DIES News

12/2011 DIES-Conference "Strengthening Universities, Enhancing Capacities – Higher Education Management for Development” 28/29 November 2011, Collegium Leoninum, Noeggerathstr. 34, 53111 Bonn, Germany

DIES-Conference: Ten Years of Collaboration in Higher Education Management in Developing Countries

What are the current challenges for the management of higher education institutions in Europe and other regions of the world? What kind of strategies can be applied by universities to respond to those challenges and what skills do the actors need?

About 160 representatives international and German university representatives as well as decision-makers from the fields of development cooperation and higher education policy discussed these issues during the DIES-Conference "Strengthening Universities, Enhancing Capacities – Higher Education Management for Development" on November 28^th and 29^th. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of their joint DIES-programme, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors´ Conference (HRK)   invited experts from Germany, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to Bonn in order to look back on what has been achieved so far. Project partners presented good practice examples of higher education cooperation, ranging from training courses in faculty management, partnerships for the joint development of internationalization strategies to multi-annual regional quality assurance projects.  

But above all, the participants looked ahead: What are the tools that partners in higher education institutions in Germany and in developing countries need and that DIES can provide in order to foster higher education management? Within this context, the issues Research Management, Good Governance and Public-Private Partnerships as well as the use of new media (e-Learning, mobile learning) or the networking of DIES Alumni were the key topics discussed.

At the conference opening DAAD Secretary General Dr. Dorothea Rüland emphasized: "Higher education institutions have to cope with the rush of students, do justice to their increasing autonomy and keep up with the competition. For these tasks excellent managers are required. DIES offers them an excellent qualification." Dr. Thomas Kathöfer, her counterpart from HRK took the German universities´ view.   " DIES helps them to cooperate on an international level and to exchange students – an important step towards competitiveness.”  

More information on the conference programme, the presentations and a selection of pictures can be found here.

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08/2011: DIES Alumni Network East Africa

DIES Alumni Network East Africa: Training workshop series in Kenya and Ethiopia has started

Two kick-off workshops of a series of trainings in the field of higher education management have been realised successfully from May 19-21, 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya and from July 26-28, 2011 in Jimma, Ethiopia. The national alumni groups of the Regional East African DIES Alumni Network REAL organised practice-oriented training workshops tackling current needs of the universities in their home countries. Throughout the workshops, the alumni have supported and counselled participants in developing individual reform projects at their home universities.

The workshop series in Kenya focuses on higher education management for managers of newly established university colleges and campuses in Kenya. 24 high-ranking university managers, most of them deputy principals or deans participate in three consecutive workshops conducted by the Kenyan trainer team of DIES alumni headed by Professor Hamadi Boga.

The workshops in Ethiopia are designed to support higher education managers in the introduction and implementation of professional quality assurance procedures at Ethiopian public universities. 20 directors and heads of QA units of public universities and colleges attended the kick-off workshop, which was organised by Dr. Abebaw Gashaw Kebede and his team of DIES alumni at Jimma University.

Follow-up workshops will be realised towards the end of 2011 and of early 2012 with an interim Regional Conference of the REAL network in between to exchange experiences among the national chapters, to present results and discuss the way forward.

REAL receives funding and support within the programme "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies" (DIES), which has been jointly coordinated by the DAAD and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) since 2001.

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07/2011: New DIES Project ASEAN-QA has been launched!

The DIES ASEAN-QA Project which promotes regional quality assurance in Southeast Asia has been sealed by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the 4th July, 2011 in Bonn.

Prior to the ASEM Seminar on Regional Quality Assurance, which took place from 5th to 6th July in Bonn, the DAAD and HRK, the ASEAN University Network (AUN), the Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development in Southeast Asia (SEAMEO RIHED) and two networks of quality assurance agencies in Europe (ENQA) and Southeast Asia (AQAN) signed an agreement for the joint implementation of a capacity development project in the field of quality assurance (QA).

ASEA-QA serves as a platform for exchange on internal and external QA procedures and as a means to strengthen regional QA structures in the ASEAN countries.
The primary aim of ASEAN-QA project is to assurance and enhance the quality of study programmes and to facilitate the recognition of credits and degrees based on shared quality assurance principles and standards.

