Cooperation of European university association with european educational organizations: modern trends

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Cooperation of European university association with european educational organizations: modern trends

Datsko Olha

Sumy National Agrarian University

The analysis of the peculiarities of cooperation of the European university association with European educational organizations (Group E4 (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education; European Student's Union; European Association of Institutions in Higher Education); Science of Europe; European Association of Research and Technology Organizations; Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research; League of European Research Universities) allowed highlighting its modern trends, in particular: ensuring quality of higher education; implementation of innovations in research and higher education; promoting students' mobility; development of doctoral education; modernizing teachers' training, etc.

Key words: European University Association (EUA), cooperation, European educational organizations, quality assurance, doctoral education, research and innovations.

Дацко Ольга. Співпраця Європейської асоціації університетів із європейськими освітніми організаціями: сучасні тенденції.

У статті висвітлено особливості співпраці Європейської асоціації університетів (ЄАУ) з європейськими освітніми організаціями. Висвітлено основні напрями розвитку співпраці в сучасних умовах, зокрема: забезпечення якості вищої освіти, запровадження інновацій у сфері вищої освіти й наукових досліджень, розвиток студентської мобільності, розвиток докторантури, модернізація педагогічної освіти тощо.

Ключові слова: Європейська асоціація університетів (ЄАУ), європейські освітні організації, співпраця, забезпечення якості, докторантура, наукові дослідження та інновації.

Дацко Ольга. Сотрудничество Европейской ассоциации университетов с европейскими образовательными организациями: современные тенденции.

В статье освещены особенности сотрудничества Европейской ассоциации университетов (ЕАУ) с европейскими образовательными организациями. Освещены основные направления развития сотрудничества в современных условиях, в частности: обеспечение качества высшего образования, внедрение инноваций в сфере высшего образования и научных исследований, развитие студенческой мобильности, развитие докторантуры, модернизация педагогического образования и т. д.

Ключевые слова: Европейская ассоциация университетов (ЕАУ), европейские образовательные организации, сотрудничество, обеспечение качества, докторантура, научные исследования и инновации.

Introduction

Nowadays education institutions all over the world are aimed at improving the quality of higher education and increasing the effectiveness of the higher education system. Education theorists join their efforts in order to achieve this goal. So in the European higher education area education institutions unite in the professional organizations, which protect their rights and represent their interests. In this context deserves attention European University Association (EUA) as an influentional agent of the European education policy-making in the EU.

The aim of the article is to highlight modern trends of cooperation of the European university association with European educational organizations.

Research methods

Nowadays education institutions all over the world are aimed at improving the quality of higher education and increasing the effectiveness of the higher education system. Education theorists join their efforts in order to achieve this goal. So in the European higher education area education institutions unite in the professional organizations, which protect their rights and represent their interests. In this context deserves attention European University Association (EUA) as an influentional agent of the European education policy-making in the EU. EUA is a partner of numerous educational organizations, both within Europe and abroad, in terms of formation of educational policy and its fulfilment through the implementation of educational projects of different directions.

EUA cooperates and participates actively in the global dialogue with a number of world regions, including the African continent, Arab region, Latin America, Asia (including China) and the Northern America. The cooperation with the "sister organizations" of EUA (Association of African Universities, Association of Arab Universities, American Education Council), participation in bilateral political processes in which higher education plays an important role (European Neighborhood Policy, Asia-Europe Meeting ASEM) or joint projects focused on specific topics (such as projects to support quality assurance structures in Asia, Africa, and Latin America) can be significant mechanisms of this exchange. In addition to the overall importance of dialogue and exchange, EUA's global engagement goals include increasing of attractiveness of the European higher education and research worldwide as well as discussing the key topics in higher education policy and reforming of the organizations-global partners. Besides, EUA works closely with the numerous stakeholders and other organizations involved in higher education and research policies, including European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament and others, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Council of Europe, European Association for International Education - EAIE), International Association of Universities (IAU), Science Europe, etc.).

Analysis of relevant research

Taking into account the importance of studying the activity of the influencial European organizations in the sphere of higher education for modernization of Ukrainian higher education system as a member of Bologna process, European educational associations have become the subjects of research interest of the native scholars, namely: V. Bilokopytov "Activity of international organizations in quality assurance of higher education within Bologna Process" [1], M. Boichenko "Activities of the European talent support network: procedural aspect" [2] and "Activities of international organizations in the sphere of gifted and talented education" [3], I. Yeremenko, and A. Sbruieva "Quality assurance of doctoral training in the context of the development of the European higher education area" [4], A. Ulanovska "Organizational and Educational Foundations of the European Students' Union's Activity as a Subject of the Bologna Process" [5:] and others.

At the same time cooperation of the EUA with other educational organizations within EU hasn't become the issue of special interest of the Ukrainian researchers yet.

