Christian Thune
How University Evaluations are being innovated in Europe
Presentation at the Japan-Nordic Symposium: On the Frontier of University Evaluation – Making
the most of Nordic Successes
United Nations University, Tokyo 28 September 2005

ABSTRACTThis presentation introduces developments and form of cooperation in external quality assuranceof higher education at three levels, the European, the regional Nordic, and the national Danish.
Part 1. European cooperation in quality assurance of higher education (ENQA) and theBologna Process
The presentation provides an overview of the development since the early 1990s in European
external quality assurance of higher education institutions. At that time the process began that by2006 has established not only national quality assurance agencies in practically all the Europeancountries, but also a highly developed formal framework for mutual cooperation between agencies.
The presentation points to the several positive elements in successful cooperation already in placeby the early 1990s such as the shared formal status as government initiated and owned agencies,
shared basic evaluation process approaches, positive expectations towards the rewards ofEuropean networking combined with the political support of the European Union Commission.
The negative elements were the essentially fragmented national approaches in terms of methods
and goals. This was especially the case between Western Europe and recently democratizedCentral and Eastern Europe. Therefore the mission and profiles of the agencies differed initiallybetween a general Western European focus on evaluations with a quality enhancement
perspective on the one hand and an Eastern European focus on accreditations with anaccountability perspective on the other. Further most European agencies had to begin theiroperations in the stressful and resource demanding context of a rather hostile university
environment.
However, the positive incentives for European cooperation prevailed, helped by joint projects, suchas the European Pilot Projects, informal networking and recommendations from the ministers ofEuropean Union. Success was indicated by the end of the century by two parallel formal
developments: the establishment of ENQA and the Bologna process. The European Network forQuality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) was established on the basis of an initiative andbasic funding from the EU Commission. ENQA had as it first and primary objective to share anddisseminate knowledge and best practice among European agencies. But soon a more politicalrole had to be accepted by ENQA as the network became more and more linked to the Europeanpolitics of EU and the Bologna process. ENQA’s transformation into a formal association in 2005
can be seen as a manifestation of this new role.

The Bologna process began in 1999 and was supported by initially 25 and now 42 European states.
The process soon became an effective catalyst for further focus and cooperation on quality
assurance of higher education.
In 2005 the networking impact of ENQA and the political impact of the Bologna process werebrought together, when the education ministers from the 40 Bologna signatory countries met inBergen and adopted the European Standards proposed by ENQA in cooperation with its Europeanpartners from the university and student organisations.
The European Standards are now the recognised framework for implementing the neededtransparency, compatibility and comparability of European quality in higher education. The
presentation’s outline of the main focus and content of the standards emphasises the extent towhich these serve as an improvement oriented perspective towards quality assurance of higher
education institutions.
A special dimension of the Bergen decision is the invitation to ENQA and its European members
and partners to set up a register for quality assurance agencies operating in Europe. Admission ofan agency to the register should indicate that agency’s compliance with the European Standards.
The presentation indicates the challenges for continuing success for the Bologna and ENQAprocesses. The crucial issue is the degree of readiness and willingness with which the national andregional governments, the higher education institutions and the quality assurance agencies will
now implement the European standards and meet the Bergen expectations.
A successful outcome by the end of this decade will be identical with a European higher education
area with strong, autonomous and effective higher education institutions, a keen sense of theimportance of quality and standards, good peer reviews, credible quality assurance agencies, aneffective register and increased co-operation with other stakeholders, such as employers.