The project includes multi-part training courses which are directed at QA coordinators at universities and officers of QA agencies in the ASEAN region. Both groups will be trained in the upcoming three years by a team of international trainers from Europe and Asia.

The University of Potsdam is coordinating the project on the German side.

ASEAN-QA forms part of the programme "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies" (DIES) which has been jointly conducted by DAAD and HRK since 2001. DIES supports universities in developing countries to evolve strategies in order to strengthen the quality and relevance of study programmes.

 

06/2011:DIES International Deans’ Course Africa 2011/12 starts in Osnabrück

What challenges do university deans in Africa face? How can the changing of processes be planned strategically? What quality assurance measures are   useful in the respective context? Those are some of the questions in regard to faculty management that will be pursued by 33 deans and vice deans who started the "International Deans’ Course” on June 20 at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück (Hochschule Osnabrück).  

The 33 participants from Ethiopia, Ghana, Cameroons, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda are already the third group of African deans and vice-deans to take part in the three-part training course on faculty management. The course stretches over a period of nine months and includes a two-weeks opening seminar in Germany, two parallel regional workshops (in Kenya and Nigeria) and a closing event in Ethiopia.

Since 2007, the International Deans’ Course (IDC) has been offered in the frame work of the DIES programme, a cooperation between DAAD and HRK, and is conducted in collaboration with the Hochschule Osnabrück, the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH).

The current publication "Challenges for Faculty Management at African Higher Education Institutions"offers an interesting insight into the experiences of the IDC alumni and behind the scenes of African universities. The articles focus on individual reform projects which have been implemented by the participants at their institutions during the course.

05/2011: Forum of Academic Vice Rectors and Directors of Quality Assurance Discuss on Guidelines for the Upcoming Three Years

The first phase of the quality assurance initiative in East Africa has been concluded. From 28.03.-01.04.2011, 140 participants from more than 50 universities and national regulatory bodies in East Africa discussed the consequences resulting from 50 programme evaluations realised at East African universities in the context of the DIES-Quality Assurance Project in East Africa from 2007-2010. The conference was opened by a welcome address of the DAAD alumnus and Deputy Minister of the Kenyan Higher Education Ministry, Professor Harry Kahane.

The overall aim of the joint DIES initiative by Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), DAAD und HRK has been to support the East African partner to set up a regional quality assurance system and particularly to modernise and increase the relevance of university curricula. In the future, students shall be better guided to independent research and receive a better preparation to enhance their start in a working environment. The contributions of experts from the HRK as well as the University of Oldenburg and University of Duisburg were very well received by the East African participants.

It was concluded that during the upcoming project phase special emphasis shall be placed on the inclusion of non-university stakeholders, such as professional associations and alumni. Successful change management projects and best practice examples in quality assurance shall be regularly discussed in national forums as well as in the alumni portal Germany. Trained QA experts from East Africa will play a major role for future trainings on site.

In a subsequent workshop the participants were informed on the possibilities how to benefit from the DAAD programmes, as well as from the European Union EDULINK programme to support the realization of action plans which resulted from the evaluations within the DIES initiative.

The East African-German initiative on quality assurance is part of the DAAD DIES programme. The programme "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies" (DIES) supports universities in developing countries to evolve strategies which enables them to improve the quality and relevance of their training offers. The DIES programme is coordinated jointly with the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK).

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04/2011: Towards the harmonization of a higher education system in East Africa

On 30th March 2011, Mr. Pierra Nkurunziza, the president of Burundi and current chairman of the East African community, launched the Handbook on Quality Assurance titled ‘’Roadmap to Quality’’ in the Burundian capital Bujumbura during the Annual General Meeting of the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA).
Representatives of DAAD and the German Rectors Conference (HRK) dedicated a part of the event to quality assurance at East African universities. Since 2006, IUCEA, DAAD and HRK cooperate within the framework of a DIES project to establish a Regional Quality Assurance System in universities in East Africa. An outcome of this collaboration is the Handbook on self-evaluation of study programmes which was developed by a team of African and European experts. The success of the ‘’Roadmap to Quality’’ is impressive: Since the start of the project in 2006, already 50 programmes in East African universities were evaluated within the framework of the DIES project.
The event is part of the DIES project towards quality assurance in universities in East Africa. The DAAD Programme "Dialogue on Innovation Higher Education Strategies” (DIES) supports universities in developing countries to come up with strategies to improve the quality and relevance of the courses they offer. The DIES Programme is carried out in cooperation with the German Rectors Conference (HRK).

