Draft AMENDMENTS to the HE ACT (2006)
The Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Higher Education
T
he Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Higher Education was established in 1994 by the Higher Education Act (Official gazette, No. 67/1993), defined as a consulting body to the Government. Its primary task was to advise the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in the preparation and adoption of higher education legislation and planning of the development of higher education.
Until the new Higher Education Act came into force at the end of 2006 and until the Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Higher Education (hereinafter Council) was reformed in the first half of 2007, the Quality Assessment Commission of Slovenia was responsible for adapting, evaluating and assuring education quality in higher education. The Council was, according to the previous Act (from 1994), in charge of accreditation of study programmes and higher education institutions and partly in charge of habilitation (required for application to permanent academic positions at the professorial level); according to the law currently in force (from 2006) it is now in charge of accreditation, habilitation and evaluation of the whole tertiary education (including post secondary vocational education).
Through draft amendments to the Higher Education Act in Slovenia (2006) the role of the Quality Assessment Commission of Slovenia (QACS) has been taken over by the Council which is composed of three independent Senates, one for accreditation (SA), one for evaluation (SE) and one for habilitation (SH).
The Council is also an appeal body for complaints regarding decisions made by the Senates (on the first level). The Council is independent in its operation, all decisions it makes are independent, professional and impartial.
The members of the newly formed Council held their first meeting at the end of April 2007, where they adopted the rules of procedure and confirmed the candidates for accreditation, evaluation and habilitation senates. By end of July 2007, consecutive meetings of all three senates have taken place and in September 2007 the rules of procedure have been adopted, setting jurisdictions, processes and the way of decision making. All three senates make decisions independently on the first level; the appeal body is the Council.
The Senates are autonomous and the Council serves as a superior appeal body. The professional, technical and administrative support for the Council is provided by the Higher Education Office of the Republic of Slovenia (HEO), which is an independent entity with its own budget. Resources for the Higher Education Office of the Republic of Slovenia (salaries, material costs), Council and senate operation and performance of evaluations are secured from the state budget.
After the draft amendments to the Higher Education Act in 2006 the composition of the Council is as follows:
• Experts in the field of higher education, science, technology and post secondary vocational education - PSVE (12 experts for single study fields according to ISCED standard, 1 expert for PSVE),
• Student representatives - 3 students from HEIs (one for 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycle) and 1 student from PSVE,
• 3 employee and employer representatives,
• Ex officio – 3 rectors of universities and a chairman of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The chairman and members of the Council are appointed for 6 years and the student representatives for 2 years. The HEO employs 6 people.
The characteristics of Senates of the Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Higher Education are:
• All study fields are represented.
• 9 members include: - 1 employee or employer representative,
- 1 student representative.
• A chairman and at least 4 members are appointed by Council members.
• Others are external experts.
Each person can be a member of only one senate.
The Council and all three Senates have their own Rules of Procedures.
As an accreditation body the Council:
• determines the criteria for:
o accreditation and re-accreditation of HEls and study programmes,
o design and accreditation of joint study programmes (by applying the principles on establishing EHEA and other international principles),
o credit assessment of study programmes under ECTS,
o transfers between study programmes,
o recognising knowledge and skills acquired prior to enrolment in the programme or outside the programme;
• cooperates with foreign accreditation institutions and their experts.
As an evaluating body the Council:
• attends to the quality of HE and post secondary vocational education,
• determines criteria for monitoring, evaluation and assurance of quality of higher education institutions and study programmes in science, research, artistic and professional work,
• cooperates with HE and PSVE institutions or other evaluation bodies,
• organizes training of external evaluation committees,
• publishes reports on individual external evaluations.
As a habilitation body the Council:
• determines the criteria for habilitation procedures of the habilitation senate of the Council.
The Council also:
• determines the criteria for accreditation and re-accreditation of HEI and study programmes,
• designs and accredits joint study programmes (by applying principles on establishing a EHEA and other international principles),
• evaluates study programmes under ECTS.
The Council has adopted Criteria for accreditation of higher education institutions and study programmes. The criteria contain:
• Criteria for accreditation of HEI,
• Criteria for accreditation of educational and training study programmes,
• Criteria for structure of educational study programmes,
• Criteria for evaluation of study programmes through their international comparison,
• Criteria for acknowledging knowledge and skills acquired prior to the enrolment in the programme,
• Criteria for accreditation of joint study programmes,
• Criteria for a new accreditation,
• Criteria for forming an opinion on criteria for election of teaching staff.
The Council has adopted Criteria for monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance for higher education institutions, study programmes, science and research, as well as in artistic and professional work. The criteria contain:
- planning the national higher education policy,
- attentive functioning of monitoring, evaluation and assurance of quality in higher education institutions,
- leading the external evaluation processes and preparation of the expert material for them,
- preparation of the quality experts selection,
- nominating the commission for external evaluation of higher education institutions, study programmes, science and research, artistic and professional work,
- cooperation with higher education institutions and encouragement of self-evaluation processes,
- cooperation with international institutions or boards for external evaluation of higher education from abroad,
- organisation of the training staff for external evaluation commissions,
- collection and analysis of self evaluation reports of higher education institutions,
- forming opinions on preparation and publication of external evaluation reports.
Funding and control
According to the Higher Education Act, funding of the Council, all of its senates and Higher Education Office of the Republic of Slovenia is assured from the state budget.
This budget covers the costs of external evaluation, accreditation process, quality assurance, salaries for the employees of the Higher Education Office of the Republic of Slovenia and other expenses.
Quality assessment of higher education institutions, study programmes and scientific, research and artistic work is done by higher education institutions or the colleges themselves (self-evaluation) and by the Senate for Evaluation. The findings from self-evaluation reports and reports on completed external evaluations are taken into account at the reaccredidation of higher education institutions / faculties and their study programmes. According to its official duty, the Council has to re-evaluate at least every seven years, whether the conditions for performance of activities the institute/school was founded for (re-accreditation of the higher education institution) are met.
At the end of 2007 the procedure for external evaluation of five higher education institutions or faculties has been set in motion, and in 2008 external evaluation of six further institutions is planned. The accreditation procedures are continuously performed.
|
