address this field as the PAGO-field: including public administration, public governance, and governance and organization. In this domain-specific frame of reference we start with a brief summary regarding the development of the PAGO-field and argue that the broadening of the field is due to various exogenous and endogenous changes. Accordingly we will outline the programme principles of PAGO-studies as well as related learning outcomes. Developments The societal impact of processes like globalization, individualization and ICT has altered the nature of public problems. Issues like risk and security, environment and ecology, economics and welfare, and nationality and culture are high on the societal and political agenda. The impact of such problems has consequences for the abilities of (national) governments. It challenges them to reach beyond traditional approaches. This has led to manifold changes in political and administrative landscapes. New expectations and demands are expressed towards politics and administration, including moral standards. New criteria for performance have emerged that aim at value for money, new businesslike concepts of management, and reformed public service delivery. There have been new interpretations of democracy and accountability, and of relations between state, civil society and the market. Government and public administration not only changed its own practices, it also changed its relationship with society. Public administration thus moved towards governance, i.e. dealing with public problems through dispersed networks of organizations and actors, including social institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGO s), and private companies. Government and public policy are still relevant, but new outlooks and mechanisms are designed and used to make things work. These developments have also changed the field of study of PA. Scholars started to use new concepts to understand developments, broadening categories such as governmentgovernance, and crossing boundaries between the public and private world. These concepts include focused attention to issues like interdependence, ambiguity, networks, contextuality, governance, and the role of institutions, trust and integrity. These developments invited researchers to cross disciplinary borders and take aboard theories, concepts, methods and ideas, from organization studies (structure, culture, management, strategy, networks, et cetera) as well as other bodies of knowledge (new fields within economics, political science and QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 13

14 sociology, communication theory, ethics and philosophy, geography, international relations and law, et cetera). Another issue that needs to be highlighted is that the study of Public Administration in the Netherlands includes several fields that elsewhere are situated in political science. The PAGO-studies not only focus on classical PA issues, but also on public organization and management issues, as well as on subfields like public policy, policy making, public governance, public culture and ethics. Scholars of these issues are part of the broad PA community, in research as well as in educational programmes. Resulting Fields of Study This PAGO-community consists of three fields of study. The first embodies the classical features of the discipline, concentrating on politics, administration and the public sector. Public administration often started within the context of (departments of) politics and/or law, with an emphasis on the study of government and bureaucracy as well as public policymaking and implementation. The second emerged through the fact that public interests and public problems are increasingly tackled by a multitude of public and private actors. It broadened the scope of study to include nongovernmental actors, as part of the often complex public-private, multiactor networks that deal with collective and public interests. The third field focuses on questions of governance and organization that surpass the traditional public-private boundaries. It includes the study of private actors in social contexts. This orientation links the worlds of business administration and public administration and pays attention to what we know about management, strategy and behaviour in corporations. This approach can be labelled as governance and organization. PAGO today is a broad multi- and interdisciplinary field of science. The classical core disciplines of political science, law, sociology and economics are important, and there is an increasing involvement of disciplines that focus on organization, culture, and communication. Also, challenging new interchanges with bodies of knowledge in (for example) social and organizational psychology, planning studies and geography, philosophy and ethics and history have demonstrated added value. The PAGO-community acknowledges that there are different views regarding object and focus of the field of study. For instance: is PAGO about knowledge by description, explanation and prediction, or is evaluation and improvement the prime goal? Or, how do we relate to and communicate with practitioners in public (and private) administration, governance and organization? Rather than excluding certain views, the PAGO-community welcomes a variety in approaches, ideas and outlook. This variety is also visible in the PAGOprogrammes. Defining programme principles PAGO-programmes are academic programmes aiming at the development of academic knowledge, skills and attitude in students that are relevant for understanding public administration, governance and organization. They pay particular attention to social and political contexts and developments, relevant (interdisciplinary) bodies of knowledge, aim at developing research capacities, and contribute to working professionally in public and private domains. In this frame of reference we have listed elements that are to be seen as building blocks for academic programmes. As far as knowledge is concerned, contemporary 14 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

15 programmes encompass various disciplinary views supporting the PAGO-domain, and various sorts of domain-specific knowledge. As far as skills are concerned, they encompass skills for applying and reflecting on scientific methods and approaches, integrating knowledge and skills for working in public domains/organizations. As far as attitude is concerned, it encompasses critical stances and moral stature. Each of these subfields is briefly elaborated in order to circumscribe specific learning outcomes at Bachelor and Master levels (see next paragraph). Knowledge Knowledge of society and changing contexts Activities in public domains influence, are influenced by, and interact with social systems and developments. On the one hand, they constrain public sectors, as they reproduce values, traditions and culture(s). On the other hand, they call for public action; (new) facts, events and problems, fuelled by new technologies, pose new challenges. PAGO-programmes enhance understandings of social structures and behaviours, societal trends and changes. This calls for an awareness of political, sociological, cultural, historical, philosophical, ethical, economic and judicial contexts. Knowledge of political and administrative systems The organization, processes and activities in public domains are shaped by and within political systems. PAGO-programmes should devote attention to the institutions, structure, organization and activities of such political systems, at different levels (local, regional, national, transnational). PAGO-programmes encompass political and social theories, including those regarding legitimacy and the democratic design and functioning of organizations in public domains. They also pay attention to the application of these theories in everyday practice. Knowledge of (public) policy, decision making and implementation Governance for societal problems includes many insights derived from various bodies of knowledge, ranging from high-level decision-making to everyday service delivery. PAGOprogrammes address both classic and contemporary theories, methods and techniques of policy-making, management, decision-making, and their implementation in everyday practice. Knowledge of organizations and organizing principles Public domains entail a variety of organizations, some organized as classical government bodies, some as between the public and private sectors, while others have been influenced by and/or have taken on the characteristics of private organizations. There is a growing awareness that policies and service delivery must be organized and require well-trained and motivated professionals. This leads to a more explicit emphasis on organizational studies. PAGO programmes entail knowledge of organizational concepts/perspectives on organizing, domains of managerial activities, insights in organizational change and management tools. Knowledge of governance and networks The powers and authorities to intervene have become less governmental and more distributed. Due to organizational fragmentation, the rise of network relations, and the spread of (normative) governance models e.g., joined up government, public-private partnerships, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) multiple parties have become active in dealing with public problems and representing public interests. PAGO-programmes pay attention to new relations and new governance regimes, having both theoretical and empirical consequences. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 15

16 Skills Research skills The role of knowledge in (public) policies and organizations is crucial for its effectiveness, especially for understanding the complexity of contexts, structures, outcomes and behaviours. PAGO-programmes include methods of quantitative and qualitative social-scientific research to analyse and also emphasise a clear understanding of contextual aspects. Integrative skills Public domains can be analysed from different angles; theories are grounded in various disciplines. The quality of research and capacities of civil servants and other functionaries in public domains depend on integrative skills, i.e. abilities to combine, integrate and apply different bodies of knowledge. PAGO-programmes devote attention to and provide opportunities to practice integrative skills. Cooperation and communication skills The functioning of the public domain largely depends on the skills of actors to exchange ideas, to negotiate when necessary, and to cooperate in constructive ways. Civil servants and other functionaries use a repertoire of skills and attitudes to communicate ideas to audiences of experts as well as laymen. Cooperation is at the heart of PAGO and includes a sense of responsibility and leadership. PAGO-programmes devote attention to and provide opportunities to practice cooperative and communicative skills. Attitude Critical stances PAGO programmes are academic programmes that not only facilitate cognitive learning and skill development, they also develop critical powers. Students are taught how to critically analyze arguments used by others, how to relate fashionable statements, e.g. by politicians, to more traditional as well as to scientific insights, and how to reflect upon political and normative implications of policy choices and organizational design. PAGO-programmes devote attention to the development of a constructive, critical attitude. Moral stature and professionalism The eloquence and credibility of PAGO has two features. First is its ability to approach societal problems in effective ways, but second is the degree to which government and governance principles serves as a moral compass. PAGO-programmes train students in this respect for occupying positions in governance regimes (public and private), they also train students in developing appropriate or professional conduct. This is a matter of guarding values, such as accountability and integrity, and of practicing values, such as entrepreneurship and innovation. Academic learning outcomes for PAGO studies The broad fields identified and circumscribed in the above are to be seen as programme criteria and, thus, as the building blocks of a programme. Each programme will emphasize a specific selection of these building blocks to impose specific learning outcomes on students. In the table below we list such learning outcomes. This is a generic list, both applicable for bachelor and master programmes. The difference between both studies is in the degree of complexity; in the level of analysis; and in the independence of the student. Here we follow the distinctions made in the so-called Dublin descriptors. In this system a distinction is made between first cycle learning for bachelors and second cycle learning for masters. First cycle learning involves an introduction 16 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

17 to the field of study. It aims at the acquisition and understanding of knowledge, ideas, methods and theories, elementary research activities, and basic skills regarding communication and learning competences. At second cycle learning we find a deeper understanding of knowledge; problem solving skills are developed for new and unexpected environments and broader contexts. Here students can apply knowledge in various environments. At the master level we also expect a well-developed level of autonomy regarding the direction and choices in a study. In generic bachelor PAGO-programmes most of the learning outcomes will apply that are listed below. Master programmes, however, usually have a much stronger thematic focus and may especially focus on a particular set of these learning outcomes that are best suited for that specialisation, but not covering all the learning outcomes listed below. We propose that the learning outcomes for the bachelor level, apply for the master level in the sense that students demonstrate that they are capable of: dealing with increased situational, theoretical and methodological complexity; demonstrating increased levels of autonomy and self-management; applying ideas, methods, theories in research and problem solving; mastering the complexity that is inherent to the field of specialisation. In the table below we have organized the learning outcomes according to the Dublin descriptors. We present the main components of the Dublin descriptors in italics, and accordingly the proposed learning outcomes. Knowledge and understanding 1 (Bachelor) [Is] supported by advanced text books [with] some aspects informed by knowledge at the forefront of their field of study 2 (Master) provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing or applying ideas often in a research context (Basic) knowledge of (changing) societal contexts (Basic) knowledge and understanding of the distinctive nature of organization, policy making, management, service delivery and governance in PAGO domains (Basic) awareness of political traditions and politics (Basic) knowledge and understanding of the discipline, PAGO-paradigms, intellectual tradition, theories and approaches (Basic) knowledge and understanding of multi-actor and multi-level concepts A general (basic) understanding regarding the dynamics and processes of actors in public domains, how these processes influence society and vice versa Applying knowledge and understanding 1 (Bachelor) [through] devising and sustaining arguments 2 (Master) [through] problem solving abilities [applied] in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts (Basic) capacity to work at different levels of abstraction (Basic) skills in problem definition and problem solving in the PAGO domain (Basic) ability to distinguish normative preferences and empirical evidence (Basic) skills in combining, integrating and applying knowledge QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 17

18 (Basic) insight into the scientific practice (Basic) capacity to select a suitable theoretical framework for a given empirical problem (Basic) skills in combining normative and empirical aspects (Basic) capacity to build arguments and reflect upon the arguments of others (Basic) awareness of relevant social, ethical, academic and practical issues Making judgments 1 (Bachelor) [involves] gathering and interpreting relevant data 2 (Master) [demonstrates] the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate judgements with incomplete data (Basic) ability to formulate research questions on problems in the PAGO-domain (Basic) knowledge regarding research on social-scientific positions and thinking (Basic) training in and application of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods social science research (Basic) abilities to collect data and to derive judgments thereof Communication 1 (Bachelor) [of] information, ideas, problems and solutions 2 (Master) [of] their conclusions and the underpinning knowledge and rationale (restricted scope) to specialist and non specialist audiences (monologue) (Basic) capacity to use argumentative skills effectively (Basic) capacity to function in multi- and interdisciplinary teams in several roles (Basic) capacity to function effectively in governance, organization, management, policy and advocacy settings (Basic) capacity to use communicative skills effectively in oral and written presentation Learning skills 1 (Bachelor) have developed those skills needed to study further with a high level of autonomy 2 (Master) study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous Learning attitude (Basic) capacity to reflect upon one s own conceptual and professional capacities and conduct 18 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

19 PART II: PROGRAMME REPORT QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 19

20 20 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

21 1. Report on the bachelor s programme Public Administration and the master s programme Public Administration at Leiden University Administrative data Bachelor s programme Public Administration: Name of the programme: Public Administration CROHO number: Level: bachelor Orientation: academic Number of credits: 180 EC Degree: Bachelor of Science Mode(s) of study: full time Location(s): Leiden Expiration of accreditation: 30 July 2012 Master s programme Public Administration: Name of the programme: Public Administration CROHO number: Level: master Orientation: academic Number of credits: 60 EC Degree: Master of Science Mode(s) of study: full time Location(s): Leiden, Campus Den Haag Expiration of accreditation: 30 July 2012 The site visit of the assessment committee to the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University took place on 27 and 28 September Structure and organization of the faculty The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences provides five full-fledged degree programmes embodied as institutes: Anthropology, Educational Sciences, Political Science, Psychology, and Public Administration. The management of the faculty consists of a dean and three other members, including a student member. The dean chairs the Faculty Board. The Faculty Board exercises general management and is responsible for managing the faculty, which includes personnel, financial and other managerial tasks such as housing. The Faculty Board is accountable to the University Governing Board. The Faculty Board can set guidelines for the administration of the faculty institutes. The dean is responsible for the coordination and integration of the decision making of the faculty boards. The dean also works in the administration of the university as a whole and thus participates in the deans meetings together with the University Board. In addition to the Faculty Board, there is a Faculty Council consisting of 14 members. Students and personnel each elect half of the number of members. The Faculty Council advises the Board and has the right of approval in regard to labor relation issues. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 21

22 Both the bachelor s and master s programmes are provided by the Institute of Public Administration, which is part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Leiden University and is embedded into Leiden University s Graduate School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Administrative Board (Instituutsbestuur) is in charge of the Institute of Public Administration and consists of a scientific director, who acts as chair and at most two other members. The chair is appointed from within the professors of the institute. The two other members are appointed from the staff; one of them is the Institute s educational director. The Board also includes a student member. The Board manages the workflow of the employees, and stimulates the connection between education and research in the field of Public Administration. The Scientific Director is responsible for the coordination and integration of the decision making of the Board as a whole is and in charge of personnel policy and research. The Administrative Board meets every two or three weeks. During these meetings, the office manager supports the operations of the Board. The scientific director regularly consults with the Dean and the other scientific directors of the faculty. The director of the bachelor s programme also participates in the Permanent Committee of the Directors of Education where he/she also represents the interests of the programme when needed. The master s programme Public Administration at Leiden University is offered at two locations: at Leiden (fulltime) and at the Campus Den Haag (fulltime, but taught in the evening). The goals and qualifications for the master s programme are the same at both locations, although the programme in The Hague offers a more limited range of specializations and is only taught in Dutch. In addition to the programmes described in this report, the Institute of Public Administration also offers a Public Administration Research Master s degree The assessment framework Aims and objectives Standard 1: Mission-based accreditation [EAPAA] The programme should state clearly its educational philosophy and mission and have an orderly process for developing appropriate strategies and objectives consistent with its mission, resources, and constituencies. From the mission a set of credible educational objectives should be formulated. Interpretations of the EAPAA standards of this accreditation must be justified in light of the programme s mission and objectives and success in fulfilling its mission Description The self-evaluation report contains a reflection on the historical background of the programme, the specific philosophy of the programme and the distinctive features of the mission and objectives. A substantive change in the organization of the programme resulted from the adoption by the University in 2006 of a uniform year schedule that replaced the trimester system with the semester system, with each semester consisting of two blocks of eight weeks in length. An important change was the reintroduction of the internship in the programme, in line with one of the recommendations of the previous assessment committee. From September 2009, 22 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