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04/2011: New call for proposals of DIES Partnerships with Higher Educaction Institutions in Developing Countries

DIES Partnerships promote cooperation between universities in Germany and in emerging and developing countries in the field of higher education management with concrete projects designed to run for a maximum of four years.

Possible topics include:

• To establish and expand the central university facilities (International Offices, Quality Assurance Units, Careers Advice Centres, Technology Transfer Units, Graduate Schools etc.),
• To realise innovative Change Processes in the field of central university management (Human Resources, Infrastructure, Finances, Organisation, etc.),
• To use strategic or operational management instruments at university or faculty level (e.g. Target Agreements, Balanced Scorecard, Network Management, Quality and Process Management, etc.),
• To include external interest groups (stakeholders) in the field of university or faculty development (Graduate or Destination Surveys, Alumni Networks, Fundraising, etc.),
• To create and advance the development of tertiary continuing and postgraduate training programmes on topics relating to higher education management,
• To support the introduction of innovations in higher education management through university consortia.  

Closing date: June 30, 2011
Start of funding from January 2012

Application documents and information

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03/2011: Innovative Management of Faculties – DIES International Deans' Course for Deans of Higher Education Institutions from South East Asia has been concluded successfully

The initiation of change processes, professional management of faculties as well as internationalisation of higher education institutes and the influence of the Bologna process on international cooperation in higher education – these topics were on the agenda of the third and last part of the DIES International Deans’ Course South East Asia (IDC), which took place in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 7^th to 11^th March.

Throughout the course, 30 newly elected and prospective deans from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines worked on individual reform projects, which were presented and jointly discussed during the seminar in Yogjakarta.  

Since 2007 the International Deans’ Course is carried out in the frame of the DIES programme which is jointly coordinated by the DAAD and HRK. Cooperation partners   for the IDC are the University Osnabrück, the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) and the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation (AvH). Furthermore, the IDC South East Asia draws on the expertise of DAAD Alumni and trainers from Gadjah Mada University, Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia as well as Philippine Normal University in the Philippines.

Aim of the DIES-training course is to support deans in South East Asia in the strategic development of their faculties. Thanks to this tailor-made training offer it has been possible to initiate change processes leading to the professionalisation of higher education management in the involved countries. Thus a training programme according to the IDC model is currently being developed in Thailand, and at four Indonesian universities a master´s degree course in higher education management will start end of the year.

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01/2011: CALL FOR PROPOSALS for a Capacity Development Training Course for Deans and Vice-Deans from Latin America

Starting in 2012, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) jointly with the Foundation for the International Promotion of the Spanish Universities (Universidad.es) , the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) intend to offer a training course on the topic of faculty management for deans and vice-deans from Latin America .

This call for proposal aims to identify a consortium of a German higher education institution and a Spanish university in collaboration with a Latin American partner institution in order to implement the course. The assessment of proposals and selection of the consortium will be carried out by an international committee of higher education experts in June 2011.

The call for proposals, including information regarding envisaged course structure, content and methodology as well as the funding guidelines can be accessed below.

Deadline for submission is May 31^st, 2011.

On DAAD’s side, this training course will be coordinated under the umbrella of the DIES programme. It aims to encourage international exchange of experience on questions of innovative higher education management and to promote partnership-based cooperation between universities in industrial and developing countries on new higher education management strategies. The DIES programme is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and closely coordinated in cooperation with the German Rectors’ Conference.  

In case you have any questions concerning the call for proposals, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Felix Wagenfeld, Programme Manager, Joint Higher Education Management Programmes (DIES) at wagenfeld AT daad DOT de

 

11/2010: DIES-Seminar on “Governance Reforms in Higher Education“ in cooperation with the IIEP (UNESCO) in Hanoi, Vietnam

On 9 November 2010 the DAAD organised a DIES-Seminar on "Governance Reforms in Higher Education” in cooperation with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP, UNESCO) at the German-Vietnamese Centre in Hanoi. The seminar presented an overview on current higher education reforms and their effects on university management in Asia and Europe.

