The European Standards and Guidelines and Quality Assurance in the SEE region opportunities and chal

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The European Standards and Guidelines and Quality
Assurance in the SEE region - opportunities and
challengesThe Case of Cyprus

• Elpida Heracleous
• For the Council of Educational Evaluation
  Accreditation
  
• November 2007

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The Accreditation System in Cyprus

• A perspective
• Problems, Achievements, Experience
• Future Prospects

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Cyprus Characteristics of the local environment

• A very small country (area 3.572sqm population
  788,457 census 2007)
  
• Most students study abroad
• No tradition to higher education and/or research
• Aspires to become a regional educational centre
• Significant private sector in higher education

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Public and Private Sector in Higher Education
(cond.)

• Public Universities
• University of Cyprus (est. 1989)
• Open University of Cyprus (est. 2006)
• Cyprus University of Technology (est. 2006)

• Private Universities
• European University Cyprus (est. 2007)
• Frederick University (est. 2007)
• University of Nicosia (est. 2007)

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Public and Private Sector in Higher Education

• Public Institutes of Higher Education
• Cyprus Police Academy
• Forestry School
• Mediterranean Institute of Management
• Tourist Guides School
• Public Health Inspectors School

• Private Institutes of Higher Education
• Quite a few(!) 31, out of which 22 have
  accredited programs (5 Masters, 56 Bachelors, 7
  Higher Diplomas, 107 Diplomas, 6 Certificates)
  

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Quality Assurance in Cyprus

• Programmatic

• C.E.E.A/SEKAP
• Council of Educational Evaluation
  Accreditation/S?µß????? ??pa?de?t???? ????????s??
  ??st?p???s?? (est. 1987)
  
• ECPU/???? Evaluation Committee of Private
  Universities/?p?t??p? ????????s?? ?d??t????
  ?a?ep?st?µ??? (est. 2006)
  
• KYSATS/??S??S Cyprus Council for the recognition
  of Higher Education Qualifications/??p??a??
  S?µß????? ??a?????s?? ??t??? Sp??d?? (est.1996)

• Institutional

• Degree

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BUT

• is applicable only to Private Higher Education

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Council of Educational Evaluation-Accreditation /
C.E.E.A

• Independent body appointed by the Council of
  Ministers
  
• It has an established legal basis
• Formally recognized by the competent public
  authorities to perform programmatic
  evaluations-accreditations of the Private
  Institutes of Higher Education
• Funded from the budget of the Ministry of
  Education and Culture
  

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Composition of the Council

• George Philokyprou, Computer Scientist Ph. D
  Manchester
  
• Costas Christou, Mathematician Ph. D Ohio
• Michalis Haliasos, Economist, Ph. D Yale
• Chrysee Hatzichristou, Psychologist, Ph. D
  Berkeley
  
• Petros Ioannou, Electrical Engineer, Ph. D
  Illinois
  
• Leonidas Kyriakides, Mathematician, Ph. D New
  York
  
• Costas Pantelides, Chemical Engineer, Ph. D
  Imperial College

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Process of Evaluation Accreditation (cond.)

• Application from a Private Institute of Tertiary
  Education (PITE) along with the self evaluation
  reports and all relevant documents
  
• The C.E.E.A examines the application and appoints
  a relevant Visiting Team of Experts (VTE)
  
• The VTE examines the self evaluation report and
  all other relevant documents, performs site
  visit, and prepares a report which includes its
  findings, observations and recommendations
• The report is communicated to the concerned
  institution
  
• The Institution may submit comments relevant to
  the report
  
• The VTE considers the institutions comments and
  prepares its final report, which is forwarded to
  the C.E.E.A
  

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Process of Evaluation Accreditation (cond.)