23 Leiden bachelor s students can complete electives in various disciplines (for example in law, political science, history and economics) as part of their programme. The Institute offers at the moment three minors: the minor Bestuurskunde: Overheid en Samenleving (Public Administration: State and Society), the interdisciplinary minor Law and Public Administration and the interdisciplinary minor Security. The Institute has defined the following mission: The Institute of Public Administration in Leiden offers internationally oriented research and academic training focusing on the core issues of public sector governance and public administration. The Institute has the dual ambition of offering an outstanding curriculum both nationally and internationally as well as becoming internationally recognized for its research in Public Administration. In terms of general goals the Institute defines its curriculum with a focus on the distinctive nature of government in the public sector, which can be characterized by principles of democracy, reliability and good government. Based on the mission statement and its core elements, the distinctive profile of the curriculum offered by the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University is summarized as follows: Public Administration is an independent discipline emphasizing the classic themes of public administration, fitting the academic tradition of Leiden University; the programme has a clear international orientation, including, among other things, multilevel governance in Europe; the programme provides substantial room for reflection upon the academic study of Public Administration and its central themes; and the programme has close relations with the seat of government in The Hague, among others ways, through an institutionalized collaboration with The Hague Campus of Leiden University. The programme in Leiden aims to educate students to become scientifically trained public administration experts in a broad sense. The programme is academic, which means that it gives more emphasis to imparting critical and rigorous analytic and research skills than to the other knowledge and skills necessary for a public service career. The Institute of Public Administration focuses on classic or core themes of study. These include the functioning of various political-administrative systems both nationally and internationally, the relationship between politics and administration, the organization of the civil service, issues of ethics, and policy analysis. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of institutions for the functioning and reform of political-administrative processes. According to the self-evaluation report, the goals of the programme and the curriculum requirements have recently been reconstituted in light of both the Dublin descriptors and a report developed by a number of PAGO (public administration, governance, and organization) programmes in Dutch Universities entitled Domain Specific Frame of Reference for Public Administration, Public governance, and Organization (PAGO) Programmes. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 23

24 The self-evaluation report mentions that the Institute made some modest revisions as a result of this report. The resulting goals and academic objectives have been the goals and objectives for a number of years. The match between both existing and future staff capabilities and the curriculum has been taken into account in this revision as well. In a comprehensive study on the history of the University of Leiden, written by Willem Otterspeer, the essence of a university is described in various metaphors. The author uses the title Bastion of liberty for his book on Leiden University, and this to some extent reflects the atmosphere the committee encountered during its site-visit in its encounters with staff and students. Teacher autonomy both in the delivery and content of courses, and the freedom that students experience in choosing their course of study, is reflected in many of the documents and discussions. During the site-visit, members of staff further clarified the academic, classic and international orientation, as these are considered somewhat unique in comparison to other programmes in public administration, according to the self-evaluation report. The emphasis upon the academic study of Public Administration and its central themes is clearly visible: the programme provides substantial room for reflection, analytical and research skills. Staff explained that the emphasis on classic themes does not mean that recent developments and new forms of government and governance are undervalued or less important. The combination of current practices and views of the classic thinkers is sought throughout the curriculum. Assessment The mission statement is rather general. Although the mission statement is further clarified under the domain specific requirements, the relationship between the general mission statement, course objectives and intended learning outcomes is not very explicit. The international orientation is visible in various ways, although not directly by the number of international staff or students. In many courses, a comparative approach is used in which practices are compared to situations in other countries. With the exception of the track in The Hague, the primary language of instruction is English. This is another indication of the internationalized perspective of the Leiden programme. The process by which the mission statement and goals are evaluated, revised and accepted has not been discussed extensively. The committee accepts that the importance of a general mission statement is relatively modest, within an Institute that has had an established programme for many years. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 2: Subject-/discipline-specific requirements [NVAO & EAPAA] The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the requirements set by professional colleagues, both nationally and internationally and the relevant domain concerned (subject/discipline and/or professional practice). Description The Institute defines its curriculum for both the bachelor s and master s programme with a focus on the distinctive nature of government in the public sector, which can be characterized by principles of democracy, reliability and good government. The self-evaluation report presents 24 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

25 a comparative overview of the different Public Administration departments and institutes in the Netherlands, highlighting their different orientations and specific accents in their educational programmes. The curricula of both the bachelor s and master s programme aim to meet the following academic objectives: 1. The curriculum provides a broad international orientation that allows students to analyze the dynamics and problems of governance in Europe and beyond in different institutional settings, using different perspectives; 2. The curriculum approaches Public Administration as an independent discipline with a broad intellectual tradition that draws on a variety of insights, including those of law, political science, economics, and sociology; 3. The curriculum uses social science research in order to promote the accumulation of knowledge and includes analytical and conceptual skills grounded in an attitude of scholarly independence. Based on its mission statement and these academic objectives, the institute identifies the following professional objectives for both curricula: 1. The curriculum focuses on problem solving in policymaking aimed at influencing social behavior in particular directions; 2. The curriculum provides a generalist perspective so that students can function in the public sector in a mediating capacity among specialists; 3. The curriculum develops argumentative skills that allow students in Public Administration to distinguish and use different ideas as well as to formulate conclusions based on a discussion of these ideas; 4. The curriculum contributes to communication skills in writing as well as presentation. The bachelor s programme and the master s programme intend to achieve a number of learning outcomes. These are described under three building blocks: A. Knowledge and understanding (kennis en inzicht), B. Applying knowledge and understanding (toepassing), C. Communication and skills (vaardigheden). To illustrate the level of objectives described, the following learning outcomes are described in the bachelor s programme under Communication and skills: 3.1. Basic capacity to function effectively in any general administrative position related to governance in the public sector 3.2. Basic capacity to function in multi- and inter-disciplinary teams as a broker between specialists; 3.3. Basic capacity to use argumentative and communication skills in oral and written presentation; 3.4. Critical attitude and international orientation; 3.5. Practical experience and knowledge of public administration through internships and research. Further details of learning outcomes under building blocks A and B, are listed in the selfevaluation report. The master s programme aims to achieve similar learning outcomes at an advanced level. The self-evaluation report compares the general building blocks to the Domain Specific Frame of Reference for Public Administration. Examples are: QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 25

26 Knowledge of (public) policy, decision-making and implementation: This is a central theme in both the introductory general public administration courses in the first year and the specific in-depth policy and decision-making courses in the second year. Research skills: A student with a bachelor s degree in Public Administration has been trained in academic social science research. Co-operation and communication skills: A student with a bachelor s degree in Public Administration possesses basic communicative skills and has been trained in cooperating with fellow-students by means of several group assignments. Practical experience and knowledge of public administration through internships and research: the third year the bachelor s programme provides students the possibility to do an internship in the Netherlands or abroad; in the bachelor s project students do fieldoriented research. Both employers and students welcomed the idea of more internships and the committee learned that students now get the choice to do an internship as an 15 EC or 30 EC elective in their third year. However it is mentioned in a studyguide that internships are not actively promoted. Assessment The committee has studied the final qualifications of both programmes and compared them to its discipline-specific frame of reference. It has established that the academic aims of the bachelor s and master s programme correspond with the general aims for a bachelor s and master s programme as laid down in the committee s discipline-specific framework of reference. It has also noted that the intended learning outcomes which students should acquire correspond sufficiently to the committee s set of final qualifications. The committee has also established that the professional objectives of the programmes refer to skills which graduates need in the professional practice. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 3: Bachelor and master level [NVAO & EAPAA] The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the general, internationally accepted descriptions of a Bachelor s qualification or a Master s qualification. Description The academic and professional goals are outlined under Standard 2 and are described in general terms in the self-evaluation report. The Institute works together with other institutions in the DOB platform (Discipline Public Administration Discussion Platform) to develop more general standards. Assessment The committee has studied the intended learning outcomes of the bachelor s programme and the master s programme from the perspective of their level. It has established that the learning outcomes correspond sufficiently to the Dublin descriptors and that they specify the level of the programmes adequately in both cases. It agrees with the way the relation between the intended learning outcomes and the level achieved is described (i.e. basic in bachelor s programme and advanced in master s programme). In its view, the intended learning outcomes reveal that students of the bachelor s programme acquire knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes at a basic level that is typical for a bachelor s programme. 26 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

27 For example, students of the bachelor s programme acquire basic knowledge and understanding of the distinctive nature of governance in the public sector including the functioning of organizations, policymaking, management, and public service delivery in a multi-actor and multi-level context. Similarly, the intended learning outcomes show that students of the master s programme obtain knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes at an advanced level that is characteristic for master s programmes. Students acquire knowledge and understanding of the distinctive nature of governance in the public sector. This includes the functioning of organizations, policymaking, management, and public service delivery in a multi-actor and multi-level context. In the specialization phase, specific emphasis is put on one distinct area of knowledge in which the students are expected to apply general knowledge to the understanding of issues relevant to that specific specialization. The committee has noted that the differences in levels between the programmes are clearly reflected in the intended learning outcomes. The committee therefore concludes that both programmes fulfil the criterion which relates to the level of the learning outcomes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 4: Academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the following descriptions of a Bachelor s and a Master s qualification: The intended learning outcomes are derived from requirements set by the scientific discipline, the international scientific practice and, for programmes to which this applies, the practice in the relevant professional field. An academic bachelor (WO-bachelor) has the qualifications that allow access to at least one further programme at academic master's level (WO-master) and the option to enter the labour market. An academic master (WO-master) has the qualifications to conduct independent research or to solve multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary questions in a professional field for which academic higher education is required or useful. Description The academic orientation of the bachelor s and master s programme is clearly visible in the mission statement as well as the goals and intended learning outcomes. The self-evaluation report and the staff interviewed during the sitevisit emphazise that analytical skills play a key role in bridging societal problems with knowledge. Both academic level practitioners and researchers/teachers should possess and be able to apply strong analytical skills. These skills are primarily defined as skills in defining and analyzing problems in the public sector, both normatively as well as empirically, and the ability to suggest solutions in policymaking aimed at influencing social behavior in particular directions. This means that students are able to analyze complex problems, and break these into manageable parts, connect them with a larger body of knowledge, critically assess popular or traditional analyses and solutions, and propose well-informed and possibly new solutions in terms of policy. The programme emphasizes the ability to understand and critically apply knowledge from the different analytical approaches found within the discipline of public administration to problems of policy-making and public sector management. The academic orientation of the programme means that students of the bachelor s programme at the end possess broad basic knowledge of the nature of public administration, its historical QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 27

28 and societal context, its different layers and flavors, and the on-going dynamic processes, such as globalization and internationalization, that affect it. The students are also able to update their knowledge by referring to open sources of public information, media and contacts with decision makers. According to the self-evaluation report, the Leiden bachelor s programme in Public Administration distinguishes itself through its focus on research skills, philosophy of science and in-depth analysis of public administration issues, all of which are in line with the academic orientation as defined in the programme s mission. The self-evaluation report explains that most graduates of the bachelor s programme continue their studies in the master s programme. The master s programme emphasizes academic training of students. The intended learning outcomes comprise the ingredients by which students are enabled to conduct research independently and responsibly. The various groups interviewed by the committee, all confirmed the emphasis the programme puts on analytical skills. Employers recognized alumni from the PA programme as distinguishing themselves from other alumni by virtue of these skills. Assessment The committee has studied the intended learning outcomes to be acquired by students of both programmes from the perspective of their orientation. It has already established that these learning outcomes correspond sufficiently to the demands of the scientific discipline (or the professional colleagues and the relevant domain) and the professional practice. It has noted that graduates of the bachelor s programme have unconditional access to the master s programme and various other master s programmes offered by Leiden University. Furthermore, the committee is convinced that graduates of the master s programme have acquired the qualifications to carry out academic research in their area of specialization and therefore qualify for relevant PhD programmes. The committee finds that the learning outcomes of both programmes correspond sufficiently to the requirements of the international scientific practice. For example, the learning outcomes of the bachelor s programme refer to training in research skill and in academic social science research. The learning outcomes of the master s programme refer to the same aspects of scientific education. The committee therefore concludes that both the bachelor s and the master s programme fulfil the criterion that relates to the orientation of the learning outcomes to be acquired. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Assessment of the theme Aims and objectives The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Aims and objectives on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. 28 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

29 Curriculum Standard 5: Public administration character of the programme [EAPAA] The core curriculum provides a thorough teaching of the basic concepts, theories, methods and history (classics) of Public Administration on the level of the programme (bachelor or master). The curriculum components are designed to produce professionals capable of intelligent, creative analysis and communication, and action in the public sector. Courses taken to fulfil the core curriculum components provide research methods, concepts and theories from the disciplines of economics, law, political science, sociology, public finances, informatization, and public management as well as the relationship between these fields. Students are obliged to give adequate proof of their ability to work independently (under the supervision of a supervisor) on real problems or research questions in the public sector, for example through essays and final papers (e.g. a thesis), adapted to the level (bachelor or master) of the programme. The core curriculum components enhance the student's values, knowledge, and skills to act ethically and effectively. Description The curriculum of the bachelor s programme is designed from two main perspectives. One perspective deals with the level: from an orientation phase in the first year, to an in-depth and synthesis phase in the second and third year. The second perspective refers to the genericspecific dimension: in the different years, the curriculum focuses on columns of specific themes in which an accumulation of knowledge and skills is pursued. The courses, and their sequence, are linked to the following major columns: the Public Administration column; the Policy & Decision Making column; the Organization and Management column; the Methods & Techniques of Public Administration column. The structure of the bachelor s curriculum: Year 1 / Semester 1 Block EC Level Bestuurskunde I: Openbaar Bestuur en Bestuurswetenschap I Bestuurskunde II: Klassieken in de Bestuurskunde II Methoden en Technieken Ia: Inleiding Sociaal-Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek I Methoden en Technieken Ib: Onderzoeksontwerp II Nationale Politiek I: Nederlands Politiek Bestel I Sociologie II Year 1 / Semester 2 Block EC Level Geschiedenis van het Openbaar Bestuur IV Inleiding Economie III Inleiding Recht III Methoden en Technieken II IV Organisatietheorie III Publiek Management IV Year 2 / Semester 1 Block EC Level Beleid I: Beleids- en Besluitvorming I Beleid II: Implementatie II Kwantitatief Onderzoek II Organisatie en Management I Staats- en Bestuursrecht I Vergelijkende Bestuurskunde II QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 29