Around 40 university researchers, representatives of ministries and higher education managers from South East Asia met in Hanoi not only to share regional experiences but also to compare current reform trends in Asia with respective developments in Europe.

The event actually brought together participants of the International Deans Course (IDC) – a training for vice-deans and deans from South East Asia funded by the DAAD – with a research group from China, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam that is currently working on a study on the impact of governance reforms in five Asian countries. This project  has been coordinated by the IIEP/ UNESCO.

The exchange between these two groups made it possible to match the theoretical research perspective of the research project with practical experiences of the higher education managers from South East Asia.

After two keynote speeches on governance trends in Asia and Europe delivered by Dr. Varghese of the IIEP (UNESCO, Paris) and Professor Peter Mayer of the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, the researchers of the IIEP-Project presented selected country studies focusing on the situation in Vietnam and Cambodia.

In subsequent working groups governance reforms in Vietnam and Thailand were discussed both from the system and institutional perspective. The Vietnamese context was especially emphasised by Professor Le Qang Minh, Vice President of the Vietnam National University Hanoi, and by Dr Tuan Diep Tran, Vice Rector of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City.

Dr. Chantavit, Deputy Director of SEAMEO-RIHED, outlined questions to current governance reforms in Thailand, followed by a case study of the Mahidol University which was introduced by Dr. Leena Suntornsuk.

At the end of the seminar it became clear that despite the similar structural developments in Europe and Asia – from state control to decentralisation, from input management to output management – the individual understanding of autonomy is very much context driven and that the scope for managerial self-governance for universities differs not only between but also within the individual countries.

The DIES-Seminar on "Governance Reforms in Higher Educations” is part of the DIES-Programme for the funding of Higher Education Management in developing countries.

10/2010: Seminar on “Learning Outcomes” and “Stakeholder Involvement” in Cairo

Learning Outcomes – they describe the competencies students should have after they have accomplished their studies (or part of it). But how can Learning Outcomes be developed and measured? How can e.g. students or future employers be part of these processes? These questions were discussed at a DIES-Seminar that was jointly organised by the DAAD and the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) on 30 and 31 October in Cairo.

Arab and European experts of universities, experts of Quality Assurance Agencies and experts of Accreditation Agencies as well as students from Europe and the Arab region were invited to the event titled "Stakeholder Involvement in the Process of Developing and Assessing Expected Learning Outcomes”. During two days and within the scope of plenum discussions and topical working groups, the approximately 70 participants worked intensively on how to develop, measure and evaluate Learning Outcomes (LO) and how to put them into practice at universities.

On the first day all participants agreed about the possibility of LOs being a central instrument for the development and quality assurance of courses of studies – not only but also after the presentation of Dr. Achim Hopbach, president of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). Although it is desirable to have a paradigm shift from a teacher centred to a more study centred focus within the university education, it is a fact that in the Arab region only in few cases LOs play an important role.

Another complicated question is how to develop an appropriate LOs that are measurable. What kind of role can or should the Quality Assurance Agencies play in the whole process? The issue was discussed based on examples of how these challenges are being confronted in Ireland, Egypt, Germany and Bahrain.

Stakeholder Involvement was the issue of the second day: Why is it important to integrate students and future employers in the process of Quality Assurance? How can that be realised? These questions were discussed by Dr. Amr Aboul Ezz, Vice-dean of Cairo-University and Josep Griffol, ENQA Board Member. Action plans trying to solve these problems were created in two parallel workshops. The action plans point out the next steps to include all demands of all actors in Quality Assurance in Higher Education in general as well as in the special case of LO.

10/2010: DIES-Training Course "UNIVERSITY GRADUATES´ TRACER STUDY" (UNITRACE) in Kassel (11.-22.10.2010)

22 Higher Education managers from developing countries were guests at the first part of the DIES training course "University Graduates’ Tracer Study” (UNITRACE) at the University of Kassel from 11 October to 25 October. The 22 participants of the UNITRACE course came from Southeast Asia, Central America and East Africa. The target group of the DIES training course UNITRACE is university staff that will be responsible for the implementation of graduates’ tracer studies. The course offers scientific know-how for the professional implementation of graduates’ tracer studies.

