QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Although quality in higher education is hard to define and to identify, there is growing concern about it at national and international levels. The work of CEPES, particularly its proposal to create a European Group on Academic Assessment (EGAA), and the work of OECD, particularly its Institutional Management in Higher Education Programme (IMHE), respond to this concern. Approaches to quality assessment in the United States, Japan, and Sweden are evoked.     

高等教育机构服务质量管理研究

本文在Servqual量表基础上,开发了高等教育服务质量测量工具,具有良好的信度和效度。研究表明：在本次对高等教育服务质量测量上,本文提出的高等教育机构服务质量测量工具要优于Servqual量表。在实践管理上,本文开发了总体缺口分析表和高等教育机构服务质量扫描图,作为高等教育机构服务管理的基本工具。     

THE CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The procedures for the licensing, attestation, and accreditation of educational institutions in the Russian Federation are listed and described. The reasons for a unified system of control and evaluation of educational institutions, particularly higher education institutions, are explained.     

OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

The Accreditation Commission of Slovakia was created in 1990, six months after passage of the Higher Education Law. The accreditation procedure stresses decentralization and participation at all levels; however, it leads to major decisions concerning the disapproval or approval of given faculties and appointments to professorships. Institutions as a whole are still not subjected to accreditation procedures. The Accreditation Commission has gained wide acceptance. Its judgments can be expected to influence the financing of given faculties and programmes in the future.     

THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The use of the computer and in particular the micro‐computer, by the student provides the opportunity for a significant review of the syllabus and the way in which it is taught. The commercial use of the computer should make us re‐evaluate the content of certain syllabuses, particularly those dominated by mathematical modelling.

Structural Analysis, in the disciplines of Civil and Structural Engineering is a particular case in point since virtually all of the professional numerical analysis of structures is now carried out by a computer. If this is the case, we must seriously ask ourselves why we are teaching the students to carry out lengthy calculations which will never be used in practice.

The computer may be the engine of change for the syllabus content but it offers in return facilities for learning, particularly in formative assessment, unavailable before.

The student may use the computer to test various ideas about the way a structure works under various loading conditions and thereby acquire an understanding of structural behaviour which may not be available in the design office.     

ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN UKRAINE

The article describes the system of evaluation and accreditation of higher education which is being developed in Ukraine. Although the activities of quality control and accreditation are centralized around the activities of the Inter‐branch Accreditation Commission (IAC), the intention is to decentralize them as soon as possible. The results so far have been positive. The Ukrainian government wishes to create a higher education system fully compatible with the higher education systems of other European countries and therefore wishes to develop its evaluation and accreditation system in co‐operation with similar activities in other countries.     

ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN RUSSIA

Although the formal evaluation of higher education by state authorities has a long history in Russia, the creation of a system of accreditation began in 1990 in order to meet the challenge of the setting up of private institutions of higher education. There are two kinds of accreditation: state accreditation and public accreditation. This article stresses the former because of the two types it is the most developed. Its objectivity is assured through the use of computerized procedures and visualization. Moreover, the use of computerization permits the simultaneous evaluation of higher education institutions and in general responds rapidly to changing conditions in the Russian Federation.     

高等学校定位:竞争中的抉择

高等教育多样化是在社会竞争中由学校自主办学形成的。要用一种动态的眼光来看待所谓学校的“定位”。高等学校制定自己的发展战略是审时度势下的理性决策。政府的职能是完善社会竞争机制和宏观调节手段 ,构建合理的高等教育结构。     

试论普通高校课程网络化

普通高校课程网络化是指在校园环境下通过网络课程的设计、开发与实施,使教学过程在时问和空间两个维度得到充分的延展,从根本上改变现有教学组织形式,提高教学效果。从教学发展史看普通高校课程网络化对教学具有革命性影响,它具有研究优势、资源优势、自主优势和人力资源优势。高师院校应率先进行课程网络化的实践和研究。     

SHORT OVERVIEW OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LITHUANIA IN THE DOMAIN OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

This article describes current developments in regard to quality assurance and the recognition of higher education qualifications in Lithuania. With the aim of internationalizing its higher education system, Lithuania acceded to the UNESCO European Diploma Convention in 1994 and to the Council of Europe Convention on the Equivalence of Diplomas Leading to Admission to Universities in 1996. The Ministry of Education created the Lithuanian Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education in January 1995. It has been very active in a number of directions since then. In addition, Lithuania has subjected its science to international evaluation, is a partner in the Baltic Higher Education Coordination Committee, and is participating in two PHARE projects for the development of co‐operation in higher education. The main obstacle to greater co‐operation in regard both to the recognition of academic qualifications and to quality assurance is lack of financial resources.     

THE FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION OF ENTERPRISES IN THE FUNCTIONING OF FRENCH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The article discusses and tries to reconcile two phenomena; that, on one hand, in France, higher education is seriously underfunded, and that, on the other hand, public and private sector enterprises are experiencing shortages in the availability of highly qualified senior staff. At the same time, the need to obtain funding for higher education from sources other than the public authorities is recognized. Ways in which business may contribute to the funding of higher education are discussed, stress being laid on the use of the so‐called apprenticeship tax collected from enterprises and used to support higher education in given areas of training. The functioning and the receipts of this tax are analysed from a neo‐liberal perspective in terms of regional economic development, the types of institutions and programmes which receive subsidies from it, and amount per student. One obvious conclusion is that enterprises are loathe to contribute to the financing of initial education. On the other hand, since they are increasingly willing to finance specific and specialized training, universities, as distinct from other types of higher educations institutions in France, but having the necessary facilities and teaching staff, have been able to seize opportunities offered them to create special further training courses of use to enterprises. Hence, universities receive the largest share of the receipts of the apprenticeship tax.     

MAINTAINING EFFECTIVENESS AMID DOWNSIZING AND DECLINE IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The amount of cutback, downsizing, and decline in U.S. higher education is at unprecedented levels and equals the prevalence of downsizing in the corporate sector. Because the consequence of downsizing in the private sector is often negative, the question arises: Does financial decline and downsizing in higher education also lead to organizational ineffectiveness? This study of 334 colleges and universities found that institutions with declining resources are as effective as institutions with abundant resources. Institutions that develop attributes labeled "the dirty dozen," however, perform less effectively. Implications for managing under conditions of fiscal stress are discussed.

     

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

The professional development of college and university administrators is a problem which receives attention in many discussions on the policy and planning of higher education. In this connection we give below information based on an article by Charles F. Fisher, Director of the Institute for College and University Administrators of the American Council on Education.