30 Year 2 / Semester 2 Block EC Level Comparative Government in International Perspective III Decision Making and Rational Choice IV EU Politics and Policy III Europeanisering en Binnenlands Bestuur IV Politieke Filosofie en Openbaar Bestuur IV Public Budgeting and Finance III Year 3 / Semester 1 Block EC Level Keuzevak: Europese politieke leiders sinds 1945 I, II Keuzevak: Introduction to International Relations and Organizations II Keuzevak: Public Administration in Non-Western Societies II Bachelor s Project najaar 2009 I, II Vrije Keuzeruimte I, II Year 3 / Semester 2 Block EC Level Bachelor s Project Voorjaar 2010 III,IV Beleid III: Beleidsevaluatie III Ethiek IV Wetenschapsfilosofie III The programme s international nature is promoted in several ways. Many courses have an international component, and the national practices are treated within the context of the European Union. Excellent students are additionally offered the possibility to participate in a Honours Class in which a selected group of students discuss a central theme with top international guest lecturers. In previous years, Honours Classes have been organized on such themes as New Democratic Governance: Trends, Rationales, and Challenges ( ), Understanding the Agenda Setting Processes ( ), and Federalism, Decentralisation and Multi-level Governance ( ). The curriculum of the master s programme is comprised of three distinct parts. The first part is comprised of four State of the Art courses, each of which is worth 5 ECs, focusing on the great generic topics that comprise the discipline of public administration: 1) Public Institutions, 2) Public Policy, 3) Public Management, and 4) Public Values. These core courses are shared by all students irrespective of their specialization, thereby ensuring exposure of all students to a common discussion of the latest research on these broad topics. Common exposure to these four classic themes of public administration also ensures that all of the master s students have a common understanding of the larger breadth of the discipline. The second major element of the curriculum entails specialization within the larger domain of public administration. Upon entering the master s programme, students are required to choose one of the following seven specializations: 1) Crisis and Security Management, 2) European Governance, 3) International Administration, 4) Management van de Publieke Sector (Campus Den Haag)/ Public Sector Management, 5) Politics and Bureaucracy, 6) Public Policy, Lobbying and Media, and 7) Besturing van Gezondheidszorgsystemen (Campus Den Haag). All seven master s specializations result in the same degree of Master s of Science in Public Administration. 30 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

31 Structure of the master s curriculum Semester 1 Block EC Level Core Course: Research Design I Core Course: State of the Art Public Institutions I Core Course: State of the Art Public Policy I Master s Thesis II Specialized Course 1 II Specialized Course 2 II Semester 2 Block EC Level Core Course: State of the Art Public Management III Core Course: State of the Art Public Values III Master s Thesis III Elective Course IV Master s Thesis IV Students may enter the programme in Block I (September) or Block III (January) All master s specializations have a similar structure consisting of three parts. The first part includes two courses, worth 5 EC each, directly on the specialization itself. The second is an elective course worth 5 EC. The third and final element of the specialization is the thesis, which is worth 20 EC. Students should write their theses on a subject that fits within the subject matter of and fully represents their specialization. The bachelor s students and master s students indicate that they get a high number of assignments, in which they reflect on practical problems, and real world issues. The involvement of academic staff in all sorts of research projects increases the variation in issues discussed. Assignments are both individual and group based. However, even in group work, students are monitored closely to make sure that free-rider effects are avoided. During the masters programme, further specialization takes place, and students are stimulated to choose their own topics of interest, thus increasing the level of independence. Assessment The committee has reflected on the curriculum of both the bachelor s and master s programme and acknowledges that it provides a solid programme on Public Administration. The classic courses in Public Administration are well represented. The curriculum has a clear structure. There is also a clear intellectual coherence between the columns, given the classical split in public administration between organization management and policy and decision-making. At the beginning and at the end of the curriculum, the column public administration and the bachelor s project provide for the desired cohesion among the various elements of the programme. On the bachelor s programme, the committee discussed with staff issues on coverage, rather than depth, to understand the course offerings in relation to the vision of the faculty. In terms of subjects, the committee finds that a topic like information technology could receive more attention. The subjects of Public Management and Organisation Studies also seem to be QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 31

32 underrepresented. Topics like methods and techniques for budgeting and financing, may be important in terms of professional qualifications needed. Although it is clearly visible that Public Administration is independent from Political Science, the influence of Political Science on the curriculum is substantial. The committee finds the specializations offered in the master s programme relevant and interesting. Some specializations, like health, ceased to exist, due to staff retiring. Topics like local government and service delivery are not dealt with extensively. The committee understands that a programme in Public Administration can never be comprehensive. Since most alumni work in central government organisations, the committee finds these deliberate choices clear and convincing. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 6: Requirements for academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] The proposed curriculum meets the following criteria for an academic orientation: The students develop their knowledge through the interaction between education and research within the relevant disciplines The curriculum corresponds with current developments in the relevant discipline(s) by verifiable links with current scientific theories The programme ensures the development of competences in the field of research Where appropriate, the curriculum has verifiable links with the current relevant professional practice. Description The self-evaluation report explains that the bachelor s programme is a basic programme and almost all of the students who have completed their bachelor s degree will follow a master s programme. The academic aspects of the programme are emphasized. This is evident in the description of the curriculum - the academic approach to the discipline of public administration is shown by concentrating on classic texts of public administration, a comparative/international approach, and contemporary research on its several components. The Institute provides significant research training within the curriculum in order to help students to critically evaluate both the classics and the contemporary research results and to prepare them to conduct their own research in the bachelor s thesis. The previous assessment committee recommended that the programme should pay more attention to management skills in the professional context and that the Institute clarify how the bachelor s programme ensures the necessary contacts with professional practice (see QANU, 2005: 218 and 199). The self-evaluation report explains that several measures have been implemented. In the bachelor s programme, students have the option to use 15 or even 30 EC for an internship in their third year. Apart from the internship, practical experiences are dealt with by frequent use of case studies, guest lecturers, discussions with practitioners and excursions, often in cooperation with the study association B.I.L. Certain bachelor s courses include assignments for practical research on specific aspects of Dutch public administration and ensure that students come into contact with current issues relevant for the practice of public administration. Further, many assignments in the working groups refer to cases and examples derived from public administration in practice. Managerial skills are discussed intensively in several organization and management and general public administration courses, including 32 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

33 different styles of leadership related to the context of public organizations and strategy formation and human resources management. Students are introduced to topical issues and practical problems within the professional field through (optional) internships, the bachelor s project and discussion of current public sector issues and challenges in the programme s courses. In addition, faculty members are widely involved in policy-oriented research and in service training, and they further use case material and insights from along with professional contacts with the field in their teaching. The various talks about internships did not give the committee a clear picture of how the department values these as part of the development of professional qualifications. According to one student representative, the institute has no coordinator for internships, there is no active search from the institute and the only support given to students is a message board which displays internship opportunities. In the bachelor s programme, 25 students chose to do an internship in In 2010, there were 21. Many students prefer to do a minor first. The self-evaluation report reflects on the inclusion of practical experience via an internship in the programme. The Institute has consistently decided against making internships a mandatory or even recommended part of the master s programme. The self-evaluation report mentions a number of reasons. Firstly, the special character of the programme in comparison to others in The Netherlands consists of its strong academic orientation. Secondly, a strong flavor of more practical issues is obtained via the specialization courses and thirdly, the risk of weakening the academic hallmark of the programme by shoehorning in internships. One reason which is not mentioned in the self-evaluation report, but was explained during the sitevisit, is that many students at bachelor s level do practical empirical research, without necessarily doing an internship. Employers recognize the value of internships, however they find it difficult to absorb students for only three months. Students mentioned the frequent use of guest lecturers from practice, the proximity to The Hague, making it easy to do site visits and excursions. Some staff mentioned that the quality of internships can be a gamble : it s hard to assure a good quality placement for all students. In the master s programme students get the opportunity to cooperate in research projects of staff members. In so called Capstone projects groups of students work on their own project, within a larger research project designed by members of academic staff. 90% of staff offers opportunities for students to work in their research projects and currently around 40 students take part in these projects, whereas 60 students are working on their thesis project individually. The size and timing of the Research Design class is a matter of constant attention. If the classes are large, they run the risk of being too general and not helpful for students writing theses within their specializations. At the same time, smaller classes can put a burden on staff resources. There is also the further issue of when this course should be taught should it be earlier in the programme, so as to get students started thinking about their theses early, or later, when they are fully focused on the task? The committee agrees this is a tough issue. With the deteriorating student/ staff ratios, the amount of guidance that can be given to students on their projects is under pressure. Assessment The committee has studied the curricula of the programmes from the perspective of the requirements that hold for an academic programme. It has established that the common part of the bachelor s programme presents an adequate overview of the discipline as a whole. In this QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 33

34 common part, students acquire basic knowledge and skills which provide a basis for the specializations in the second and third year of the programme. In these specializations, students are increasingly confronted with current developments in the discipline and with the results of research in their area of specialization. The committee has established that the learning materials used are adequate and that the programme uses a limited number of readers. The curriculum contains courses from other relevant disciplines and practical courses which provide students with the necessary practical skills and techniques. The committee acknowledges the fact that Leiden s bachelor s programme devotes more than the average time and attention to research methods and skills. Also the attention to the relationships among administration, politics, society, public policy, decision making and implementation is clearly visible. The amount of attention and time paid to organizations and organizing principles is less than in other programmes. The time paid to integrative, cooperative and communication skills is comparable to other programmes. The department seems to struggle somewhat with the needs of employers on the one hand, and the strict timelines that need to be respected in a short bachelor s programme. The committee underlines the advantages of internships in terms of job perspectives, and understanding of the discipline of Public Administration. Given the views of students and employers, who believe it greatly enhances the value of the programme, the committee recommends to keep searching for viable options in this respect. One idea which is currently being studied by staff, is to let students do internships in between the bachelor s and master s programme. This model, which works already in many countries, would be unique in the Netherlands, which is worth considering. The main underlying concern of the committee is that students need to get ample opportunity where they actually get out and do it. The committee agrees that it is difficult to fit a long internship within a two-semester master s programme and appreciates the conscious decision made by the Institute in light of the programme s other pedagogical virtues. The committee is very positive about the Capstone projects, used in the master s programme. Students are stimulated to participate in data collection under an umbrella project, where a number of students participate in the same research project. They enhance ties with professors and their research projects. The staff protects students from free-riders : data collection is done by groups of students, however submissions of papers are individual. If students choose to continue on an individual basis, this is possible and supported. The committee greatly values the use of classics and classic texts, and staff explained that this is combined with recent journal articles and research projects. This combination has become unusual in many programmes of Public Administration. The literature used is relevant and demanding. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as good Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as good. 34 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

35 Standard 7: Correspondence between the aims and objectives and the curriculum [NVAO & EAPAA] The curriculum is an adequate realisation of the intended learning outcomes of the programme and this regards the level, the orientation and the subject-/discipline-specific requirements. The intended learning outcomes are adequately transferred into the educational goals of the curriculum or parts thereof. The contents of the curriculum ensure the students achievement of the intended learning outcomes. Description The self-evaluation report of both the bachelor s and the master s curriculum contains tables which link the curricula to end term qualifications. Different elements of the sequence of courses offered in the bachelor s programme are taught for several different purposes. The Institute does not take a position in support or opposition to any specific teaching method, indeed it strongly favors the use of multiple methods across the curriculum so as to provide variety for students and continuing intellectual interest for the staff. As a result, different parts of the curriculum tend to emphasize more heavily one or a subset of the end term learning qualifications. According to the employers with whom we had discussions, students are capable of analyzing complex problems in government, and they are able to adapt quickly to new circumstances. They seem to have strong verbal and analytical skills. Assessment The committee has studied the table in the self-evaluation report which relates the courses in the curriculum of the bachelor s progamme to the various learning outcomes. It has concluded that the information provided in the table is adequate and correct. It has established that every learning outcome receives attention in the curriculum and that the distribution of the learning outcomes over the curriculum is even and appropriate. The committee has noted that the attention given to information technology and finance is somewhat restricted. Nevertheless, in the committee s opinion, the curriculum is designed and structured in such a way that it is obvious that students who have successfully completed the curriculum have acquired every learning outcome at the bachelor s level. The thesis in the bachelor s programme is one important milestone to assess whether the programme has achieved its objectives. The committee notices that the supervision and guidance of the bachelor s thesis reflects the autonomy of staff as explained earlier. Both content, scope, depth and attention paid to research and methodology vary. While there is some guidance for the structure and marking of the theses, it is not clear whether staff have a shared vision on the levels achieved. The committee has established that the information provided in the tables of the master s programme is adequate and correct. In the committee s view it will be likely that there will be differences in the level at which students acquire knowledge and skills, since the curriculum expects that they compose an individual study programme and it dictates a high degree of autonomous studying in the master s programme. But the curriculum is organized in such a way that the differences in these individual study programmes represent positive opportunities for the students, and are therefore an advantage to the programme. The committee therefore concludes that the curriculum is a good realization of the learning outcomes of the master s programme and that it guarantees that students will achieve them. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 35

36 With regard to the practical skills taught in the master s programme, the committee finds that these are mainly dealt with in a cognitive sense. The practical assignments used in the various courses seem to stress verbal and argumentative skills. Experiential learning methods are not used extensively. The committee does see evidence that graduates are capable of quickly adapting to the needs of employers. Whether these skills are acquired through the programme itself or whether the academic environment (i.e. active student involvement in all kinds of extra curricular activities, guest lecturers, site visits) plays an important role here is not entirely clear. The committee concludes that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme fulfil the criteria which refer to the relation between the learning outcomes and the curriculum. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 8: Consistency of the curriculum [NVAO & EAPAA] The contents of the curriculum are internally consistent. Description According to the self-evaluation report, the bachelor s programme has a logical structure, which is directed towards a gradual acquisition of the programme s intended learning outcomes. The curriculum was designed based on four elements of broad public administration: General Public Administration, Policy and Decision-making, Organization and Management, and Methods and Techniques of Public Administration Research. All four elements are addressed with a sequence of courses that are logically ordered so as to build upon each other. Thus, the methods and techniques classes flow logically from a general introduction to social science research methods and research design and into introductory and intermediate statistics. The curriculum of the master s programme is designed to reflect three critical purposes. The first is to acquire a broad understanding of public administration as a field, which is addressed by the four core State of the Art courses. The second is to acquire specialized knowledge and be able to apply the broader concepts and theories. This is addressed through two (and usually three) courses that are part of a student s specialization as well as their thesis work. The third purpose is the knowledge required for critically evaluating and conducting research. This is addressed in the Research Design class and the thesis. Assessment The committee has established that the curricula of the bachelor s programme and the master s programme are designed and structured in a well-considered way. A high level of autonomy of teachers and staff might, in some circumstances, have a negative effect on coherence of the programme. However, the committee has not observed any of these negative effects. Staff and students reflect on the programme in various meetings and through various channels. Overlap in the programme is therefore eliminated through the comments made by those involved. Electives bring variety to the programme. 36 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