The course is divided into three parts. The current course will be followed by the second part in 2011 that will also take place in Kassel. The third part will take place in the home countries of the participants in 2012. The courses consist of questionnaire development (part I), research methods (part II) and the interpretation and presentation of the results (part III). The participants will create a professional and independent graduates’ tracer study as well as they will receive professional and scientific support from the research team of the University of Kassel during the whole progress of the course.

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09/2010: Regional DIES Seminar on "Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Bologna Reforms" in Tbilisi/Georgia

For the first time education experts from the three southern Caucasian countries met in Tbilisi to discuss current issues of quality assurance at universities jointly with German Bologna experts. Three parallel working groups were dealing with the subjects "Quality Assurance at programme level – the case Engineering”, "Quality Assurance and internal evaluation” and "Quality Curriculum Design and Delivery”. The programme also includes topics like " Cooperation with interest representatives”. 52 representatives from 34 universities, ministries, accreditation agencies as well as from the DAAD took part in the conference that also served as a platform for the exchange of experiences.

 Contact:

Gebhard Reul

DAAD-Information Centre Tbilisi

Reul AT daad DOT org DOT ge

www.ic.daad.de/tbilissi

Conference documentation: http://ic.daad.de/tbilissi/?i=3&l=1&i2=678

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03/2010: Call for Proposals of DIES Partnerships

A new call for applications for the programme DIES Partnerships with universities in developing countries is published.

If a German higher education institution would like to intensify its good existing contacts with foreign universities and would like to cooperate in the field of higher education management with universities in transition and developing countries, it can apply for funding for a DIES University Partnership.

The new call for applications with funding term 2011-2014 is scheduled for June 30, 2010.

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02/2010: Towards a common East African Higher Education Area

 The DIES-Event "East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course” supports quality assurance at East African Higher Education Institutions

  From 1 to 5 February 2010 the forth part of the "East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course” takes place in Nairobi, Kenya. The current condition of programme evaluations at East African Higher Education Institutions, conducted in the frame of the DIES-Project on Quality Assurance in East Africa, is the issue. The main objective of the project partners Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and DAAD is the establishment of modern quality standards at East African Higher Education Institutions.

  The East African Quality Assurance Coordinators’ Course in Nairobi is the forth Part of a Course Series, beginning in Oldenburg and Berlin in September 2008. Within two years, Quality Assurance Commissioners from East Africa participated in trainings on the evaluation of Higher Education Programmes. The following Peer Review Phase was implemented by African-German Expert teams. The first steps on the way to a common Higher Education Area have therewith been concluded.

  The event is conducted in the frame of the DIES-Project on Quality Assurance at Higher Education Institutions in East Africa. The DAAD-Programme "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies” (DIES) supports Higher Education Institutions in Developing Countries in the development of strategies to enhance quality and relevance in Education. The DIES-Programme is conducted in close Cooperation with the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK).

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10/2009: International Deans' Course Africa 2009/10 Regional Workshops in Nairobi, Khartoum and Abuja

  DAAD, the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck (FHOs), the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in cooperation with the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation (AvH) are jointly organising the International Deans' Course for Africa.

  The key objective of the course is to prepare newly elected Deans, Vice-Deans, and Heads of Department - many of them Alumni of DAAD and Humboldt Foundation - from universities in East & West Africa to cope with the inherent problems of a Dean' s position, discussing issues such as strategic faculty management, financial management, quality assurance and leadership. The course is organised every two years, the first one was offered in 2007.   
  The workshops in Abuja, Khartoum and Nairobi formed Part II of the course and were meant to further discuss the personal action plans each participant had to develop at the end of Part I that took place in Osnabrueck/ Germany in May. Participants came from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Prof. Peter Mayer, former Dean and Vice-President of the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrueck, Prof. Naomi Shitemi, former Dean at Moi University , Kenya, and Dr. Abebe Dinku, former Dean at Addis Ababa University , Ethiopia , acted as experts and shared their experiences. Part III will be organized in February/March 2010 in Addis Ababa to reflect on the implementation of the personal action plans.

