The situation with QA at State Engineering University of Armenia from the point of view of ENQA Standards

Recently in State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA) certain methodological preconditions and practical experience are acquired to combine the existing separate mechanisms of quality assurance of education and to form a common internal system of assessment and continuous enhancement of education quality. The analysis of the situation at the University in the light of the requirements of European ENQA standards and guidelines for internal quality assurance within higher education institutions reveals the following aggregative picture. 1. Policy and procedures for quality assurance Standard: Institutions should have a policy and associated procedures for the assurance of the quality and standards of their programmes and awards. They should also commit themselves explicitly to the development of a culture which recognises the importance of quality, and quality assurance, in their work. To achieve this, institutions should develop and implement a strategy for the continuous enhancement of quality. The strategy, policy and procedures should have a formal status and be publicly available. They should also include a role for students and other stakeholders. The SEUA activity aimed to the assurance of education quality is carrying out in accordance with the goals and objectives defined in the SEUA Strategic Plan 2006-2010. The strategy of development of quality assurance system and continuous enhancement of quality are integrated within the mentioned SEUA development general strategic plan. It comes to the following.

To develop and implement a University system of quality assessment and assurance based on the standards of the European Network of Quality Assurance (ENQA); Goal 2, Objective 2.1. Initiate a gradual curricular and structural renovation process of study programs in accordance with the requirements of the employment market and the European curricular standards; Goal 2, Objective 2.2. Create necessary prerequisites and supportive mechanisms to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning; Goal 2, Objective 2.4. To renew and improve the academic staff consonant with the development of the study programs and quality requirements; Goal 3, Objective 3.1. To improve the facilities and technical base of the educational and research processes in central and regional campuses of SEUA; Goal 4, Objective 4.1.

2. Approval, monitoring and periodic review of programmes and awards. Standard: Institutions should have formal mechanisms for the approval, periodic review and monitoring of their programmes and awards.

The existing at the University mechanisms are:

Design of curriculum (educational programme) by appropriate chair in accordance with the established State Educational Standards of specialties (qualifications). Organization of external review of the developed curricula. Summarizing the results of external reviews and final correction of curricula. Approval of curricula by the SEUA Academic Senate through the pipe of SEUA Academic and Methodical Affaires Department. Design of disciplines programmes at the chairs, organization of their external review and approval by the SEUA Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. Occasional assessment of disciplines by questioning of students.

The nearest objectives of reforms. Aimed at the taking into account the QA factor in advance, to implement a new methodology of planning, development, realization and monitoring of educational programmes with clear-cut separation of these processes and harmonization with ENQA standards criteria using European advanced experience. 3. Assessment of students. Standard: Students should be assessed using published criteria, regulations and procedures which are applied consistently. The existing todays mechanisms are:

Unified rating system of assessment for all levels of educational programmes (BE, ME, PhD). Current monitoring of student achievements through intermediate checking and examinations. Centralized examination commissions for general university basic disciplines. Obligatory external expertise of graduation works and dissertations. Awarding Qualifications awarding by an independent State Examination Commission headed by leading external experts of the field.

The nearest objectives of reforms. Modernization of regulations and procedures of student knowledge assessment in line with ENQA standards criteria, in particular:
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adequate tools for measuring the achievement of the intended learning outcomes and objectives of programme/discipline, clearness and transparency of assessment criteria, control of accuracy of the procedures maintenance, introduction of computer based impartial technologies.

4. Quality assurance of teaching staffs. Standard: Institutions should have ways of satisfying themselves that staff involved with the teaching of students is qualified and competent to do so.
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They should be available to those undertaking external reviews, and commented upon in reports. The existing todays mechanisms are:

Contract system of teaching staff appointment. Competitive system of teaching staff recruitment in accordance with the prescribed qualification requirements for existing categories. Internal system of improvement of teaching staff professional skills level through the SEUA Faculty Development Centre. Assessment of teaching staff by means of sociological polls among students. Assessment of teaching quality and teachers skills by colleagues through reciprocal lecture attending.

The nearest objectives of reforms. Reconstruction of processes of teaching staff quality assessment, recruitment and enhancement of competences in harmony with the requirements of ENQA standards, especially, from the point of view of:
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testing the minimum necessary level of pedagogical skills in the staffing phase, organizing the quality enhancement of new appointed teaching staff, monitoring the professional progress of teaching staff.

5. Learning resources and student support. Standard: Institutions should ensure that the resources available for the support of student learning are adequate and appropriate for each programme offered. The mechanisms existed today are:

A network of specialized classrooms equipped for E-teaching. Good preconditions for distance learning (as needed). New laboratories with capability to provide virtual laboratorial works (lessons). The University research library involved in the republican library network and equipped with two E-reading halls. Syllabuses, main and other (extra support) teaching aids and methodical materials. Partly developed institutions of academic counselors/curators and support services of student career forming.

The nearest objectives of reforms. Development of procedures to ensure the quality of learning resources and other support services of educational process, in particular:
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establishment of clear criteria of resource base necessary for a new program creation, development of auxiliary new services promoting the learning process, introduction of clear procedures and criteria for monitoring learning resources condition and their permanent improvement.

6. Information systems.
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Standard: Institutions should ensure that they collect, analyse and use relevant information for the effective management of their programmes of study and other activities. The existing today mechanisms are: Regular collecting and processing information about students current and terminal progress in studies. Analysis of students current, terminal and graduation progress results on the University different levels (chair, faculty, Rectorate and Academic Senate). Newly developed computer-aided system for faculty offices used to store and process data on students and their progression. Regular updating and analysis of data on student contingent and its movement. Presentation, discussion and approval of the faculties annual separate reports and the resumptive report of the University. The nearest objectives of reforms. Reorganization of the University internal information system and regulation of internal and external (public) information flows in accordance with the requirements of new established internal QA system. 7. Public information. Standard: Institutions should regularly publish up to date, impartial and objective information, both quantitative and qualitative, about the programmes and awards they are offering. The existing today mechanisms come to:

Annual publications of the offered programmes (specialties) list, the vacancy numbers and entering requirements. Periodical publications of catalogues and other informational materials about SEUA, its educational subdivisions and regional branches. Annual guides for first-year students. Publication of the University periodicals: monthly newspaper Polytechnic, yearly magazine Polytechnic Panorama and the Student Unions monthly newspaper Impulse (occasionally). Yearly Study guidelines and catalog of disciplines for all graduate and postgraduate students. Regularly updated Web site of SEUA. Coverage of the University life in mass media.

The nearest objectives of reforms. Regulation of public information about the offered academic programmes by means of introducing clear-cut procedures of information presentation and putting the provided information into a common format, in particular:
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including in provided information the missing so far descriptions of potential jobs available to the graduates of the offered specialties,
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presentation of possibilities of the academic programme tracks available for alternative continuation of education.