37 The tension between coordination and autonomy becomes visible especially now after the regulations have changed and the Exam committee is held responsible for the overall quality of examination in all courses. The Institute awaits guidelines from central level on how to deal with this new development. The coherence between the programme in The Hague and Leiden is secured, by using the same staff at both locations. The programme in The Hague is a full-time programme for midcareer students. It is delivered by the essentially same staff, only two members of staff are specifically working for The Hague. The committee concludes that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme fulfil the criterion which relates to the coherence of the curriculum. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 9: Workload [NVAO & EAPAA] The curriculum can be successfully completed within the set time, as certain programme-related factors that may be an impediment in view of study progress are eliminated where possible. Description The study load of almost all courses is now 5 EC (= 140 hours); the total study load in each year is 60 EC. One credit point is equivalent to 28 hours of study, including lectures, reading, writing papers, and other assigned activities. The staff have been able to offer all of the courses within the programme when required for students to complete the programme in three years. Perhaps the only real issue of note here is that the programme is, given limited staff resources, tightly sequenced with many required courses and few options for elective courses. One implication of this is that students who fail to pass the (re)exams of a required course when it is offered within their three year bachelor s programme necessarily face a fourth year of study in order to complete the requirements of the programme. The committee has discussed the workload with students and staff. Students find the workload acceptable. Small groups with a lot of interaction are crucial in the bachelor s programme of Public Administration. Due to the rise in student numbers, the seminars have had to be changed to larger group lectures. To prevent the loss of specific guidance to students, these lectures are combined with smaller group sessions, in which teaching assistants support the groups. Blackboard is used to post smaller assignments at a high frequency, thus enabling the teacher to monitor progress of more students at a time. The main stumbling blocks in the programme are the thesis at bachelor s level and master s level. Students spent a lot of time on deciding their topic, and students need a lot of guidance here. The Capstone projects and the group assignments show that students tend to submit their papers quicker when peer pressure plays a role. Assessment The committee has established that the curriculum of the bachelor s programme can, in principle, be completed in the nominal period of three years. The actual study load is evenly distributed QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 37

38 over the curriculum and it is not too high. The Education Committee confirmed that there have not been any issues lately with workload. The committee has not received any information which indicates that the curriculum contains serious obstacles which lead to delays in the students progress. Students with an average mark of 7.5 and higher receive an invitation for the Honours class, which means an additional 30 EC on top of the regular programme. Although there is a hard cut between the bachelor s and the master s programme, when students only need to complete one course in their last year of the bachelor s programme, they are allowed to take one oral exam. The hard cut is thus a bit flexible, to prevent unnecessary delays. The workload of the The Hague programme is very demanding. Realistically it is very hard to complete the programme in one year. Most participants are in their mid-careers and work during the day. They tend to spend their entire free time on studies. It takes most participants longer than one year to complete, however the participants indicate that this is due to personal circumstances and not due to specific obstacles within the programme. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 10: Admission requirements [NVAO & EAPAA] The structure and contents of the intended curriculum are in line with the qualifications of the incoming students: Academic bachelor s programme (WO-bachelor): VWO (pre-university education), propaedeutic certificate from a hogeschool (HBO)or similar qualifications, as demonstrated in the admission process Master s programme (WO-master): a bachelor's degree and possibly a selection (with a view on the contents of the discipline). Description Candidates with a degree from pre-university secondary education (in Dutch: vwo), regardless of their specialization, can in principle be admitted to the bachelor s programme. There are no other criteria or formal requirements. All students that enter have a vwo degree with the exception of the very few students who are admitted based on their two year (propaedeuse) of a programme in higher professional education (in Dutch: hbo) or colloquium doctum. The rising student numbers and market share are in large part a result of more effective recruitment of female students. The Faculty of Social Sciences is currently unveiling an initiative aimed at supporting students, the so-called Propedeuse Ondersteunings Programma (POP). This initiative will target first year students in order to support them in the transition from secondary school to University and, in the case of the master s students, in their adaptation to Leiden. The initiative will pay particular attention to student groups that are known to be at high risk of dropping out, such as students from immigrant families or those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The POP programme will start in September 2010 with supporting activities and courses. The bachelor s programme uses the process of Binding Study Advice (BSA), an important part of the Leiden University study system. Students are entitled to intensive supervision in their first year by a mentor or tutor but they are also expected to meet minimum requirements. The first 38 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

39 preliminary BSA is issued in January and is intended to allow the students to switch to another programme before February if they are not performing well. In April/May, after the third block, the second BSA is issued. The third and final advice, at the end of the first year, is binding. Students who have completed their propaedeuse, receive a positive advice. Students who have completed at least 40 EC, but less than 60 EC, get a so-called postponed final advice. These students have to complete their propaedeuse within two years. If they do not succeed, their definitive final advice is negative and they are not allowed to continue their study. Students who do not complete at least 40 EC in the first year receive a negative advice and have to leave the programme. The study advisors and tutors encourage the students to meet the requirements of the BSA, among other things by giving them advice if they have questions or are in trouble. Students who have successfully completed the bachelor s programme are entitled to enter the master s programme without further conditions. Students with a bachelor s degree in Public Administration from Leiden do not have to formally apply for admission; they automatically receive a registration form in June. The deadlines for students with non-leiden bachelor s degrees from the Netherlands, bachelors from Leiden in non-public administration programmes, and international students living in the Netherlands are different from those for students that enter the programme from the institutes of higher professional education. Bachelor s students need to complete their bachelor s degree before being admitted to the master s programme. In large part to compensate for the fact that students from the Leiden bachelor s programme may be late in completing their 1st degree, the programme maintains two entry dates to the master s programme, September and February. This is considered a service to students and necessary to allow Leiden to retain a large number of bachelor s students in its programmes. For students lacking a bachelor s degree in Public Administration obtained in Leiden, the general requirements for admission include the following: 1. Bachelor s or master s degree in Public Administration, Political Science, or an equivalent bachelor s or master s degree; 2. Bachelor s degree from an institution of Higher Professional Education equivalent to the bachelor s in Public Administration in combination with a relevant pre-master s programme. 3. English language proficiency. 4. Specialized knowledge. Candidates must have obtained passing grades in the following: - Public Administration, Organization and Policy Theory, Research Methods, and Sociology. Candidates must have obtained passing grades in the following: - Public Administration, Organization and Policy Theory, Research Methods, and Sociology. Candidates lacking these subjects are required to compensate by taking courses in a pre-master s programme via the Leiden bachelor s programme or through e-courses approved by the Institute. International applications for the master s programme are submitted to Leiden s Student and Educational Services. This office disseminates information on the programme on a global scale, provides an assessment of the quality of foreign universities, communicates with applicants, checks the validity of documents submitted, and assesses whether application packages are complete. Subsequently, the full application dossiers are forwarded to the Admissions Coordinator of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences and then to the Admissions Committee of the master s programme in the Institute of Public Administration. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 39

40 Regarding applications for admission, there are three options depending on the chosen master s specialization and the previous education of the students: unconditional admission, rejecting admission and conditional admission. In the third case, the candidate has to pass through a pre-master s programme. Crucial in the assessment of applications for admission is the comparison between the content of previous education followed by the applicant and the content of the bachelor s programme in Leiden. Relevant deficiencies are first assessed and then, on the basis of that assessment, it is decided whether a student is unconditionally or conditionally admitted or refused admission. The latter is the case when the difference in content between the previous educational programme(s) and the bachelor s programme is simply too substantial to bridge. In cases of a conditional admission, the pre-master s programme for each student is tailor-made covering and remedying the noted specified deficiencies. From 2006 onwards, the number of students entering the bachelor s programme has been increasing. A table in the self-evaluation report shows that the intake of first year students in the bachelor s programme over the last three years rose from a low point of only 68 students in to 127 students in In the last three years, the number has increased 38%, 23%, and 9%, respectively, for a total three-year increase of 87 percent. The market share among public administration programmes has increased from a low of 9.4 percent to 18.3 percent over the last four years. The master s programme has recently been growing. From to , enrollment increased 148 percent, from 58 students to 144, and it has only declined slightly since, to 136 students in Of the 136 master s students admitted in the most recent calendar year, 56.6 percent received their bachelor s degrees from the Leiden University Institute of Public Administration, 7.4 percent from other Leiden University programmes, 9.6 percent from other Dutch universities, 14.0 percent from higher professional education, and 12.5 percent from universities abroad. Concerning the process of admission of master s students, it is the ambition of the University to speed it up and process new applications as soon as possible. The Institute contributes to the smooth processing of admissions by having a committee of three staff members that each evaluate incoming applications as soon as possible. The University and the Faculty are currently devising further improvements to this process such as the electronic submission of student files. While there is no system of registering students from immigrant backgrounds, many such students enter the programme through The Hague High School after completing their premaster s courses. The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences is now starting a new system to support such students during the time of study in Leiden. Assessment The committee has established that the requirements for access to the bachelor s programme have been specified explicitly and are in accordance with the relevant formal demands. It has noted that students do not have problems in adjusting to their new learning environment and that the transition from secondary education to the university proceeds smoothly. The bachelor s programme closely monitors the entrance qualifications of first-year students and adapts the curriculum if these qualifications change. As a result, the qualifications of the incoming students are in line with the requirements of the curriculum.. 40 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

41 The committee has established that students who have completed a bachelor s programme in PA at Leiden University can enter the master s programme PA without any further conditions. The committee has noted that these students are sufficiently prepared for the master s programmes, that they have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills. The programme has introduced selection procedures and tailored preparatory courses (bridging programme for students with a degree from another institution of higher education, in particular for students from higher professional education. The committee has established that students who have followed a bridging programme have acquired the necessary entrance qualifications for the master s programme and that their results are sufficient. It therefore concludes that this programme adequately prepares students for the master s programme Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 11: Credits [NVAO & EAPAA] The programme meets the legal requirements regarding the range of credits: Academic bachelor s programme (WO-bachelor): 180 credits Academic master s programme (WO-master): a minimum of 60 credits. Description The curriculum of the bachelor s programme Public Administration comprises 180 EC. The curriculum of the master s programme Public Administration comprises 60 EC. Assessment The bachelor s programme Public Administration complies with the formal requirements with respect to the range of credits. The master s programme Public Administration complies with the formal requirements with respect to the range of credits. Standard 12: Coherence of structure and contents [NVAO & EAPAA] The educational concept is in line with the aims and objectives. The study methods correspond with this educational concept. Description The different elements of the sequence of courses offered in the bachelor s programme are taught for several different purposes. They are also taught using a variety of methods given the skills and preferences of the members of staff, as is evident in the course descriptions in the appendices accompanying the self-evaluation report. The Institute strongly favors the use of multiple methods across the curriculum so as to provide variety for students and interest for the staff. As a result, teaching methods are diverse: lectures, seminars, practicals, paper presentations, group paper presentations and weekly short assignments are used. In terms of teaching innovations, staff use new communication tools in their courses (i.e. online fora, streaming video, e-modules) and discuss with experienced teachers from other faculties and universities the possibilities of using innovative formats. Experiments with taping lectures have been done, although this led to a drop in attendance rates. Blackboard is QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 41

42 used to post discussions and assignments; this supports the interaction in larger groups of 130 students and it helps the teacher in managing larger groups. The last assessment committee recommended introducing more challenging and interactive education. According to the committee s report, the students appreciated the curriculum, but they still harbored a need for a greater challenge; the students would have preferred more contact hours and more interaction in working groups that discuss the themes of the lectures. In response to this, an improvement has been introduced in 2010 in the form of an excellence track, which recruits motivated and excellent students (over 7,5 average grade in the first year) to follow a programme of additional 30 EC, which focuses on leadership. This programme includes the Honours class, which has been offered by the Institute for the past 10 years. During its site visit, the committee learnt that students of the bachelor s programme follow many courses in small groups. Lectures are attended by the full group. This group is split into smaller groups of about 20 students for working group sessions. Sometimes these working groups are split up even further for practical sessions, for example to prepare discussions or presentations. A class typically consists of a one-hour lecture, followed by 1,5 hours of discussion in smaller groups and closed by reporting back to the entire class. In some cases, lectures are attended by more than 100 students. In order to ensure proper level of attention, the group is split up in 4 groups of 25 students, each working is smaller groups. Prior to every class students have to post comments about the readings on Blackboard, and in most classes case studies are included. Students both in Leiden and at The Hague Campus are positive about the variety and the balance of the working methods used. They appreciate the organization of the curriculum, which is well-considered. While students are very satisfied with the intensification of the programme, early indications tend to show that the increase in student satisfaction has not had a clear effect yet on the study results or study output. The master s programme employs a mixture of lectures and seminars, team work exercises, and other course formats. Some courses rely on team projects, others emphasize individual work, options that are even extended to the thesis in the distinction between the traditional thesis and theses arising from a joint capstone project. Some courses rely on oral presentations, while others rely on only written assignments. Content-wise, some courses rely on reading and discussing the academic literature, while others emphasize case analyses as an exercise in application of basic principles to realistic policy and management contexts. Assessment The committee has established that the programmes have not developed an explicit and elaborated didactic concept, but that the didactic methods they use are appropriate and in line with the aims and objectives of the courses. According to the committee, the didactic approach is somewhat traditional, but adequate and appropriate. The variety in teaching methods is appreciated by students, yet the committee finds the selection of methods somewhat limited. The primary mode of operations seems to be discussion and reflection, preferably facilitated by staff. Blackboard discussions have a similar staff controlled perspective. In dealing with skills, one would also expect to find some 42 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