• The C.E.E.A after considering the final report,
  first report and other pertinent evidence can
  decide whether to
  
• Approve the programme
• Approve the program on Conditions
• Defer the decision on the programme till
  identified weaknesses are remedied
  
• Reject the programme

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Process of Evaluation Accreditation

• The C.E.E.A notifies the Minister of Education
  and Culture of the decision(s) made and the
  Minister notifies the concerned Institution(s)
  
• The C.E.E.A has the authority to withdraw the
  accreditation from any programme(s) at any time,
  if it judges that the terms and conditions under
  which it was accredited are no longer operative

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Visiting Teams of Experts

• Size of Team 3-9 (usually 5 members)
• Caliber The best possible
• Duration of Visit 3-7 days
• Example BSc in Architecture
• Loukas Kalisperis Penn State U.S.A, Chair
• Michael Fifield Oregon University U.S.A, Member
• Anastasia Liakata Pechlivanidou NTUA Hellas,
  Member
  
• Marios Phocas, University of Cyprus, Member
• Marinos Ioannides, Higher Technical Institute
  Cyprus, Member

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ENQA Standards and Guidelines and the C.E.E.A
(cond.)

• Official Status
• Activities
• Resources

• Established by Law in 1987, it is recognized by
  the competent public authorities, and complies
  with the requirements of the legislative
  jurisdictions within which it operates
• Undertakes external quality assurance activities
  at program level
  
• Receives both its financial and human resources
  from the Ministry of Education
  

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ENQA Standards and Guidelines and the C.E.E.A
(cond.)

• Mission Statement

• to build confidence and trust among local and
  foreign students concerning the quality of the
  offered programs to establish the minimum
  possible criteria to be fulfilled for the award
  of an accredited degree from the Cyprus
  Government and to provide a basis of comparison
  with degree titles granted from foreign
  institutions of higher education.

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ENQA Standards and Guidelines and the C.E.E.A
(cond.)

• Independence

• Appointed by the Council of Ministers. All
  procedures and methods of operation are decided
  by the Council. Nomination and appointment of
  team of experts is solely done by the Council.
  Decisions are taken by the Council and cannot be
  altered by anyone

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ENQA Standards and Guidelines and the C.E.E.A

• External Quality Assurance Criteria and Processes
  used by the agencies
  
• Accountability Procedures

• All processes, criteria and procedures are
  pre-defined and publicly available (included in
  the Law)
  
• Internal and external feedback, a no conflict of
  interest mechanism

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The Future
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Cypriot Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education/??p??a??? F???a? ??asf???s?? ?a?
??st?p???s?? ????t?ta? st?? ??pa?de?s?

• Established by law on October 5, 2007

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Cypriot Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education/??p??a??? F???a? ??asf???s?? ?a?
??st?p???s?? ????t?ta? st?? ??pa?de?s?

• Advantages
• Concentration under one body of all processes of
  evaluation and quality assurance, applicable both
  to the private and public sector (Private
  Institutes of Higher Education and Universities)
  avoiding the wastage of human and material
  resources.

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Cypriot Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education/??p??a??? F???a? ??asf???s?? ?a?
??st?p???s?? ????t?ta? st?? ??pa?de?s?

• Advantages
• Establishment of Internal Evaluation mechanisms
  by all Institutions, faculties and universities,
  both public and private. Through these mechanisms
  the Institutions will systematically collect
  data, enabling them to keep track of their
  improvement towards quality excellence. This
  process is expected to mobilise the internal
  activities of self-monitoring and follow-up of
  the educational quality offered by the
  institutions, aiming towards continuous
  improvement.

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Cypriot Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education/??p??a??? F???a? ??asf???s?? ?a?
??st?p???s?? ????t?ta? st?? ??pa?de?s?

• Advantages
• A flexible, modern and pioneering organisation
  will be created which will evaluate, accredit and
  safeguard higher education in Cyprus. It will
  also be compatible with all EU requirements and
  with the requirements of other international
  bodies and organisations.

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Cypriot Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education/??p??a??? F???a? ??asf???s?? ?a?
??st?p???s?? ????t?ta? st?? ??pa?de?s?

• Advantages
• It will be possible to act as a regional
  organisation of quality assurance in the Eastern
  Mediterranean and the wider region.
  
• The status of Higher Education in Cyprus will be
  further improved both within Cyprus and abroad.
  

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!