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10/2009: Workshop on “Managing Quality Assurance Agencies & Quality Assurance University Centers in the Arab Region”

 In light of the fruitful cooperation between the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the field of Quality Assurance and Accreditation, ANQAHE and DAAD organized a joint Workshop under the title "Managing Quality Assurance Agencies and Quality Assurance University centers in the Arab Region” from 17 to 19 October 2009 at Cairo, Egypt.
ANQAHE, is an independent, non profit, non governmental organization. A major component of its objectives is to initiate and sustain regional and international cooperation in quality assurance in higher education and to develop a system for capacity-building for QA bodies. DAAD co-organized this event in the frame DIES program. The main goal of this workshop was to bring the key players of Arab Region’s in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education Systems together with European Experts to discuss their current challenges in Quality Assurance in Higher Education, to exchange information and establish a  link between the European and Arab Region in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Derived from this objective following topics were tackled in the Workshop Sessions:

• External and Internal Quality Assurance Systems for Agencies
• Internal Quality Assurance Systems in Higher Education Institutes
• Experience of the UNDP Quality Assurance project in the Arab region

Prestigious calibers in the field of Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Agencies from the Arab Region and other European and Arab Experts participated in the Workshop to achieve the above mentioned goals and objectives.

 

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09/2009: DIES Seminar on E-Learning study courses and its effect on Higher Education Management in Africa

  From 30 September to 2 October 2009 a DIES Seminar on "Integrating E-Learning: Key Challenge for Higher Education Governance” takes place . It is jointly organised with the United Nations University, Vice-Rectorate in Europe and the Commonwealth of Learning. Participants of the seminar are Heads of Higher Education Institutions, Higher Education Commissions and International E-Learning Experts.

  During the seminar the participants focus on the following issues:

•   How can E-Learning study courses, geared towards meeting the international quality standards, be offered at the higher education institutions in developing countries? Innovative study courses carried out mainly in cooperation with African and European universities are also introduced and discussed.
•   How do international E-Learning study courses affect the quality of teaching? Should an African university cooperate with external providers of E-Learning study courses or do new competitors with a good image but bad quality emerge? How should quality assurance standards for E-Learning study courses look like?
•   What consequences and challenges arise for university structures? Are interdisciplinary centres essential? Will a university independently be able to offer E-Learning study courses of a high quality or is a new cooperation with previous competitors necessary for worldwide business?

  The objective of the seminar is to give an overview of the market of E-Learning study courses, inform on suitable offers from external providers taking quality assurance into account and to spotlight the consequences and challenges for higher education institutions through E-Learning study courses.     

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09/2009: Briefing of a Rectors' Delegation from East Africa on the Introduction of Quality Assurance Structures in European Higher Education Institutions

  East-African higher education institutions face a new challenge: after the successful completion of 50 pilot evaluations, comes the question on the establishment of departments of quality assurance on a permanent basis at the higher education institutions in East Africa.   However, what is exactly needed to successfully launch quality assurance at universities in the long run? This question is discussed at the DIES Study Tour and Seminar organised for the rectors of higher education institutions from East Africa. The tour takes place from September 20 to September 30 2009, starting at the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen, via Brussels with a concluding visit in Bonn.       

  At the universities in Oldenburg and Groningen, the rectors and the representatives from universities discuss various models of the introduction of quality assurance in the neighbouring countries. What role do ministries, accreditation agencies and students play in the framework of the Bologna Process? How can employers be involved?

  During their visit in Brussels, EU-supported cooperation opportunities between African and European higher education institutions are presented. The programme concludes in Bonn: the German Rectors’ Conference presents by means of best-practice examples how university administrators can manage the introduction of innovative study programmes . During the visit to the DAAD and BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) the delegation members received information on funding of reform projects. Furthermore, the next steps of the project on quality assurance in higher education institutions in East Africa are jointly planned with East-African Inter University Council.

  The visit of the rectors’ delegation takes place within the framework of the DIES Project on quality assurance at higher education institutions in East Africa.

Date: 2011-12-15

• Africa Sub-Sahara
• Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Latin America
• North America
• Northern Africa and the Middle East
• Western Europe