43 simulations, games and other more action-driven types of delivery. In light of the high student numbers, a more intensive use of distance learning tools seems worth considering. In the committee s opinion, the number of contact hours in relation to self-learning is sufficient. The supervision by staff is good, and the use of teaching assistants for larger groups (properly guided by staff) is carefully supervised. The committee has noted that the teaching methods correspond adequately with the aims and objectives of the various course components and that they are selected in such a way that it can be taken for granted that students acquire the learning outcomes of the programme. The committee has established that the teaching methods used in the curriculum of the master s programme are appropriate and in line with the aims and objectives of the components. Obviously, the focus in the master s programme is on the specialization courses and thesis projects. In the committee s view, the teaching methods used in the master s programme succeed in stimulating independent learning and in developing academic and research skills. In this respect, they correspond with the intended learning outcomes of the programme, which presuppose that students are able to work independently. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 13: Learning assessment [NVAO & EAPAA] By means of evaluations, tests and examinations, the students are assessed in an adequate and for them insightful way to determine whether they have achieved the intended learning outcomes of the programme or parts thereof. Description Examinations in the bachelor s programme comprise written exams, papers and practicals, oral presentations, short assignments, discussions, or individual and team projects. The selfevaluation report shows in more detail the types of examinations within the different courses of the bachelor s programme. Most of the exams in the bachelor s programme are written ones, although partial grades are formed on the basis of oral presentations. The written exams are mostly open question or essay style exams, with one course offering a multiple choice exam. In exceptional cases, students get the chance to take an oral exam as a third chance, but then special permission has to be sought from the examinations commission. Lecturers have 15 working days to grade written exams or papers. After announcing the results, students have the possibility of seeing their exam papers and receiving specific feedback on their grade from the lecturer. The assessment of students in the master s programme consists of various examination forms The theses are assessed using a a separate procedure. In the courses staff uses a variety of interim assessments and partial assignments, with a strong emphasis on oral presentations. The final examinations are almost exclusively written essays. The large lecture courses, such as State of the Art and Research Design, use a system of weekly or fortnightly assignments using student submissions via Blackboard, the electronic learning environment. These small assignments ensure that students have read the assigned QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 43

44 readings since, given bigger class sizes in these courses, not all students can be involved in the discussions. Sometimes these partial assignments can be as short as a request for a critical comment on each assigned reading to be submitted before each session. In this case, students receive partial grades on a pass/fail basis. Sometimes, a short review or position paper is required, which are graded and feedback then given to students before the end of the course. In the case of the course on Research Design, students have a number of assignments throughout the course that test their understanding of the material and ability to apply it in some fashion. Short assignments are also often used as basis for discussion in class. In this way, the programme has moved to a diversified set of tasks that collectively aims to keep students involved and up-to-date with their readings throughout the courses. In the smaller seminars, students participation does not need to be structured so intensively and part of the assessment is often based on participation in seminar discussions. Other courses employ presentations plus a written paper due at the end of the course. Some courses ask students to write a paper based on some visual material, such as a film or short video, as appropriate. Staff also put stress on analytical papers with a well-defined question as the preferred method of assessing master s students. With all these techniques, the programme aims to help students acquire the skills associated especially with end term qualifications 2.4 and 3.3, as well as with, if less directly, many others. Concerning assessment of the final thesis, the Institute uses a standard grading form. More importantly, two staff members the thesis supervisor and a so-called independent second reader, who is not directly involved in the supervision of the thesis are involved in assessing the thesis. The supervisor acts as the first reader and gives initial approval of a thesis to proceed for defense. Then, the second reader has to give his or her independent assessment. Last but not least, students defend their theses in front of the first and second reader and, based on this defense and the written thesis, receive a final grade for it. The Board of Examiners is monitoring the quality of exams. According to the chairman of the Board, specific attention is paid to the prevention and detection of plagiarism and fraud. Guidelines for students to make the aware of the rules have been issued, and the Institute is using advanced software to check thesis and other assignments of students for plagiarism. Currently the Board is collecting all exam forms, to better understand the quality. A central department specialized in exams is supporting the Board. Assessment During its site visit, the committee has established that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme use a variety of assessment methods which correspond sufficiently to the aims and the didactic methods of the programme components. The committee has studied written exams, assignments, essays and papers produced by students of both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme and concludes that the quality and the level of the assessment and evaluation is adequate and appropriate. The written exams consist of a balanced variety of multiple choice items and open questions. They are technically adequate. Essays are used frequently, often weekly, during courses. Overall the committee finds that the assessments forms and methods are somewhat traditional and the variation in methods somewhat limited The committee stresses the importance of projects in any practice-grounded discipline, like PA. Tests should give students insights, assignments should give opportunities for deep learning. The assignments 44 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

45 used in many cases are designed to make the students work, rather than for deep learning. Integral project assignments (e.g. developing a plan for social care) are missing. The academic orientation may be an explanation for this, however the committee is convinced that a PA programme should not rely too much on papers written exams. The committee is aware of the fact that the policy with respect to testing and assessment at Leiden University traditionally respects teacher autonomy. In its opinion, both the university and the programmes have to prepare for a change of culture when it comes to the (application of the) rules and regulations applying to exams and assessments. It has noticed that the first steps have already been taken: the Board of Examiners is undertaking a review of all exams currently used. Due to new regulations, the role of the Board of Examiners has been strengthened. At the time of the site visit, the Board of Examiners was awaiting guidelines from central level. The committee stresses the importance of a pro-active Board of Examiners. The Boards of Examiners have been legally appointed to organize and coordinate examinations, and their powers must be described in a separate document that makes explicit their autonomy. The practical implications of this role should be clear for all parties involved. The committee assesses the standard that relates to assessments and examinations as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Assessment of the theme Curriculum The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Curriculum on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory Staff Standard 14: Requirements for academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] The programme meets the following criteria for the deployment of staff for a programme with an academic orientation: Teaching is principally provided by researchers who contribute to the development of the subject/discipline. Description The self-evaluation report stresses the importance of staff members teaching in the master s programme also being engaged in research at a very high level. An essential element of good teaching is having a strong research orientation. In terms of research, almost all of the members of the Institute of Public Administration involved in the master s programme meet the following criteria: participation in the Research Programmes of the Institute; a track record of publications in international refereed journals, resulting in accreditation as members of the discipline s interuniversity Research School (NIG). The NIG is an interuniversity research school in which faculties from nine Dutch universities participate; English language proficiency (which has been tested by the university); QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 45

46 active participation in national and international research networks and conferences, as evidenced by the records of the staff evident in their CVs in the appendices accompanying this report. Staff are encouraged to bring research results, including their own, into the classroom. Staff are also involved in thesis production. Students get the opportunity of doing a capstone project with a team of other master s students and an instructor. These projects, based around an on-going research project of the instructor, engage students in primary data collection for a larger project, data they can also then use to write their individual theses. The international academic orientation is evidenced by the composition of the Institute s permanent staff, which includes natives of Denmark, Bulgaria (2), Belgium and the United States. Within the period covered by this review, the permanent staff have also included another American and a German. Out of the 6 PhDs, 2 come from abroad. Assessment The committee has established that the vast majority of staff members who contribute to the bachelor s and master s programme have a PhD degree. All permanent staff have a PhD degree and conduct research in a successful research programme which is evaluated regularly by assessment committees made up of international experts. Furthermore, staff contribute to (international) conferences. A high percentage of staff has contributed with publications in top refereed journals. A recent assessment of the Research programme of the Institute came out with excellent scores. The committee therefore concludes that teaching is provided by researchers who actively contribute to the development of the discipline. As a result, both programmes have an adequate grounding in research. It has noted that the bachelor s programme relies to a certain extent on contributions from teaching assistants, but that the final responsibility for the contents and the assessment of courses always rests with senior staff members who have sufficient research experience. The committee concludes that the programmes clearly surpass the criterion which relates to the academic orientation of the staff and therefore assesses this standard in both cases as good. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as good. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as good. Standard 15: Quantity of staff [NVAO & EAPAA] Sufficient staff are deployed to realise the desired quality of the programme. Description The self-evaluation report contains a table with all staff members. With 654 students enrolled in 2009, the staff to student ratio is 1:53 for all staff members. If only academic staff members are counted, the available capacity is 10.3 fte and the corresponding staff-student ratio is 1:63. These relatively high ratios are mainly a result of an increase of enrollments, both in the bachelor s and master s programme in Public Administration in Leiden. 46 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

47 A regular staff member with a full-time contract typically has 0.3 fte available for research (based on an excellent performance that includes international publications in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals), 0.1 fte for administration and 0.6 fte for teaching. The Institute applies some differentiation in the tasks of staff members, therefore the time for research may vary between 0 and 0.3 fte in case of full-time employment. To date, the Institute has accommodated this increase via two strategies. First, it has hired former master s students as teaching assistants in sections of bachelor s courses. Second, it has tightened up the curriculum so that there is virtually no duplication of courses across the year. Despite such efficiency measures, the Institute and the Faculty of Social Sciences consider staff student ratios too high. The Faculty, with the support of the University, has decided to develop an action plan to increase teaching capacity so that the current ratios will be lower. Furthermore, the committee has been assured by the university other relevant personnel policy measures will be taken in order to increase the number of well-qualified staff members at the level of Senior Lecturer. These measures aim to maintain the current programme at high quality and to create incentives for existing staff to work even more efficiently. In addition to the teaching staff, the Institute s administrative staff provide vital support in the day-to-day operations of the bachelor s programme. In the recent past, the nonacademic staff have experienced some considerable turnover and outright shortages. This has been rectified over the last year. The Institute is now very pleased with the level and quality of its support staff. Assessment The committee has noted that the staff members have been under great pressure due to the increasing number of students. The committee was impressed by the fact that students are so satisfied with the attention and guidance they receive. It s an enormous credit to the Institute and staff that they have managed so well in these difficult circumstances. High staff commitment seems to be one of the reasons that the programme has continued to operate without major critical incidents. The committee stresses that a critical lack of staff can endanger the programme and its research efforts. Fortunately the prospects are good and it is promised that new staff will be appointed soon. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 16: Quality of staff [NVAO & EAPAA] The staff deployed are sufficiently qualified to ensure that the aims and objectives regarding the content, didactics and organisation of the programme are achieved. Description The Institute gives a high weight to the value of teaching among its several functions. That members of the staff take their teaching responsibilities seriously is ensured by the annual review (ROG) process for each member of the staff, a procedure that includes discussion of teaching and a review of teaching evaluations as one of its central functions. Further, given that the larger Leiden portion of the master s programme is taught in English, as are a number of courses in the bachelor s programme, it is important that all non-native English speaking staff members, in accordance with general policies introduced by Leiden University, QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 47

48 have undergone thorough testing of their capacity to speak and teach in English. Those teaching these classes have demonstrated their capacity to teach in English through this process. And starting in 2008, all new University instructors now undergo an assessment of teaching qualities (Basiskwalificatie Onderwijs BKO). Leiden University further provides the option to instructors to help them improve both their English language and general teaching skills. Moving beyond simple competence, the teaching evaluations of the staff suggest that staff are quite dedicated to their teaching function. Indeed, in 2006, prof.dr. Mark Rutgers won the Faculty-wide Casimir Prize for teaching excellence. With respect to personnel management policies, the Institute, like all institutes at Leiden University, needs to find a balance between selective personnel incentives and budgetary constraints. The current responsibilities and the corresponding system of ranks need to be managed within the budget that is made available to the Institute. This implies that it needs a mix of appointments at different ranks (such as Full Professors, Senior Lectures, Lectures etc.). Additionally, it is University policy to maintain some non-tenured positions alongside tenured ones. In the last couple of years, the Institute has rewarded staff members who have performed especially well or taken on additional tasks or responsibilities with incidental bonuses. Similar bonuses have been awarded when staff members have taken on additional teaching above and beyond their assigned (and required) tasks. Nevertheless, a more structured and transparent system of incentives that can motivate existing staff members, including criteria and procedures for promotion, still needs to be developed. Currently the Institute is discussing these promotion criteria with the Faculty. Assessment The committee assesses the content-related expertise among the staff as satisfactory. It has established that the areas of specialization which the programmes offer are all represented sufficiently. The committee has established that the university has introduced the basic didactic qualification to ensure that staff members have the required didactic skills. The university offers courses and training to staff members whose didactic skills can be improved. The committee appreciates the fact that the results of the course evaluations are discussed in the annual performance interviews. Student opinions are measured both by an independent body within the university, as well as by students themselves. In the annual report, performance of individual teachers is mentioned specifically. Course and panel evaluations show that students are satisfied with the quality of the lecturers. The committee has noticed that staff members are strongly committed to their educational tasks. On the basis of these considerations, the committee assesses the standard relating to the quality of the staff as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. 48 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

49 Standard 17: Diversity: gender and minorities [EAPAA] The programme strives for a percentage of women among their (professional) staff, which is in accordance with the percentage of women in the workforce. When this is an issue in the wider society, the programme strives for a percentage of persons among their staff, which is in accordance with the societal targets. Description The self-evaluation report reflects on the gender balance. The core staff nominally on the staff roll in the Spring term of 2010 includes 6 women out of 21. This number does not reflect the gender balance of the student population, where the proportion of women ranged at the bachelor s level from a low of 31 percent in to a high of 53 percent in This gender imbalance is more acute if one considers the rank of the female staff; all are UDs. Currently the Faculty has opened a procedure to promote one female Lecturer (UD) to the rank of Senior Lecturer (UHD). The Institute hopes that at least one of its candidates will be nominated for promotion. The self-evaluation report mentions that several of the female staff members deserve such a promotion. The self-evaluation report mentions that the ratio s relative to comparable programmes in public administration and political science may not be that different. Assessment The committee notes that the Institute has no specific objectives in this area. Some of the women have an influential position as director of curriculum or programme director. No explicit policy is in place to increase the number of staff from minority groups. Nor is it university policy to register the ethnic background of members of staff. However, new facilities like popcorner are supporting target groups of students who encounter specific difficulties with languages. Based on above considerations, the standard relating to diversity is assessed as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 18: Programme jurisdiction [EAPAA] Within the framework of institutional organisation, responsibility for the programme in Public Administration rests with an identifiable person or group of persons, chosen according to the rules of the organisation. Within the framework of organisation and process peculiar to the institution, the faculty and/or administrator exercises initiative, and substantial determining influence with respect to important aspects of the programme. Description The structure of the Institute is in large part determined by legal regulations, requirements and constraints based on Faculty Regulations as well as of the Institute. The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences provides five full-fledged degree programmes embodied as institutes: Anthropology, Educational Sciences, Political Science, Psychology, and Public Administration. The management of the faculty consists of a dean and three other members including a student member. The dean chairs the Faculty Board. The Faculty Board exercises general management and is responsible for managing the faculty, which includes QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 49

