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2nd ENQA Members' Forum, 23-24 April 2012, Paris, France (14. Dec. 2011)

The ENQA Members' Forum 2012, focused on the Impact of QA and Independence of Agencies, was organised in cooperation with the Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education (AERES), and was held on 23-24 April, 2012 in Paris, France.

The Members' Forum 2012 provided a platform for discussion on the following two topical issues:

Impact of Quality Assurance
Many countries have or are planning to evaluate the impact of their external quality assurance system; the interest among member agencies to discuss this topic is great. The 2012 Members' Forum will continue the discussion initiated at the two previous General Assemblies.

ENQA wished to explore the question whether external QA really enhances the quality of HEIs and their services and launched the Working Group on Impact of Quality Assurance. The Call for Members' expressions of interest in joining this group was open until March 15th.

Independence
Another issue of great interest to QA agencies is independence, as it is a prerequisite for credibility and mutual trust and is one of the main features of the European dimension of QA. ENQA wished to explore which the main threats to independence are and how to ensure harmony between agencies, government and HEIs.

In addition, two keynotes were presented on:

- the Bologna Process after Bucharest in view of the upcoming ministerial conference to be held on 27-28 April 2012 and
- the current and future priorities of the European Commission on QA in HE.

PROGRAMME

The programme of the conference can be found here (pdf).

PRESENTATIONS

Helka Kekäläinen, FINHEEC, Finland, Vice-President of ENQA
Future Perspectives of Quality Assurance: Focus on Excellence in Higher Education

Theodor Leiber, EVALAG, Germany
Impact Analysis of Quality Assurance of Higher Education Institutions

Josep Grifoll, AQU Catalunya, Spain
Measuring Impact, enhancing EQA

Patricia Pol, AERES, France
Impact of Quality Assurance (IQA) - A contextual analysis in France

Didier Houssin, President of AERES, France
How to increase the independence of QA Agencies? Major challenges and how to overcome them

Karl Dittrich, NVAO, The Netherlands, ENQA Board member
Limits to Independence

Antonela Toma, Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, Romania
How to increase the independance of QA Agencies? Major challenges and how to overcome them

Peter Scott, Prof. of Higher Education Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
The Bologna process after Bucharest: Challenges and expectations