Abstract
The 1990s were characterized by the rise of quality assurance in higher education (Dill, 1995). Over the last two decades, quality assurance systems in Europe have changed and evolved significantly. There is now much variety in how countries regulate academic quality (Dill & Beerkens, 2010; Schwartz & Westerheijden, 2007), but despite of the variety we can see increasing convergence in the organizational structure that countries use for quality assurance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Baldwin, R., Cave, M., & Lodge, M. (2011). Understanding regulation: Theory, strategy, and practice. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Beerkens, M. (2015). Quality assurance in the political context: In the midst of different expectations and conflicting goals. Quality in Higher Education (forthcoming).
Better Regulation Taskforce. (2000). Higher education: Easing the burden. Retrieved from http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/brc/publications/2002.html
Blackmur, D. (2008). The public regulation of Higher Education qualities: Rationale, processes and outcomes. In D. F. Westerheijden, B. Stensaker, & M. João Rosa (Eds.), Quality assurance in higher education: Trends in regulation, translation and transformation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Bleiklie, I., Hostaker, R., & Vabo, A. (2000). Policy and practice in higher education: Reforming Norwegian universities. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley.
Bouckaert, G., Peters, B. G., & Verhoest, K. (2010). The coordination of public sector organizations: Shifting patterns of public management. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brennan, J., & Williams, R. (2007). Accreditation and related regulatory matters in the United Kingdom. In S. Schwarz & D. F. Westerheijden (Eds.), Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Christensen, T., & Lӕgreid, P. (Eds.). (2006). Autonomy and regulation: Copying with agencies in the modern state. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.
Christensen, T., Lie, A., & Lӕgreid, P. (2007). Still fragmented government or reassertion of the center. In T. Christensen & P. Lӕgreid (Eds.), Transcending new public management: the transformation of public sector reform. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.
De staatssecretaris van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. (2011). Beleidsreactie op de eindrapporten alternatieve afstudeertrajecten. aan de voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 20 mei 2011. Retrieved from http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/kamerstukken/2011/05/20/beleidsreactie-op-de-eindrapporten-alternatieve-afstudeertrajecten.html
Dill, D. D. (1995). Through Deming’s eyes: A cross-national analysis of quality assurance policies in higher education. Quality in Higher Education, 1(1), 95–110.
Dill, D. D. (2010). Quality assurance in higher education: Practices and issues. In B. McGaw, E. Baker, & P. P. Peterson (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed.). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Elsevier Publications.
Dill, D. D., & Beerkens, M. (Eds.). (2010). Public policies for academic quality: Analyses of innovative policy instruments. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Dill, D. D., & Beerkens, M. (2013). Designing the framework conditions for assuring academic standards: Lessons learned about professional, market, and government regulation of academic quality. Higher Education, 65(3), 341–357.
Dill, D. D., & Soo, M. (2004). Transparency and quality in higher education markets. In P. Teixeira, B. Jongbloed, D. Dill, & A. Amaral (Eds.), Markets in higher education: Rhetoric or reality? Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160.
DUB. (2014). Tweede Kamer: keuringsstelsel hoger onderwijs functioneert prima. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://www.dub.uu.nl/artikel/nieuws/tweede-kamer-keuringsstelsel-hoger-onderwijsfunctioneert-prima.html
Enders, J., & Westerheijden, D. (2011). Policies for quality in higher education – coordination and consistency in EU-policymaking 2000–2010. European Journal of Higher Education, 1(4), 297–314.
ENQA. (2003). Quality procedures in European higher education: An ENQA survey. ENQA Occasional Papers 5. Retrieved from http://enqa.eu/files/procedures.pdf
ENQA. (2005). Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European higher education area. Retrieved from http://www.enqa.eu/files/ENQA%20Bergen%20Report.pdf
ENQA. (2008). Quality procedures in the European higher education area and beyond: Second ENQA survey. ENQA Occasional Papers 14.
ENQA / Danish Centre for Quality Assurance and Evaluation. (1998). Evaluation of European higher education: A status report of 1998.
Ewell, P. (2008). The “quality game”: External review and institutional reaction over three decades in the United States. In D. F. Westerheijden, B. Stensaker, & M. João Rosa (Eds.), Quality assurance in higher education: Trends in regulation, translation and transformation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Explanatory Notes to the Draft Bill on the Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (The Accreditation Act). L294 – Explanatory. Retrieved from http://acedenmark.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/dokumenter/Engelske_tekster/Engelsk_oversaettelse_af_bemaerkninger_til_Akkrediteringsloven.pdf
Frazer, M. (1992). Quality assurance in higher education. In A. Z. Craft (Ed.), Quality assurance in higher education. London, UK: Falmer Press.
HEFCE. (2012). A risk-based approach to quality assurance: Outcomes of consultation and next steps. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2012/201227/Risk-based%20quality%20assurance%20consultation%20outcomes.pdf
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons. Public Administration, 69(1), 3–19.