50 personnel, financial and other managerial tasks such as housing. The Faculty Board is accountable to the University Governing Board. The Faculty Board can set guidelines for the administration of the faculty institutes. The dean is responsible for the coordination and integration of the decision making of the faculty boards. The dean also works in the administration of the university as a whole and thus participates in the deans meetings together with the University Board. In addition to the Faculty Board, there is a Faculty Council consisting of 14 members. Students and personnel each elect half of the number of members. The Faculty Council advises the Board and has the right of approval in regard to labor relation issues. The Administrative Board (Instituutsbestuur) is in charge of the Institute of Public Administration and consists of a scientific director, who acts as chair (appointed from within the professors of the institute) and at most two other members (appointed from the staff; one of them is the Institute s educational director). The Board manages the workflow of the employees, and stimulates the connection between education and research in the field of Public Administration. The Scientific Director is responsible for the coordination and integration of the decision making of the Board as a whole and is in charge of personnel policy and research. The Administrative Board meets every two or three weeks. During these meetings, the office manager supports the operations of the Board. The scientific director regularly consults with the Dean and the other scientific directors of the faculty. The Institute s educational director also participates in the Permanent Committee of the Directors of Education. The Staff Council (Instituutsraad), made up de facto of the entire staff, advises the Institute of Public Administration Administrative Board on issues related to personnel and management. In practice, this committee acts as a meeting of the staff to discuss all the important topics of education and research. Further, the Education Committee advises the Administrative Board about everything that concerns the bachelor s and master s programmes and the composition of the Programme Board and other issues related to the Institute. Yearly, the student members nominate a faculty member for the Casimir Award (the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Science Annual Teaching Award). The Examination Committee (Examencommissie) is responsible for the examining of the students, the assessing of the grades, the granting of diplomas, the appointment of examiners and the organization and coordination of exams. Additionally, the board has to decide upon individual requests for exemptions and upon the Binding Study Advice (BSA). An appeal against a decision of the Board is possible via the Board of Appeals for Exams. Only a few appeals (1 or 2) are filed with this Board annually. The study advisors support and advise individual students, monitor the progress of all students, set up the PR of the programmes and the recruitment of new students and gather and diffuse relevant information to students and staff. The study desk is responsible for the registration of educational and study matters and provides information to students. Assessment The responsibility for the Public Administration programme is clearly separated from the Political Science programme. The Institute has a proper degree of autonomy and they cooperate with other faculties. Both the Board, the teachers and the study advisors are really focused on the programme. 50 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

51 Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 19: Public relations [EAPAA] The programme should provide future students and others with adequate information on the programme. Description The Institute engages actively in publishing its programme to prospective students. The Institute participates in the University website programme for the bachelor s and master s degree programmes. More actively, the Institute holds numerous sessions during the year in which information is provided about the bachelor s and master s programmes for prospective students. Many of these sessions are conducted with the cooperation of the B.I.L, the student association. Further, the teaching staff participates in these recruitment efforts. Assessment The committee has established that public relations aimed at potential students for all Leiden University s bachelor s and master s programmes, are organized and coordinated by a central department. Besides the activities mentioned above, the programme does organise its own information gathering initiatives. The committee notes that the The Hague campus is an important instrument and channel for public relations in relation to the potential market for graduates. The committee finds that this instrument could be exploited more to the benefit of those enrolled in the Leiden bachelor s and master s programme. The discussions with staff about the relatively low number of international students in the programmes, indicate that absorbing more international students is not an end goal in itself. On the basis of these considerations, the committee concludes that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme fulfil the criterion which relates to public relations. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Assessment of the theme Staff The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Staff on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory Services Standard 20: Facilities Housing and facilities are adequate to achieve the learning outcomes. Description All classrooms are located in the building that houses the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences: the Pieter de la Court Building. This building also houses the offices of the faculty and staff, the library, the PC workspaces and a restaurant. There are large classrooms for lectures and smaller rooms for working groups. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 51

52 Classroom facilities have been upgraded continually over the past decade for the use of various educational instruments: overhead projectors and Internet connections. These efforts have included major renovations of the building s classroom spaces over the last three years. Essentially all classrooms are wired for digital use. More generally, Leiden University selected Blackboard as its digital learning environment. In addition to classrooms for instructional purposes, students can work at over 350 PC workstations that have been set up in the building. Wireless Internet is also available. The Social Sciences Library of Leiden University is nationally known for its broad and deep collection in the field of social and behavioral sciences. The library owns approximately 80,000 books and 1200 print journals. In addition, the library provides access to over 15,000 online full-text journals (including essentially all of the major journals of public administration, given that these collections are closely connected to the disciplines of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences). The Leiden University Library collection contains both the collection of the Central Library as well as the collections of the faculty libraries and affiliated institutional libraries. Through the Digital Library the Leiden University Library offers a large number of bibliographic databases online. The inter-library loan system allows staff and students to borrow or obtain photocopied material from university libraries in the country and abroad. Assessment During the site visit, the committee studied the physical facilities available to students of the bachelor s and master s programme. On the basis of its own observations, the information provided in the self-evaluation report and the interviews with students and staff, the committee concludes that the physical facilities are satisfactory and that they contribute to the students ability to achieve the learning outcomes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 21: Tutoring Tutoring and information provision for students are adequate in view of study progress. Tutoring and information provision for students correspond with the students needs. Description A number of persons are involved in supervising and advising bachelor s students. The Institute has two study advisors, one for the bachelor s programme and one for the master s programme. Bachelor s students have a special bachelor s Study Advisor who stimulates educational progress, referring the student to the proper authorities in case of social or study problems, and if necessary, mediating and coordinating educational supervision of students. Together with the chair of the Education Committee, the Advisor is responsible for organizing activities for advancing the social integration of the students within each cohort (introduction and several social events throughout the year). The student association BIL also organizes social activities. It is primarily the task of the study advisors to provide students with all the necessary information, to monitor their progress and to advise them. For that purpose the bachelor s Study Advisor has frequent contacts with all bachelor s students. At the end of the first semester, the study advisor talks with all first year students. This talk has introductory, 52 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

53 selective and referring functions, so it is necessary to be able to get quickly a good impression of the experiences of these first year students. On the basis of these talks the study advisor gives them advice and she also passes her main findings on to the director of the bachelor s programme. The study advisor plays an important part in the binding study advice. The recently hired teaching assistants supervise the first year students. All through the first year, the teaching assistants supervise the same working groups and so get to know the students quite well. They have frequent formal and informal talks with the students and have a keen eye for underachieving and excellent students. Members of the academic staff who provide supervision in the acquisition of knowledge, understanding and academic skills are routinely, if informally, consulted by the Curriculum Director to identify emerging problems with students in their course work. Staff of the Education Bureau provide information about the curriculum, the courses and exam schedule, and manage the progress registration system. If students have non-curriculum-related questions and/or problems, they can also use the services of the student deans and psychologists of Leiden University. Assessment The committee has established that the tutoring and the provision of information for both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme are adequately organized and put into practice. It appreciates the work of the study advisors, who play an important role in both the tutoring and the provision of information and who are active and committed. It has established that the current capacity for the study advisors is sufficient and that their work load is acceptable, but that this capacity may turn out to be limiting in the near future if the number of students entering the bachelor s programme exceeds the current level. Teaching assistants actively support group work in classes and give feedback on papers and assignments. The first experiences with teaching assistants are very promising, in large part due to the enthusiasm, commitment and skills of the teaching assistants. The teaching assistants also act as mentors or tutors of the first year-students. The committee agrees that teaching assistants can play an important role also in mentoring and stimulating younger students, however they can never fully replace qualified academic staff. Training and minimum quality criteria are important, especially when the use of teaching assistants is expanded to second- or even third-years students. The current practice, in which teaching assistants work closely with academic staff, can attend didactic training on a voluntary basis, and are selected based on progress made (i.e. completed Research Master s or almost finished Master s) seems to be adequate to guarantee quality. Although the staff-student ratio has shifted to a more unfavourable ratio, the committee has noticed that staff members are easily accessible for students and they contribute to the support and guidance of students. Study advisors help students to take their responsibility for seeking advice not only from staff, but also from peer students. The popcorner facility is a new measure specifically targeted at students from other ethnic backgrounds. The impact of this facility is not yet known. The committee therefore assesses this standard as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 53

54 Assessment of the theme Services The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Services on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory Internal quality assurance system Standard 22: Periodical evaluations The curriculum is periodically evaluated in the light of verifiable objectives and other measures. Description The Institute uses the following instruments as a way to ensure and improve quality of teaching: course evaluations (ICLON and BEL-evaluations), providing feedback which is discussed with the Educational Director and the supervising staff member. The Education Committee also discusses these evaluations and may offer advice to the Administrative Board; the Annual Programme Reviews by ICLON using a standardized format; staff performance reviews (ROG); output data (i.e. grades), which could motivate a discussion with the Educational Director and a supervising staff member; attention and processing of individual complaints with the objective of drawing general lessons from individual cases; alumni surveys; and curriculum conferences and workshops discussing specific aspects of the programme. In addition to these, the programme undergoes regular external evaluations (the effective outsourcing of substantive judgments about programme quality consistent with New Public Management models of governance) such as this one, with other external evaluations within the last three years focusing on the research programme of the Institute and its Research master s programme. Assessment The committee has established that the courses of the curricula of both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme are evaluated periodically and systematically. It is positive about the extensive reviews by BEL, which is not very common in other institutions. As a result of the various evaluations, the Education Committee and the management of the programmes have a lot of information at their disposal which they can use to assess and improve the quality of the programmes. Whether the Education Committee plays a central and leading role in these evaluations, in the analysis of their results and in the formulation of measures to improve the quality when necessary is not entirely clear. On the basis of these considerations, the committee concludes that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme fulfil the criterion with respect to the evaluation of results. It therefore assesses this standard as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. 54 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

55 Standard 23: Measures for improvement The outcomes of the evaluation form the basis of verifiable measures for improvement that contribute to the achievement of the objectives. Description The self-evaluation report reflects on some of the changes and improvements made: some of these are incremental, other more substantial. Changes are initiated based on reviews by external agencies, students and staff. Several of these changes directly reflect some of the issues raised in the last external assessment of the bachelor s programme. These include the following: Practical experience in the bachelor s programme: bachelor s students have in their third year the option to use 15 or even 30 EC for an internship. Students are very positive about this possibility. Apart from that, practical experiences are dealt with by frequent use of case studies, guest lecturers, discussions with practitioners and excursions, often in cooperation with the study association B.I.L., which is very active. More challenging and interactive education: Recently more variety in teaching methods has been implemented by using ICT, deploying teaching assistants and organizing working visits to various public administration institutions and international organizations. In accordance with the recommendation of the committee, more attention is paid to quantitative research methods in the bachelor s programme (the regression class in the second year). Study abroad: over the last few years, the possibilities for study abroad have been enlarged. The Institute has concluded exchange agreements with several institutions abroad. Study results: the Institute tries to increase the completion rates of the programme. These efforts have resulted in a (further) slight increase of the completion rate of the bachelor s programme. Internal quality assurance: the Institute has developed an elaborate system in order to monitor and improve the quality of the programmes. In conformity with the recommendation of the previous assessment committee, an external Board of Advice has been set up. The self-evaluation report contains a couple of examples of specific improvements made to the master s programme, i.e. the timing of specific course offerings and enhancing the quality of the learning experience in the master s programme s larger courses. Further efforts were taken to add a series of Preparing Your Thesis sessions for students just entering the programme. Assessment The committee has taken note of various examples of relatively minor measures aimed at improving the quality of the programmes curricula - major changes and improvements have not been made in the past period. The committee was not able to establish whether these improvement have led to sustainable or permanent improvements over the years. The struggle with completion rates for example shows that several measures have been taken within the curriculum. However, the more fundamental issues, i.e. young people not being able to decide on their thesis topic, perhaps because they have not been in contact sufficiently with the professional field up to that point, are much harder to address. A more substantive change, i.e. letting students leave the programme for one or several years before returning to a masters programme, would fundamentally change the dynamic. However, this is largely QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 55

56 dependent on the context in the Netherlands, where a bachelor s degree is not accepted as a complete degree. In the committee s opinion, the programmes are able to quickly respond to students needs to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Whether these lead to permanent improvement is not clear. The committee assesses the standard which relates to the development and implementation of measures for improvement as satisfactory for both programmes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 24: Involvement of staff, students, alumni and the professional field Staff, students, alumni and the relevant professional field will be actively involved in the internal quality assurance system. Description For both the bachelor s programme and the masters programme, participation of staff members occurs continually on an informal basis and grading issues are routinely discussed in regular staff meetings (Instituutsraad). Further, the Institute from time to time has held daylong retreats to discuss specific issues, practices, and proposals associated with the curriculum. The most recent was in January 2010, during which considerable attention was given to addressing perceived issues and problems in the bachelor s programme. This discussion led directly to several steps being taken to address the timing of specific course offerings within the curriculum and to enhance the quality of the learning experience in the bachelor s programme using teaching assistants. The primary contact with both professionals and alumni is through the Institute s Advisory Board, (initiated in 2008) which includes prominent practitioners of public administration in national and local administration. Secondly the Institute s Annual Alumni Conference (initiated in 2007) is an important medium to get in touch with former students now working in the public sector. In addition, as mentioned above, an Alumni Advisory Board has been set up that will advise on issues of strategy and on the programme s links with the professional world. A number of very involved and professionally distinguished alumni have taken the initiative to form this board and the Institute aims to set up its first meetings with them in the near future. At the time of the site visit, the meeting had not taken place yet. The students association, the B.I.L., is very active in all of the activities noted above and has initiated many activities of its own. These include regular informal meetings with the staff (in so-called Café de Vijfde meetings), more formal sessions with outside speakers who are prominent practitioners in the field of public administration, trips to foreign capitals including meetings with prominent officials, and publishing their own semi-professional journal ( Bestuurskundige Berichten ). Assessment The committee has established that both staff members and students contribute to the internal quality assurance system via the programme committee, the educational committee, the Board of Examiners, the evaluations of programmes and courses, staff meetings and student meetings. 56 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

57 The committee also wants to mention BIL, the study association which also plays an active and constructive role in the process of quality assurance. Apart from the evaluations done by the central office, students have set up their own system. Classes are evaluated by students thoroughly. Teachers then get the chance to respond to them, before the entire report is published. The committee feels that this system can put quite some pressure on teaching staff to improve teaching quality. The fact that this report has now been published annually for quite a number of years, is remarkable. The committee has noted that the involvement of graduates of the programmes and of the professional field is less prominent. The programmes have regular contacts with both groups of stakeholders, which are useful and valuable, but primarily of an informal character. It is less clear to the committee that graduates and the professional field are directly involved in the quality assurance of the programmes. Although the university collects data about the positions acquired by their graduates in a systematic way, the committee does not see how this information is used by the various stakeholders within the Institute to improve the quality of the programmes. According to the self-evaluation report, an advisory board consisting of top-level practitioners supports the Institute in affirming the relationship between the programmes and public administration practice. Although Leiden University is well-known for its relationships with alumni, and the committee was impressed by the representatives from employers side, the advisory board does not meet frequently. Informal networks in which discussions take place about the professional requirements seem to be used to adjust objectives of the curriculum. Within the programmes themselves, Leiden University has the unique opportunity to discuss current issues with professionals in the field through the The Hague campus. The committee acknowledges that academic staff use these daily contacts to improve and adjust courses. However, the committee sees a large potential here to further enhance the ties between the professional field and the contents of both the bachelor s and master s programmes. The committee suggests that Leiden University has great potential to reach its alumni in a systematic way and could involve them more in the programmes quality assurance policy. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Assessment of the theme Internal quality assurance system The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Internal quality assurance system on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme is satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory Results Standard 25: Achieved learning outcomes The achieved learning outcomes correspond with the aims and objectives regarding level, orientation and subject- /discipline-specific requirements. Description One of the key vehicles through which students acquire the intended end qualifications is the bachelor s thesis itself. The thesis is expected to bring students knowledge about the general QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 57

