Annex 16, ENQA Board meeting, 21 February 2019 Item 6.6 - QANU follow-up report and scrutiny Self-assessment Report for the focused review of QANU with a follow-up on the ENQA Agency Review in 2016 QANU / version 0.2, 6 December 2018 / SL 1/64 Annex 16, ENQA Board meeting, 21 February 2019 Item 6.6 - QANU follow-up report and scrutiny QANU contributes to the further improvement of the quality of scientific education and research in the Netherlands by organising and coordinating assessments by peers of scientific degree and research programmes on behalf of universities and other institutions and by conducting other activities in the area of quality assurance. QANU also utilises its expertise and experience in European and international projects and networks within scientific education and research and within other sectors outside scientific education and research. Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities (QANU) Catharijnesingel 56 P.O. Box 8035 3503 RA UTRECHT The Netherlands T +31 30 230 31 00 E [email protected] I www.qanu.nl © 2018 QANU 2/64 Annex 16, ENQA Board meeting, 21 February 2019 Item 6.6 - QANU follow-up report and scrutiny Table of contents Preface ............................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 6 Part I: Self-assessment Report for the focused review of QANU ......................... 8 1. The system of external quality assurance in the Netherlands: brief overview and developments since 2016 ..................................................... 9 1.1. Assessments of degree programmes in higher education ................................................. 9 1.2. Assessments of research units .................................................................................... 12 2. Changes in QANU’s internal organisation since 2016 ................................ 13 2.1. Composition of the Board ........................................................................................... 13 2.2. Composition of the staff ............................................................................................. 13 3. QANU’s response to EQAR’s assessment of QANU’s application for a renewed inclusion on the Register ............................................................ 14 3.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 14 3.2. ESG 2.4 Peer-review experts ....................................................................................... 15 3.3. ESG 2.7 Complaints and appeals ................................................................................. 16 3.4. ESG 3.1 Activities, policy and processes for quality assurance ......................................... 16 3.5. ESG 3.4 Thematic analysis .......................................................................................... 18 3.6. ESG 3.6 Internal quality assurance and professional conduct .......................................... 19 Part II: Follow-up on the ENQA Agency Review in 2016 ................................... 21 4. QANU’s response to the recommendations of ENQA’s Review Panel ......... 22 4.1. Commendations ........................................................................................................ 22 4.2. Recommendations related to part 3 of the European Standards and Guidelines ................. 23 4.2.1. ESG 3.1 Activities, policy and processes for quality assurance..................................... 23 4.2.2. ESG 3.2 Official status ........................................................................................... 27 4.2.3. ESG 3.3 Independence .......................................................................................... 27 4.2.4. ESG 3.4 Thematic analysis ..................................................................................... 27 4.2.5. ESG 3.5 Resources ................................................................................................ 30 4.2.6. ESG 3.6 Internal quality assurance and professional conduct ...................................... 31 4.2.7. ESG 3.7 Cyclical external review of agencies ............................................................ 34 4.3. Recommendations related to part 2 of the European Standards and Guidelines ................. 34 4.3.1. ESG 2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance conduct ...................................... 34 4.3.2. ESG 2.2 Designing methodologies fit for purpose ...................................................... 36 4.3.3. ESG 2.3 Implementing processes ............................................................................ 37 4.3.4. ESG 2.4 Peer-review experts .................................................................................. 37 4.3.5. ESG 2.5 Criteria for outcomes ................................................................................. 38 3/64 Annex 16, ENQA Board meeting, 21 February 2019 Item 6.6 - QANU follow-up report and scrutiny 4.3.6. ESG 2.6 Reporting ................................................................................................. 39 4.3.7. ESG 2.7 Complaints and appeals ............................................................................. 40 Appendices ....................................................................................................... 43 Appendix 1: List of board members and staff members (as of 1 January 2019) .......................... 44 Appendix 2: NVAO’s Assessment frameworks (September 2016 and September 2018) and Standard Evaluation Protocol 2015-2021. .............................................................................. 50 Appendix 3: QANU’s organisational chart ............................................................................... 51 Appendix 4: Procedure for complaints and appeals for assessments of degree programmes and research units supported by QANU ....................................................................................... 52 Appendix 5: Policy for analysing and sharing outcomes of assessments supported by QANU ........ 58 Appendix 6: Revised Article 5 of QANU’s statutes ................................................................... 63 4/64 Annex 16, ENQA Board meeting, 21 February 2019 Item 6.6 - QANU follow-up report and scrutiny Preface QANU’s Board firmly believes that QANU’s assessments should be expected to comply with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG). The ESG constitute the foundation for the system of external quality assurance in higher education in the Netherlands. This can only imply that every component of the system, including the quality assurance agencies and the working methods they adopt for their assessments, should also comply with the ESG. The Board’s policy is therefore that QANU, as a sign of its compliance with the ESG, should be a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and should be included in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). QANU is a quality assurance agency that operates in a solid tradition that dates back to the 1980’s. Since its establishment in 2004, QANU conducted by far the most of the assessments of degree programmes offered by universities in the Netherlands. Over the years, the systems and structures and the relations between stakeholders contributing to the external quality assurance have undergone a lot of changes. QANU has always been able to adapt to changes and to maintain and further strengthen its reputation of a thorough and reliable agency that operates in accordance with the relevant quality standards. In recent years, for instance, QANU invested a lot in developing a more customer-friendly approach, in essence because QANU became even more strongly convinced that maintaining good relations with universities are of crucial importance for QANU’s position as a quality assurance agency. The Review Panel that assessed QANU in 2016 concluded that QANU complies substantially with the European Standards and Guidelines and phrased a series of recommendations that are aimed at a further improvement of QANU’s activities. ENQA’s Board decided to renew QANU’s membership of ENQA in November 2016 on the basis of the Review Panel’s final report. QANU’s Board was surprised to learn that EQAR’s Register Committee rejected QANU’s application for a renewal of its registration in the Register. The Board decided to accept EQAR’s conclusion and has taken several measures to address the reasons for rejection laid down by EQAR’s Register Committee. The Board feels that QANU has succeeded to implement a series of measures to meet the criticism expressed by EQAR’s Register Committee. The Board also feels that these measures contribute to the further improvement of the quality of the assessments QANU conducts. The Board has noted that QANU’s staff has significantly contributed to a serious impulse for the quality of QANU’s assessments. This impulse is partly the result of the outcomes of the assessment in 2016, partly brought about by the reflection sessions in 2017 (cf. QANU’s response to the first recommendation for ESG 3.1), and partly caused by personnel changes: in the last two years, four of QANU’s more experienced project managers (including two coordinators) decided to resign. Their successors took up their jobs with focus, energy and enthousiasm. The staff as a whole thus created a kind of