This article traces the changes in quality assurance within the Dutch higher education system. It starts with a brief history of the development of the Dutch accreditation system, which is the latest step in a process that started with an external quality assurance system. This is followed by an extensive description of the present accreditation…

Self-evaluation is supposed to be a valid, reliable and easy-to-use instrument to commit professionals to external quality assurance. The writing of a self-evaluation report is the first step in most higher education accreditation systems all over the world. Research on accreditation in the Netherlands and Flanders shows that professionals…

The present report follows an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Workshop on Quality Assurance and Postgraduate Education, hosted by the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) in Brasov, Romania on 12-13 March 2009. The workshop was an excellent opportunity for ENQA members to exchange…

The annual meeting of the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) IQA (internal quality assurance) Group gathered some 60 participants in the premises of the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) in The Hague in June 2009. This seminar was a successful follow-up to the first ENQA IQA…

The title of this document is a deliberate play on the title of the biennial reports on the progress of Bologna produced by the European Students' Union, "Bologna With Student Eyes." It is a way of paying tribute to student involvement in the Bologna reforms, and marking a parallel student working participation in the state system…

The European dimension in quality assurance grows and glows. In this article, we try to relate the European objectives, as stated in the various European initiatives, to the national quality assurance systems of The Netherlands and Denmark. This will be done by looking closer at the objectives regarding quality assurance and internationalisation,…

This document presents the most recently revised guide to the protocol and review process for external review of universities in the Netherlands. Part 1 consists of a description of the review process, an explanation of the protocol, and the roles of the parties involved, with further discussion of the actions of the visiting committee, the…

This paper offers a broad look at accreditation and quality assurance in higher education and how these issues are addressed around the world. Section 1 is an overview of accreditation and addresses the aims and objectives of accreditation, standards, accreditation bodies, stages of the accreditation process, the quality of that process, the role…

This conference proceedings presents 17 papers which examine quality assurance and evaluation in higher education, including methodologies, procedures, and ideas from various nations. The papers include: (1) "Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Malcolm Frazer); (2) "Academic Standards Panels in Australia" (Kwong Lee Dow);…

The history of (external) quality assurance schemes in European higher education since ca. 1980 is sketched in this article. The three pioneering countries in Western Europe are taken as models of different developments and contrasted with the rise of accreditation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Using theoretical insights, the dynamics…