58 issues and theories found within the discipline of public administration into sharper focus through their application to a topic in their field of specialization using the standards of high quality scholarly examination of topics as learnt in the several courses on research methods. In preparation for the thesis, in the first year, students have two courses in research, in which both quantitative and qualitative research is discussed (10 EC). However, some students commented to the committee that the focus on either quantitative or qualitative research has shifted during their programme (perhaps, they thought, due to some staff issues). All bachelor s students participate in a so-called Bachelor s Project. This project aims to guide students in their independent work on their individual bachelor s thesis. Students can choose a topic from three subject fields. Each subject field is supervised by a staff-member with specific expertise and knowledge in the area. In a number of seminars, students acquire knowledge of their respective subject fields. These sessions also prepare them for conducting research and setting up their thesis. They then choose a specific topic within that field and work towards a final individual thesis. The bachelor s project ends with individual poster presentations by students. At this poster conference, they present their work to staff members and fellow students. A jury of independent staff members awards prizes for the best thesis projects and the best posters. The transparency with regard to the final product motivates students to write good bachelor s theses and finish them in time. Prior to its visit, the committee studied theses produced by students who have recently completed one of the programmes: the bachelor s programme and the master s programme. The committee discussed its findings with the management and the thesis supervisors. Assessment The committee has noted that most but not all - theses in the bachelor s phase contain a section on methodology and at least some empirical research. There is a wide variety in topics, contents, structures and formats used. The committee has established that the quality of the bachelor s thesis is adequate, even where the essays are not based on research, but simply on a literature study. While the committee approves the fact that the bachelor s programme is research oriented, it felt that some of the theses did not display the competence in research which it expected. It has verified that students acquire all the skills referred to in the learning outcomes. The committee has noted that graduates of the bachelor s programme are able to continue their studies in the master s programme without any problems. The committee has established that the level and the quality of the concluding theses of the bachelor s programme and the theses produced by students of the master s programme are at least satisfactory. The documents studied by the committee reveal that students have acquired knowledge and understanding at a level which suits a bachelor s or a master s programme and that, for the most part, they are able to conduct research at that same level as well. Graduates of the master s programme manage to find a position on the labour market with relative ease. They consider themselves sufficiently prepared for their first job. In the committee s opinion, this means that the actual competences which students have achieved in the course of the programmes correspond sufficiently to the demands of the discipline and the professional practice. Representatives from the professional field indicate that graduates of the master s programme are easily recognizable, possess the necessary academic skills, are capable of viewing problems from multiple angles and are altogether good employees. 58 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

59 On the basis of these considerations, the committee concludes that both the bachelor s programme and the master s programme fulfil the criterion which relates to the achieved learning outcomes. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Standard 26: Study progress Target figures that are comparable to other relevant programmes are formulated to express the expected success rate. The programme s success rate complies with these target figures. Description The self-evaluation report contains a detailed reflection on the success rates. The percentages are based on all students who are enrolled in the bachelor s programme. 54 percent of all students who were enrolled in the bachelor s programme in 2002/03 finished the programme within 5 years, 45 percent within 4 years and 14 percent within 3 years. At the end of the four years, the value for the 02/03 cohort of 45 percent compares to 46 percent for Cultural Anthropology, 39 percent for Political Science, and 47 percent for Psychology. Thus, students appear a bit slow in finishing over three years in comparison to others, but not after four years. The use of the Bindend Studie Advies system has to be taken into account when interpreting the completion figures for the bachelor s programme. Students who have failed to obtain the required number of credits receive a negative BSA and are not allowed to continue their study. On average 30 percent of students in Public Administration receive a negative BSA. Thus, as a result of the strict selection in the propaedeuse through the BSA system, the completion rate can never be higher than 70 percent. The completion rates for the masters programme are shown in the figure below. It provides an overview of student numbers and completion rates in the master s programme (Leiden and Den Haag Campus, combined). Only 21 percent of the cohort, for example, completed their degrees within one year, 57 percent in two years, and 71 percent in three years. Note that the percentages in the table are based on all students who are enrolled in the master s programme. The self-evaluation report mentions that these figures are comparable to other programmes in the institute. One of the troubling patterns in the data is the declining completion rate within one year over the four cohorts, running from a stable 21 and 23 percent, respectively, for the first two cohorts to only 15 percent for the cohort and 11 percent for the cohort. According to the self-evaluation report and the various interviews with students and staff, the main impediment to more rapid completion seems to be the failure to focus on the thesis earlier in the degree programme. To address this problem, stricter deadlines have been set and a system of general meetings with students has been implemented as a way to guide and motivate them to move to the next stage of their thesis. The aim is to get the students to select a thesis topic after the first two blocks of the programme and to link them to a supervisor shortly thereafter. Staff members offer several capstone projects per year that students can join and thus be part of a research team instead of having a separate topic and working in isolation. Even when part of a capstone, students still end up writing individual theses. But they do research and literature reviews together, which adds peer pressure in terms of completion. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 59

60 Cumulative percentage Cohort 2005/06 Cohort 2006/07 Cohort 2007/08 Cohort 2008/09 Degree completed in 1 year in 2 years in 3 years Cumulative percentage of the students by each cohort (starting year) who complete the master s programme in 1, 2, and 3 years Assessment The committee did not find any reference to target figures for success rates, although a detailed analysis and reflection is given based on the figures. It finds that both programmes should continue to investigate opportunities to further improve the success rates. Given the circumstances, and given the fact that low success rates are a more general problem in the Netherlands, the committee finds the actual success rates achieved satisfactory, even though they could certainly be improved. In this respect, there is no distinction between the programmes offered by Leiden University and other programmes. The committee therefore assesses the standard related to the success rates as satisfactory for both the bachelor s and the master s programme. Bachelor s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Master s programme Public Administration: the committee assesses this standard as satisfactory. Assessment of the theme Results The committee comes to an overall assessment of the theme Results on the basis of its assessments of the separate standards. In the case of the bachelor s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. In the case of the master s programme Public Administration, it assesses this theme as satisfactory. 60 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

61 Overview of the committee s assessment Bachelor s programme Public Administration: Theme Assessment Standard Assessment 1. Aims and Satisfactory 1. Mission-based accreditation Satisfactory objectives 2. Subject-/discipline-specific Satisfactory requirements 3. Bachelor and master level Satisfactory 4. Academic orientation Satisfactory 2. Curriculum Satisfactory 5. Public administration character of the Satisfactory programme 6. Requirements for academic orientation Good 7. Correspondence between the aims and Satisfactory objectives and the curriculum 8. Consistency of the curriculum Satisfactory 9. Workload Satisfactory 10. Admission requirements Satisfactory 11. Credits Complies 12. Coherence of structure and contents Satisfactory 13. Learning assessment Satisfactory 3. Staff Satisfactory 14. Requirements for academic orientation Good 15. Quantity of staff Satisfactory 16. Quality of staff Satisfactory 17. Diversity: gender and minorities Satisfactory 18. Programme jurisdiction Satisfactory 19. Public relations Satisfactory 4. Services Satisfactory 20. Facilities Satisfactory 5. Internal quality assurance system Satisfactory 6. Results Satisfactory 21. Tutoring Satisfactory 22. Periodical evaluations Satisfactory 23. Measures for improvement Satisfactory 24. Involvement of staff, students, alumni Satisfactory and the professional field 25. Achieved learning outcomes Satisfactory 26. Study progress Satisfactory The committee concludes, on the basis of its assessments of the themes and standards from the assessment framework, that the bachelor s programme Public Administration fulfils the formal requirements which are a prerequisite for accreditation. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 61

62 Master s programme Public Administration: Theme Assessment Standard Assessment 1. Aims and Satisfactory 1. Mission-based accreditation Satisfactory objectives 2. Subject-/discipline-specific Satisfactory requirements 3. Bachelor and master level Satisfactory 4. Academic orientation Satisfactory 2. Curriculum Satisfactory 5. Public administration character of the Satisfactory programme 6. Requirements for academic orientation Good 7. Correspondence between the aims and Satisfactory objectives and the curriculum 8. Consistency of the curriculum Satisfactory 9. Workload Satisfactory 10. Admission requirements Satisfactory 11. Credits Complies 12. Coherence of structure and contents Satisfactory 13. Learning assessment Satisfactory 3. Staff Satisfactory 14. Requirements for academic orientation Good 15. Quantity of staff Satisfactory 16. Quality of staff Satisfactory 17. Diversity: gender and minorities Satisfactory 18. Programme jurisdiction Satisfactory 19. Public relations Satisfactory 4. Services Satisfactory 20. Facilities Satisfactory 21. Tutoring Satisfactory 5. Internal quality Satisfactory 22. Periodical evaluations Satisfactory assurance system 23. Measures for improvement Satisfactory 24. Involvement of staff, students, alumni and the professional field Satisfactory 6. Results Satisfactory 25. Achieved learning outcomes Satisfactory 26. Study progress Satisfactory The committee concludes, on the basis of its assessments of the themes and standards from the assessment framework, that the master s programme Public Administration fulfils the formal requirements which are a prerequisite for accreditation. 62 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

63 APPENDICES QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 63

64 64 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

65 Appendix A: Curricula vitae of the members of the assessment committee Professor C. (Christoph) Reichard is emeritus professor of Public Management at the University of Potsdam. He is a member of the Potsdam Centre of Policy and Management and of the Institute of Local Government Studies. He was and is guest professor at several universities, including universities in Milan (Bocconi), Rotterdam, Siena and Vienna. He is chair of the European Association of Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). His main fields of research include (new) public management, governance issues, public financial management and public personnel. His recent research projects deal with the evaluation of national and international trends of new public management, corporate governance problems of public enterprises, the use of financial data for managerial decisions, and education and training in the German public sector. He published about 240 books and articles. Professor J.J. (Jaap) Boonstra is professor Organizational Change and Learning at the University of Amsterdam and at Esade Business School in Barcelona (ES). He is the Dean and chairman of the scientific board of Sioo, the National Inter-university Center for Organizational Change and Learning in the Netherlands. He is a member of the board of governors for a wholesale organization and a youth care institute, and a member of the advisory board of the Dutch Immigration Services and the Dutch Academy of Governmental Communication. As a consultant, he is involved in change processes in organizational networks in the Netherlands, Spain and South Africa. His research focuses on transformational leadership, barriers to organizational change and innovation, power dynamics in organizational change, and sustainable development of organizations. He published more than two hundred articles on technological and organizational innovation, management of organizational change, organizational learning, politics in organizations, strategic decision making and transformational change in the service sector and public administration. Professor J.A. (Hans) de Bruijn is professor of Public Administration at Delft University of Technology. He is one of the leaders of the Policy, Organization, Law & Gaming Group, which comprises some 30 researchers, many of whom are social scientists or legal experts. The group is part of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. The Faculty encompasses experts in the fields of Policy Analysis, Systems Engineering, Economics and Business Administration and a large number of experts in technical areas of application such as energy and industry, and transport and logistics. Hans de Bruijn is member of the Management Team and research director of the faculty. He is attached as an associate to Berenschot Process Management, The Hague. As a consultant, he has been commissioned by a large number of parties. These recently included the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Province of South Holland, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, the Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment, Berenschot, the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Professor H. (Harald) Sætren is head of department of the Department of Administration and Organization Theory of the University of Bergen. In 1983, he obtained his PhD degree in at the University of Bergen. In 1987, he became full professor in the Department of Administration and Organization Theory. He was head of department in and from 1999 until 2001 as well. He currently co-chairs the EGPA permanent study group on Public Policy. He was a member of international expert teams appointed by the respective ministries of education to evaluate Public Administration programmes in Estonia in 2009, 2006, 2001 and in Lithuania in 2006 and He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 65

66 Comparative Policy Analysis and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Scandinavian Political Studies journal. His research focuses on public policy and policy changes. He published numerous books and articles, including a recent book on change and continuity in public organizations. Professor J. (Juraj) Nemec is professor of Public Finance and Public Management at the Faculty of Finance of the University of Banska Bystrica. He holds an MBA in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Public Sector Economics and he has more than 28 years of experience in teaching in public sector management and procurement. He published over 300 books and scientific articles in his field and fulfilled several academic posts, including the position of Dean of the Faculty of Finance. In 2010, he received an important reward for his performance, the NISPAcee Brunowska Award. He is Vice-President of the International Research Society for Public Management, member of the Management Board of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), project director of the IASIA permanent working group Public Sector Financial, Performance and Information Management. He is also a member of the Accreditation Committee of the European Association of Public Administration Accreditation. He was involved in the evaluation process of the first year of the European Public Service Award. He has coordinated many research and advisory projects. Recently, he was appointed as member of the review committee of the Slovak research grant agency APVV. Professor J. (John) Loughlin was professor of European Politics at Cardiff University since In October 2010, he took up the position of Fellow of St Edmund s College Cambridge and of Affiliated Lecturer in Politics of Cambridge University (UK). Previously he was associate professor in Public Administration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ) and Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Ulster (UK, ). He holds a Doctorate in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence (IT). He holds or has held visiting professorshops and Fellowships in Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Florence, Paris, Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence and Brussels, among many others. His main fields of research have been in Comparative European Politics and Administration. He has published numerous books and articles. In 2009, the University of Umea (SE) awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to research in European politics and territorial governance. In 2010, the French government named him an Officier dans l Ordre des Palmes Académiques in recognition of his contribution of the study of European politics and to the spread of French language and culture in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Historical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences of the United Kingdom. Professor T. (Tony) Bovaird is professor of Public Management and Policy at the INLOGOV and Third Sector Research Centre of the University of Birmingham. He worked in the UK Civil Service and at several universities. In 2006, he accepted a position at INLOGOV. He was a member of the OECD e-governance Task Force. He chaired the Evaluation Partnership, set up by the UK government to coordinate the evaluation of the Local Government Modernisation Agenda, from and is a member of the CLG Expert Panel on Local Governance. He undertook evaluation case studies of the Civil Service Reform Programme, commissioned by the Cabinet Office, and recently led the UK contribution to an EU project on user and community co-production of public services in five European countries. He helps to organize the European Public Sector Award and is on the Strategy Board of the Local Authorities Research Council Initiative. He published numerous books and articles. 66 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