Hood, C., Scott, C., James, O., Jones, G., & Travers, T. (1999). Regulation inside government: Waste-watchers, quality police, and sleaze-busters. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Huisman, J. (2003). Institutional reform in higher education: Forever changes? In B. Denters, O. van Heffen, J. Huisman, & P.-J. Klok (Eds.), Interactive governance and market mechanisms. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Huisman, J., & Toonen, T. (2004). Higher education and university research in the Netherlands: A mixed pattern of control. In C. Hood, O. James, B. G. Peters, & C. Scott (Eds.), Controlling modern government: Variety, commonality and change. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.
Jeliazkova, M., & Westerheijden, D. F. (2004). The Netherlands: A leader in quality assurance follows the accreditation trend. In S. Schwarz & D. F. Westerheijden (Eds.), Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Lӕgreid, P., & Verhoest, K. (2010). Introduction: Reforming public sector organizations. In P. Lӕgreid & K. Verhoest (Eds.), Governance of public sector organizations: Proliferation, autonomy and performance. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Maxmillan.
Langfeldt, L., Harvey, L., Huisman, J., Westerheijden, D., & Stensaker, B. (2008). Evaluation of NOKUT – The Norwegian agency for quality assurance in education, Report 2: NOKUT’s national role. Norway, Europe: Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Lewis, R. (2010). The external examiner system in the United Kingdom. In D. D. Dill & M. Beerkens (Eds.), Public policies for academic quality: Analyses of innovative policy instruments. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Majone, G. (1997). From the positive to the regulatory state: Causes and consequences of changes in the mode of governance. Journal of Public Policy, 17(2), 139–167.
Ministerie van OCW, Ministerie van ELI. (2011). Kwaliteit in verscheidenheid: Strategische Agenda Hoger Onderwijs, Onderzoek en Wetenschap.
Neave, G. (1988). On the cultivation of quality, efficiency and enterprise: An overview of recent trends in higher education in Western Europe, 1986–1988. European Journal of Education, 23(1/2), 7–23.
Neave, G., & van Vught, F. (1991). Prometheus bound: The changing relationship between government and higher education in Western Europe. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2004). Public management reform: A comparative analysis (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Pollitt, C., & Talbot, C. (Eds.). (2004). Unbundled government: A critical analysis of the global trend to agencies, quangos and contractualisation. London, UK: Routledge.
Pollitt, C., Bathgate, K., Caulfield, J., Smullen, A., & Talbot, C. (2001). Agency fever? Analysis of an international policy fashion. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 3(3), 271–290.
Pollitt, C., Talbot, C., Caufield, J., & Smullen, A. (2004). Agencies: How governments do things through semi-autonomous organizations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Report of the committee for the review of the Accreditation Organization of The Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). (2007, September). Retrieved from http://www.enqa.eu/files/NVAO%20review%20report.pdf
Santiago, P., Tremblay, K., Basri, E., & Arnal, E. (2008). Tertiary education for the knowledge society: Governance, funding, quality (Vol. 1). Paris, France: OECD.
Schwarz, S., & Westerheijden, D. F. (Eds.). (2007). Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Stensaker, B. (1997). From accountability to opportunity: The role of quality assessments in Norway. Quality in Higher Education, 3(3), 277–284.
Stensaker, B. (2007). The blurring boundaries between accreditation and audit: The case of Norway. In S. Schwarz & D. F. Westerheijden (Eds.), Accreditationa and evaluation in the European higher education area. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Stensaker, B. (2011). Accreditation of higher education in Europe – moving towards the US model? Journal of Education Policy, 26(6), 757–769.
Talbot, C. (2004). The agency idea: Sometimes old, sometimes new, sometimes borrowed, sometimes untrue. In C. Pollitt & C. Talbot (Eds.), Unbundled government: A critical analysis of the global trend to agencies, quangos and contractualisation. London, UK: Routledge.
Thune, C. (2001). Quality assurance of higher education in Denmark. In D. Dunkerly & W. S. Wong (Eds.), Global perspectives on quality in higher education. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishers.
UUK, HEFCE, GuildHE, DELNI. (2011). Terms of reference for the quality in higher education group. Retrieved from http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/PolicyAndResearch/Guidance/AccommodationCodeofPractice/Documents/QHEG-2011-01a%20terms%20of%20reference.pdf
van Vught, F. A., & Westerheijden, D. F. (1994). Towards a general model of quality assessment in higher education. Higher Education, 28(3), 355–371.
Westerheijden, D. F. (2008). States and Europe and quality of higher education. In D. F. Westerheijden, B. Stensaker, & M. João Rosa (Eds.), Quality assurance in higher education: Trends in regulation, translation and transformation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Sense Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beerkens, M. (2015). Agencification Challenges in Higher Education Quality Assurance. In: Reale, E., Primeri, E. (eds) The Transformation of University Institutional and Organizational Boundaries. Higher Education Research in the 21st Century Series. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-178-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-178-6_3
Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam
Online ISBN: 978-94-6300-178-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)