IUQB receives full membership of ENQA and EQAR

On June 2nd 2009, IUQB received full membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). IUQB had submitted an application for membership of ENQA in April 2009 having implemented a number of recommendations in the external review panel report from its 2008 quality review. ENQA shares and provides information, experiences and good practices on quality assurance (QA) in higher education to European QA agencies. www.enqa.eu

IUQB were also accepted onto the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) on 7th October, 2009. EQAR full membership is based on IUQB’s compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) and its recent membership of the European Association of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). The register provides students, higher education institutions and the public with clear and reliable information on quality assurance agencies operating in Europe. www.eqar.eu

As of October 2009, Dr. Padraig Walsh, CEO of the IUQB is a Member of the ENQA Board in addition to being a member of the Steering Committee of the European Universities Association (EUA) Institutional Evaluation Programme.

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Launch of PhD Good Practice Booklet
and Quality Reviews Catalogue, June 2009

In June, IUQB held a formal launch for the second edition of their PhD guidelines booklet and online Quality Reviews Catalogue. The launch was attended by invited guests and IUQB Board members. Mr. Martin Hynes, Director, Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) launched the booklet entitled: Good Practice in the organisation of PhD Programmes in Irish Higher Education and Mr. Shane Kelly, former President, Union of Students in Ireland (USI) launched the Quality Reviews Catalogue area on the IUQB website.

This latest PhD Good Practice edition reflects changes that have taken place since 2005 (when the first edition was published) and recognises that the guidelines are used both within and outside of the university sector. It can be downloaded from our publications section within the website www.iuqb.ie As part of its strategic objectives, IUQB strives to provide accessible information on QA/QI to its stakeholders. View Good Practice Guide

The new Quality Reviews Catalogue area on the IUQB website has complied the Quality Review reports of Departments or Programmes, Schools and Support Services from the seven universities in one easily, accessible area. These reports are available on the websites of each university but are now in one focal location, three clicks away for the user to find information on the quality of Higher Education in Ireland. View Catalogue

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IRIU Schedule published

IUQB has published on its website the schedule of Institutional Reviews of Irish Universities (IRIU) that will commence later this autumn. NUI Maynooth will be the first university to be externally reviewed this Autumn with Dublin City University and NUI Galway to follow in Spring and Autumn 2010. The complete schedule of reviews is available here

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Two IUQB Corporate Publications Available

IUQB has published its Corporate Plan 2009-2011 in March of this year. It outlines the IUQB mission, vision and plans to achieve our strategic goals for 2009-2011.

In August of 2009, IUQB published its Annual Report 2008. Both publications are available upon request (at no cost).

View IUQB Corporate Plan.
View IUQB Annual Report.

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Registration open for IUQB’s Quality Seminar

Registration is open to delegates interested in attending the Quality Seminar on Tuesday, 3 November. The seminar is entitled: 'Striving to enhance the Student Experience: Implementing a Student Centred Approach to Learning - The European Standards and Guidelines (Part 1) in action'. The event, which takes place at the Westbury Hotel Dublin, will facilitate the sharing of achievements, experiences and challenges associated with their implementation.  The seminar includes facilitated workshops, each led by case studies of existing practices, and a poster presentation session during which ongoing initiatives taking place in HEI’s will be highlighted.

The registration form and programme can be downloaded here.
Completed registration forms to be returned by fax before 21 October 2009.
Please note that spaces are limited for this seminar!

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Quality Corner

NAIRTL 4th Bologna Symposium, 30th September, UCC

In this issue, Dr. Norma Ryan, Director of the Quality Promotion Unit, UCC and Member of the Irish Team of National Bologna Experts has provided the Quality Corner with details of National Academy for the Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) 4th Bologna Symposium which was hosted by UCC on the 30th September. The symposium on “Integrating generic competences into the curriculum” focused on the skills, attitudes and knowledge relevant to a variety of job and life situations. Sean Haughey, TD, Minister for Lifelong Learning officially opened the event which attracted delegates from Poland, Sweden, Spain and the UK as well as from several Higher Education Institutes and government and state offices around Ireland.

Speaking at the opening of the National Academy’s 4th Bologna Symposium, Minister Haughey focussed on graduate competences as an important element in the process of building a better European higher education sector and a more cohesive Europe: “The Bologna Process has put in motion a series of reforms across European higher education systems and institutions that directly benefits students. It is creating systems of education that are more understandable and more attractive for European students, as well as for students and scholars from all over the world”.

The broader interest in the development of graduate competences is evident in the 2,700 responses to a survey of Employers, Higher Education staff and students which was carried out earlier this year by the National Academy. The survey indicated general agreement on the top competences for graduate students. The successful development of these competences in Ireland’s higher education students will be important to future prosperity, competitiveness and social cohesion, as well as for individual employment prospects.

The integration of generic competences into the curriculum is a challenge for many teaching professionals and it is not clear how this can best be achieved or be assessed. The National Academy organised the Symposium to address these issues using case studies and examples from European and international leaders representing diverse disciplines such as chemistry, art history, business and marketing.

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Dear Viewer,

Thank you for taking the time to look through our newsletter.

We welcome your input on any best practice initiatives within your institutions and will highlight them in future editions. Please email submissions for the Quality Corner to me here.

Your feedback to any articles or quality related issues is very welcome and will be answered as quickly as possible.

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