67 Professor M. (Michael) Hill was professor of Social Policy at the University of Newcastle. He was head of department from 1986 until He took early retirement in 1997 and was appointed emeritus professor of Social Policy. Currently he is visiting professor in the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics, the Department of Politics, Queen Mary College, University of London and the School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton. From 1998 until 2003, he was visiting professor at the Department of Politics, Goldsmiths College, University of London and joint editor of the Journal of Social Policy. His previous appointments include positions as Senior Lecturer at the School for Advanced Urban Studies in the University of Bristol, Research Officer and Deputy Director of a DHSS funded social work research project at the University of Oxford, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Reading, and Executive Officer in the National Assistance Board. Professor M. (Mirko) Vintar is full professor of Informatics in Public Administration at the Faculty of Administration of the University of Ljubljana. He was dean of the Faculty of Administration ( ) and he has been vice-dean for scientific research since He is also head of the Institute for Informatization of Administration. He gained his doctorate in administration and information science studies at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana. For over 20 years, his work has dealt with the informatisation of public administration, with a major focus on the development of e-government in recent years. Professor Vintar chairs and has chaired numerous national and foreign research and applied development projects. He is actively involved in various international scientific and professional bodies in the field of administration research. He is a member of the social sciences council at the Slovenian Research Agency, editor and co-author of several scientific monographs. He chaired the programme and organizing committees of international conferences held in Slovenia (EGPA 2004, NISPAcee 2006, SSPA 2007). Mr. drs. A.J. (Arthur) Modderkolk studied economics and law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 1975, he joined the directorate-general for the national budget of the Ministry of Finance. He held various positions at the ministry, including the position of director responsible for the finances of provinces and municipalities. In 1985, he was appointed as general director and secretary general of the province of Noord-Brabant. In 1997, he moved to the health sector, where he became manager and secretary general of the foundation De Open Ankh. In this postion, he was manager of the largest conglomerate of AWBZ-funded health services and a member of more than ten supervisory boards of health institutions. Arthur Modderkolk has had and continues to have many additional positions in various public sectors, including education, church, youth care, and housing corporations. Dr. A.A.M. (Louis) Meuleman has almost 30 years of experience in the public sector experience, serving as a policy-maker, project manager, head of unit, process manager and project director, on national, regional and international issues, mainly in the fields of environment, sustainable development and spatial (land use) planning. Until recently, he was secretary general of the Dutch Advisory Council for Research on Spatial Planning, Nature and Environment (RMNO) in The Hague. Since January 2010, he works at the Dutch environment ministry as senior advisor international strategy and governance. He is director of the project Science for sustainable societal transformations: Towards effective governance (TransGov) of the International Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS, Potsdam, Germany), chair of the Netherlands Association for Public Management (VOM), senior lecturer at Nyenrode Business University (Breukelen, the Netherlands), and research fellow at VU University Amsterdam. He gives workshops on (meta)governance, QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 67

68 process management and stakeholder participation. His PhD thesis Public Management and the Metagovernance of Hierarchies, Networks and Markets was published in Dr. C.J.M. (Kees) Breed graduated in political sciences at the University of Amsterdam (1973). In 2007, he successfully completed his PhD thesis Governance culture and strategy a research study into the cognitive map of top civil servants. Kees Breed has been working for several public and semi-public organizations, mainly in the fields of scientific research (Netherlands foundation for international scientific cooperation, Nuffic) and public administration (Ministry of Home Affairs, Permanent Representation of the Netherlands at the European Union). From 1998 until 2006 he acted as a private strategy consultant for organizations at different levels of government (national, provincial and local government). Since 2006, Kees Breed holds the position of Secretary of two national advisory councils: the Council for public administration (Rob) and the Council for financial relations (between government layers, Rfv). Drs. H. (Henk) Nijhof has been chairman of the Dutch political party GroenLinks since From 1994 until 2006, he was alderman in the city of Hengelo, representing GroenLinks. He also served as regional manager of the education trade union ABOP and as director of a so-called Jenaplan school in Hengelo. Henk Nijhof holds and has held various additional positions. Currently, he is chairman of the council of clients of nursing homes in Twente, member of the board of the Olympic Network Twente and a member of the advisory council for the public domain. Until 2009, he chaired the supervisory board of a cluster of four schools for severely maladjusted children in Twente. Until 2006, he was chair of the School Advisory Service (Schoolbegeleidingsdienst) Twente. T. (Tom) Degen is a master s student of Public Administration at Leiden University. He enrolled in the bachelor s programme in During his first two years of study, he was actively involved in various committees of his student fraternity and his study association. In , he was chairman of the Bestuurskundige Interfacultaire vereniging Leiden, the study association of Public Administration. In 2010, he was one of the authors of a book which marked the 25th anniversary of the department of Public Administration and the study association. He currently is a research assistant at the Hague Campus of Leiden University and he follows the specialization in Crisis and Security Management of the master s programme in Public Administration. J. (Janneke) van der Heijden is a student of the bachelor s programme in Public Administration at Tilburg University. As of September 2010, she is the student member of the board of the Tilburg Law School. In , she was the student member of the faculty s Education Board, which supports and advices the Vice-Dean for Education of the faculty. From 2007 until 2009, she was a member of the Faculty Council of the Tilburg Law School. 68 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

69 Appendix B: Composition of the assessment committtee per site visit Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to Utrecht University: Prof. dr. J.J. (Jaap) Boonstra, chair Prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç Prof. dr. J. (John) Loughlin Mr. drs. A.J. (Arthur) Modderkolk T. (Tom) Degen Drs. L.C. (Linda) te Marvelde, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to Tilburg University: Prof. dr. J.A. (Hans) de Bruijn, chair Prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç Prof. dr. J. (John) Loughlin Dr. A.A.M. (Louis) Meuleman T. (Tom) Degen Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, secretary and project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to Leiden University: Prof. dr. C. (Christoph) Reichard, chair Prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç Prof. dr. T. (Tony) Bovaird Dr. A.A.M. (Louis) Meuleman J. (Janneke) van der Heijden Drs. R.L. (Reinout) van Brakel, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to Radboud University Nijmegen: Prof. dr. C. (Christoph) Reichard, chair Prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç Prof. dr. T. (Tony) Bovaird Mr. drs. A.J. (Arthur) Modderkolk J. (Janneke) van der Heijden Drs. L.C. (Linda) te Marvelde, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to Erasmus University Rotterdam: Prof. dr. H. (Harald) Sætren, chair Prof. dr. J. (Juraj) Nemeç QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 69

70 Prof. dr. M. (Michael) Hill Dr. K. (Kees) Breed T. (Tom) Degen Drs. J. (José) van Zwieten, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to VU University Amsterdam: Prof. dr. C. (Christoph) Reichard, chair Prof. dr. H. (Harald) Sætren Prof. dr. M. (Michael) Hill Drs. H. (Henk) Nijhof T. (Tom) Degen Drs. R.L. (Renate) Prenen, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator Composition of the assessment committee at the site visit to the University of Twente: Prof. dr. C. (Christoph) Reichard, chair Prof. dr. M. (Michael) Hill Prof. dr. M. (Mirko) Vintar Mr. drs. A.J. (Arthur) Modderkolk J. (Janneke) van der Heijden Drs. L.C. (Linda) te Marvelde, secretary Drs. S. (Sietze) Looijenga, project coordinator 70 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

71 Appendix C: Programme of the site visit to Leiden University Day 1 9:00 13:00: Preparatory meeting of the assessment committee: general discussion, discussion of the self-evaluation reports and the theses which have been distributed in advance, review of documentation made available 13:00 14:00: Interview with representatives who are responsible for the the contents of the programmes (chairman of the department, programme director(s), chair holder(s), authors of the self-evaluation report et cetera) 14:00 14:45: Interview with students of the bachelor s programme (approximately 3 per year, 10 at most) 14:45 15:30: Interview with students of the master s programme (6 to 8) 15:30 15:45: Break 15:45 16:30: Interview with staff members who contribute to the programmes (10 at most) 16:30 17:15: Interview with graduates of the master s programme (6 to 8) 17:15 18:00: Interview with representatives of the professional practice 19:30 21:30: Dinner with representatives of the faculty offering the programmes Day 2 09:00 09:30: Interview with student members of the Programme Committee 09:30 10:00: Interview with staff members of the Programme Committee 10:00 10:30: Interview with members of the Board of Examiners and with the study advisor(s) 10:30 11:00: Guided tour and office hour 11:00 11:30: Internal committee meeting in preparation of the interview with the board of the faculty 11:30 12:30: Interview with the board of the faculty 12:30 13:00: Lunch 13:00 16:00: Internal committee meeting: discussion leading to general conclusions and the assessment of the programmes 16:00 16:30: Oral report of the committee s conclusions by the chairman of the committee 16:30 17:00: Reception QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 71

72 72 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

73 Appendix D: Joint QANU-EAPAA assessment framework Theme 1: Aims and objectives Standard 1: Mission-based accreditation [EAPAA] Criterion: The programme should state clearly its educational philosophy and mission and have an orderly process for developing appropriate strategies and objectives consistent with its mission, resources, and constituencies. From the mission a set of credible educational objectives should be formulated. Interpretations of the EAPAA standards of this accreditation must be justified in light of the programme's mission and objectives and success in fulfilling its mission Standard 2: Subject-/discipline-specific requirements [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the requirements set by professional colleagues, both nationally and internationally and the relevant domain concerned (subject/discipline and/or professional practice). Standard 3: Bachelor and master level [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the general, internationally accepted descriptions of a Bachelor s qualification or a Master s qualification. Standard 4: Academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The intended learning outcomes of the programme correspond with the following descriptions of a Bachelor s and a Master s qualification: The intended learning outcomes are derived from requirements set by the scientific discipline, the international scientific practice and, for programmes to which this applies, the practice in the relevant professional field. An academic bachelor (WO-bachelor) has the qualifications that allow access to at least one further programme at academic master's level (WO-master) and the option to enter the labour market. An academic master (WO-master) has the qualifications to conduct independent research or to solve multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary questions in a professional field for which academic higher education is required or useful. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 73

74 Theme 2: Curriculum Standard 5: Public administration character of the programme [EAPAA] Criteria: The core curriculum provides a thorough teaching of the basic concepts, theories, methods and history (classics) of Public Administration on the level of the programme (bachelor or master). The curriculum components are designed to produce professionals capable of intelligent, creative analysis and communication, and action in the public sector. Courses taken to fulfil the core curriculum components provide research methods, concepts and theories from the disciplines of economics, law, political science, sociology, public finances, informatization, and public management as well as the relationship between these fields. Students are obliged to give adequate proof of their ability to work independently (under the supervision of a supervisor) on real problems or research questions in the public sector, for example through essays and final papers (e.g. a thesis), adapted to the level (bachelor or master) of the programme. The core curriculum components enhance the student's values, knowledge, and skills to act ethically and effectively. Standard 6: Requirements for academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The proposed curriculum meets the following criteria for an academic orientation: The students develop their knowledge through the interaction between education and research within the relevant disciplines The curriculum corresponds with current developments in the relevant discipline(s) by verifiable links with current scientific theories The programme ensures the development of competences in the field of research Where appropriate, the curriculum has verifiable links with the current relevant professional practice. Standard 7: Correspondence between the aims and objectives and the curriculum [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The curriculum is an adequate realisation of the intended learning outcomes of the programme and this regards the level, the orientation and the subject-/discipline-specific requirements. The intended learning outcomes are adequately transferred into the educational goals of the curriculum or parts thereof. The contents of the curriculum ensure the students achievement of the intended learning outcomes. 74 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

75 Standard 8: Consistency of the curriculum [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The contents of the curriculum are internally consistent. Standard 9: Workload [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The curriculum can be successfully completed within the set time, as certain programmerelated factors that may be an impediment in view of study progress are eliminated where possible. Standard 10: Admission requirements [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The structure and contents of the intended curriculum are in line with the qualifications of the incoming students: Academic bachelor s programme (WO-bachelor): VWO (pre-university education), propaedeutic certificate from a secondary school (HBO) or similar qualifications, as demonstrated in the admission process Master s programme (WO-master): a bachelor's degree and possibly a selection (with a view on the contents of the discipline). Standard 11: Credits [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The programme meets the legal requirements regarding the range of credits: Academic bachelor's programme (WO-bachelor): 180 credits Academic master's programme (WO-master): a minimum of 60 credits. Standard 12: Coherence of structure and contents [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: The educational concept is in line with the aims and objectives. The study methods correspond with this educational concept. Standard 13: Learning assessment [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: By means of evaluations, tests and examinations, the students are assessed in an adequate and for them insightful way to determine whether they have achieved the intended learning outcomes of the programme or parts thereof. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 75

76 Theme 3: Staff and organization Standard 14: Requirements for academic orientation [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The programme meets the following criterion for the deployment of staff for a programme with an academic orientation: Teaching is principally provided by researchers who contribute to the development of the subject/discipline. Standard 15: Quantity of staff [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: Sufficient staff are deployed to realise the desired quality of the programme. Standard 16: Quality of staff [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The staff deployed are sufficiently qualified to ensure that the aims and objectives regarding the content, didactics and organization of the programme are achieved. Standard 17: Diversity: gender and minorities [EAPAA] Criterion: The programme strives for a percentage of women among their (professional) staff, which is in accordance with the percentage of women in the workforce. When this is an issue in the wider society, the programme strives for a percentage of persons among their staff, which is in accordance with the societal targets. Standard 18: Programme jurisdiction [EAPAA] Criterion: Within the framework of institutional organization, responsibility for the programme in Public Administration rests with an identifiable person or group of persons, chosen according to the rules of the organization. Within the framework of organization and process peculiar to the institution, the faculty and/or administrator exercises initiative, and substantial determining influence with respect to important aspects of the programme. Standard 19: Public relations [EAPAA] Criterion: The programme should provide future students and others with adequate information on the programme. 76 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

77 Theme 4: Services Standard 20: Facilities [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: Housing and facilities are adequate to achieve the learning outcomes. Standard 21: Tutoring [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: Tutoring and information provision for students are adequate in view of study progress. Tutoring and information provision for students correspond with the students needs. Theme 5: Internal quality assurance system Standard 22: Periodical evaluations [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The curriculum is periodically evaluated in the light of verifiable objectives and other measures. Standard 23: Measures for improvement [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The outcomes of the evaluation form the basis of verifiable measures for improvement that contribute to the achievement of the objectives. Standard 24: Involvement of staff, students, alumni and the professional field [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: Staff, students, alumni and the relevant professional field will be actively involved in the internal quality assurance system. Theme 6: Results Standard 25: Achieved learning outcomes [NVAO & EAPAA] Criterion: The achieved learning outcomes correspond with the aims and objectives regarding level, orientation and subject-/discipline-specific requirements. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 77

78 Standard 26: Study progress [NVAO & EAPAA] Criteria: Target figures that are comparable to other relevant programmes are formulated to express the expected success rate. The programme s success rate complies with these target figures. 78 QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University

79 Appendix E: List of materials studied by the committee during the site visit recent theses listed in the self-assessment reports which had not been distributed among committee members prior to the site visit; forms used for assessing the theses; materials and publications used for information and marketing purposes; learning materials: handbooks, readers, collections of articles, etc.; examples of papers, reports and internship reports produced by students; rules and regulations for writing theses, reports, research papers; rules and regulations applying to internships; exam regulations; written exams and assessment materials; recent minutes and reports of meetings of the Board of Studies, the Board of Examiners, annual reports on education; reports of evaluations of courses and curricula; results of surveys among graduates; policy reports and documents relating to the degree programmes. QANU & EAPAA / Public Administration, Leiden University 79