engleski

About Quality Management in European Higher Education Area

Through centuries universities have been esteemed as places of creating and spreading national culture, spiritual values such as pacifism, fellowship, tolerance and patriotism. They are the meeting points of the inquisitive, who have been contributing to the creation and spreading of knowledge through research, and as such represent the source of social changes. Globalisation contributes to revolutionary changes of university life in the entire world. The first step done towards the recognition of the need for change was the signning of Magna Charta Universitatum (1988). This document represented the wish to stress the univeristy independence of political authority and economic power. Following reports from the numerous meetings showed the incremental strategic reorientation of the role and place of university in the society. The Sorbonne Declaration (1998) stressed the need for: permanent education, elimination of mutual barriers and establishment of European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This system enables measuring student workload, requirements per semester and level of competence acquired upon completion of the course. Lisbon meeting (1997) pointed out the methods and criteria of mutual recognition of diplomas in higher education. The year 1999 was recognised as the year of signing Bologna Declaration and starting point of the Bologna process. The main focus was on the adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees based on two main cycles (undergraduate and graduate) and promotion of mobility by ECTS. Quality, as a foundation stone of the integration processes, was first mentioned at the Salamanca Convention (2001). It is believed that quality represents the fundamental prerequisite to confidence in the European of Higher Education Area (EHEA). The first progress review of the Bologna process was in Prague (2001), where the objective of establishing the EHEA by 2010 was reaffirmed. The second progress review in Berlin (2003) stressed quality assurance, two-cycle system and recognition of degrees. The European Network for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education is given a task to develop an agreed set of quality standards. Bologna process brings not only numerous doubts and dilemmas about the principles of autonomy but also questions about the pace and the nature of the change that is expected to follow. The process of university integration is stressing the component of mutual trust, as a prerequisite of further cooperation and coexistence. Quality, according to some specific experiences (higher education in USA and UK) TQM concept, is perceived as a tool for resolving encountered problems in higher education like poor teaching, incoherent curriculaa and inefficient administration by the "doing more with less" paradox. The disadvantage of using TQM does not concern failure of TQM concept, rather failure of implementation in the not receptive academic culture of higher education institutions. The general model of quality implementation in the Eastern European higher education consists of evaluation process. This very model could also be used as a starting point in Croatia. One can suggest the establishment of the National Quality Committee, which will have the task to configure the network of activities, events, conferences and supportive research. The direction of the quality campaign could be based on our critical success factors that can contribute to the improvement of quality. They should be in charge of annual publishing lists ranking Croatian universities and faculties prior to their student application and enrolment. Quality should imply also the fulfilment of specific needs and expectations of the academic members, customers and Croatian society and the vision of EHEA. Deeper collaboration between universities, based on trust and confidence could be established on the base of both quality of each university and quality of collaboration between two or more universities. Quality is therefore the key which opens the door towards the Europe of Knowledge even wider.

ECTS; QM; higher education; quality; EHEA

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