QA-BiH: Past achievements and
future challenges
Mag. Oliver Vettori
April 2008
Areas of achievement
 Awareness: Recognising the need for explicit quality
management strategies and quality assurance systems
 Structure: Laying the formal foundation for the internal
quality culture
 Procedures: Establishing an instrumental framework
for quality measurement and quality development
 Internationalisation: Demonstrating quality-related
efforts to the external stakeholders
EQM
Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 1: Quality awareness
“The main challenge lies in changing the informal
and implicit approach to quality to a formal and
explicit culture and in making this difference
understandable”
(WUS Austria, Quality Culture Brochure)
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 1: Achievements...
 Raising quality awareness (Seminars,
Workshops, Conferences, Discussions…)
 Disseminating information (Brochures, QA
handbooks, websites, evaluation materials…)
 Encouraging stakeholder involvement
(Stakeholder Trainings, Involvement in QA groups and
decision making boards, feedback loops…)
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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... and some future challenges
Quality relevance instead of mere
quality awareness
Reciprocal communication instead of
one-way information
Stakeholder participation instead of
stakeholder involvement
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 2: Structure
Study law
Curriculum
Committee
Study administration
Vizerektorat
für Lehre
lays foundation
Senate
reports
recommends
concepts
Evaluation
Committee
QA office
organisation
implementation
conciliatory
Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
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March 2008
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Area 2: Achievements…
 Quality assurance offices (professionalisation
of the QA administration)
 Involvement of top management
(QA is currently being recognised as an area of
strategic importance)
 Infrastructure
(technical equipment, staff, resources etc.)

Process definitions (for evaluation and routine
processes )
Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
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March 2008
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... and some future challenges
Joint quality efforts instead of
delegating QA responsibilities
Flexible and supportive structures
instead of inelastic rules and regulations
Combining top down and
bottom up approaches
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 3: Procedures
Graduate surveys, round tables, feedback box,
premiums and awards, student evaluation of
teaching, questionnaires, program monitoring,
focus groups, advisory board, accreditation,
process analysis, sounding boards,
discussion groups, staff development
program, premiums, fast feedback, midterm
review, external evaluation, tutoring, peer
reviews and peer observation of teaching,
standards, rules and procedures, student
satisfaction surveys, reporting, evaluation
research, counselling, guidelines, handbooks,
stakeholder reviews, curriculum assessment
…
Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 3: Achievements...
 Student evaluation of teaching
(questionnaires, reports, monitoring procedures)
 Graduate surveys (questionnaires, reports,
monitoring procedures)
 Information Systems (systematic data
collection and data analysis)
 Institutional self-evaluations
(currently being prepared)
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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... and some future challenges
Quality cultures instead of
quality bureaucracies
Quality development instead of
mere quality measurement
(learning) outcome orientation
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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Area 4: Achievements...
 Demonstrating quality efforts (compliance
with standards and terminology, QA handbooks and
brochures, change of self- and heteropresentation)
 International exchange (conferences,
workshops, partner universities)
 Starting Bologna Process (new degree
programs, ECTS credits, learning outcomes…)
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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... and some future challenges
Developing the internal culture
instead of polishing the surface
Focussing on the spirit of the Bologna
declaration instead of mere technicalities
Balancing inward orientation
and outward orientation
EQM
Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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An impossible task?
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Evaluierung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Lehre
March 2008
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