Part 2. Cooperation between the Nordic agencies (NOQA)
The presentation introduces how cooperation between the agencies from the five Nordic countries
began in 1992 and how it has developed over the years. This process has in many ways paralleled
the overall European development as Nordic cooperation moved from informal networking in theearly 1990s to the formal establishment in 2003 of The Nordic quality assurance network in higher
education (NOQA). However, even if NOQA is formally established as a regional network under
ENQA, it still has the basic characteristics of an informal network and is far from being linked toany political process of cooperation between the Nordic countries. ENQA and NOQA work
therefore within very different frameworks and the result is a corresponding difference in the scopeand impact of NOQA’s activities.
The presentation lists the positive indications for Nordic networking such as the fact that allagencies are national and government initiated and owned; that there is a strong shared culture
and long established tradition for Nordic cooperation in political and cultural dimensions; and thatthe university environment has generally been positive towards external quality assurance. English
is the working language of NOQA, but the relative ease with which Danes, Norwegians andSwedes understand each other’s languages has in itself been an important dimension. Finally theNordic agencies have shared basic interpretations of the need to balance accountability andimprovement and they have oriented their methodological development in the same directions ofevaluation, audit and accreditation.
However, the presentation also notes the problem that the Nordic governments tend still to adopt
very individual national strategies towards the mandates and organisation of agencies.
The presentation points to the annual conference as the key activity, where each year a joint
project is agreed on for the period leading to the next conference. These projects result in NOQA
reports that may be published as ENQA reports, an indication of the relatively strong impact of theNordic agencies on ENQA developments and policies. Other essential successes of NOQA are themany cases of staff exchange plus the mutual consultations on and clearings of experts for review
panels.
Finally the presentation points to the key challenges for future success which are firstly to maintaina Nordic dimension in the context of the increasing focus on European cooperation. Secondly tofind the proper balance between aims of increased Nordic cooperation and convergence on theone hand and recognition of national differences in policies for educational and quality assurance
systems on the other hand.
Part 3. Quality assurance of higher education in Denmark (EVA)
The presentation moves finally to the national level of an individual Nordic agency, the DanishEvaluation Institute (EVA).
Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to set up a national system for the systematic,
external evaluation of higher education. The Danish Centre for Quality Assurance and Evaluationof Higher Education was established in 1992 and until 1999 fulfilled its mandate to evaluate allhigher education programmes at university as well as at non-university level at a regular andsystematic basis.
However, in 1999 the Danish Parliament passed an act that established an evaluation agency
responsible for the systematic evaluation of all levels of the educational system. The former Centre
was integrated into the new institute, which could therefore base itself on the staff, knowledge andexperience of the Centre. The Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA) is now an independent institution
under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Education.
EVA’s primary task is to initiate and conduct quality assurance of education at all levels – from day
care institutions, over primary school and youth education to higher education and further and adulteducation. EVA’s mandate covers public educational establishments and also private institutions inreceipt of state subsidy. EVA's main objectives are:•To develop methods for evaluating and improving the quality of teaching and learning•

To develop and highlight quality of education and teaching through systematic evaluation•To advise and collaborate with educational institutions and public authorities on qualityissues•

To be the national centre of knowledge of quality assurance of education

•To participate actively in international and European cooperation among external quality
assurance agencies•

To inform the general public, students and employers on quality of education.

The presentation illustrates the diversification of methods and themes applied by EVA on quality
assurance of higher education during its first years of operations such as thematic reviews, crosssector reviews, cross-national reviews, international bench-markings, audits and accreditations.
Further EVA from the beginning gave a priority to building a strong platform for profit generating
activities.
By 2006 EVA has three priorities on the quality assurance of higher education. Firstly the priority ison audits at university level including all 12 university institutions. The Danish University Act of2002 gave the universities more autonomy and the responsibility for assuring their own quality.
EVA pointed the attention of the universities towards audit as the means for focusing on
improvement of internal quality of universities. In 2004 EVA could therefore accept the invitation of
the Danish University Rectors’ Conference to launch a cycle of university audits. Secondly thepriority is on selective, criteria based reviews of university programmes including international
benchmarking. Thirdly the priority is on accreditation of medium-cycle higher education. This latter
activity partly covers the programme level which includes 35 programmes at 130 providers andpartly the level of 17 university colleges.
The presentation points to the key challenges for further Danish success: The comprehensive
mandate must be managed and managed with the right priorities. The optimal balance must be
struck between improvement and accountability strategies. EVA must fulfil expectations of highereducation institutions that the quality of institutional and programme levels continue to be in focus.
EVA must base further expansion of the institute on its efforts to increase the volume of profit
generating activities, because these provide the basis for increased review coverage of theeducational system and corresponding innovation of review methods. Very important is also thefact that the future of EVA's mandate on quality assurance of universities is for the moment
pending on the results of bureaucratic infighting between the Ministry of Education and Ministry ofScience.
Finally EVA must keep its place in European cooperation by securing that it continues to be incompliance with the European Standards.