The aim of the article is to highlight modern trends of cooperation of the European university association with European educational organizations.

Research methods. In order to achieve the goal, the following research methods have been used: general scientific (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, systematization), which were used to process the source base of the problem under study; specific scientific: the method of terminological analysis - to characterize the semantics of the fundamental concepts of research; logical-chronological method allowed to establish a logical sequence of innovative processes in higher education in the investigated period, which made possible the development of international cooperation in ensuring its quality; structural-logical method have been applied in the context of determining the current state and modern trends in cooperation of the European university association with European educational organizations.

European university association actively cooperates with a number of European educational organizations (figure 1).

Since its establishment, the Association has been an active participant in the quality assurance debate in the European educational area. At the national level in Europe, the EUA maintains a dialogue with national collective members on events taking place internationally.

A significant part of the EUA policy on quality assurance in higher education is carried out within the framework of the cooperation of the E4 Group, which includes the European University Association, the European Association for the Quality Assurance in Higher Education, the European Student's Union and the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education.

We consider it worthwhile to emphasize that, recently, in 2012-2015, this partnership was expanded at the expense of other stakeholders, in particular, such organizations as the International Education Organization, Business Europe and the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, to develop an updated version of the document "European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)".

Since 2006, the E4 group, on the initiative of the EUA, has been organizing the annual European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF). The forum brings together agencies for quality assurance in education and higher education institutions at European level with a view to establish the European program for ensuring the quality of higher education.

The continuation of the cooperation with European educational organizations within the E4 Group is the creation of the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) in 2008 at the request of European Ministers of Education in Bergen (2005) and London (2007) within the framework of the project aimed at improving the quality of European higher education and promoting students mobility. The Register is the first legal entity created in the context of the Bologna process, which, in addition to the E4 group, covers agencies for ensuring the quality of higher education of the Bologna Process countries.

We'd like to emphasize that the EUA, as the founding member of the register, is a member of its Executive Council and General Assembly, and also appoints two members of the Register Committee.

The Register aims to provide accurate and reliable information on trusted and legitimate quality education agencies operating in Europe. This Register includes higher education quality assurance agencies that fully comply with the European Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) standards and guidelines, and the decisions on their inclusion are taken by an independent Register Committee based on an agency's external review in accordance with standards and guidelines [13].

The main objectives of the Register's work on ensuring the quality of higher education are:

• to promote confidence-building and recognition of high-quality higher education institutions and their qualifications;

• to provide a government base for the recognition of institutions from the Register and their conclusions or decisions;

• to provide the facilities for higher education institutions to be able to select any agency from the Register;

* to reduce the opportunity for "accreditation agencies" to gain the authority in the process of ensuring the quality of higher education.

We consider it expedient to emphasize that, besides participating in the development of European educational policy, the EUA is active at the international level to ensure the visibility of the results of European higher education on the world stage. Through membership in the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and joining the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the Association also seeks to organize international discussions on the quality assurance. EUA also supports the development of quality management systems outside Europe. It conducted a series of projects in this area, including Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Carrying on the consideration of the peculiarities of EUA's cooperation with the E4 members, we'd like to note that the EUA has made a significant contribution to the European and international debates on quality issues and has addressed issues related to quality assurance in several political documents.

The latest EUA policy paper on quality and quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area was approved by the EUA Council in October 2010. This position demonstrates strong support for quality incept and quality assurance procedures based on institutional responsibility for quality and recognizes the autonomy of universities and branch diversity. In addition, the document states that the ultimate goal of quality assurance, both internal and external, is to improve quality, which promotes confidence-building among stakeholders. In this context, the position of the educational policy makers focuses on the need to promote the quality culture both in the system and at the institutional level, and encourages Governments to direct external quality assurance systems in promoting the quality culture that focuses on institutional development rather than attempts to measure quality in quantitative terms [13].

Further in our study, we consider it appropriate to characterize key policy documents in the field of quality assurance in higher education.

The Prague Declaration was adopted in March 2009 and identified the priorities for improving the quality of higher education and increasing the transparency of its evaluation procedures as one of the 10 success factors for European universities for the next decade. It stressed that the universities should work towards achieving this goal fully satisfying the obligations arising from the university's commitment as to quality assurance and providing accurate information on institutional missions, activities, outcomes received for the students, employers and other stakeholders [6].

The EU Quality Assurance Policy 2007 outlined the main principles of internal and external quality assurance processes and stated the Association's commitment to establish the European Quality Control Agency Register.

The EUA Lisbon Declaration, adopted in 2007, emphasized the importance of combining the external quality mechanisms with internal processes to ensure their widespread acceptance at universities, benefit from synergy and minimizing of bureaucracy [12].

Based on the previous debates and quality assurance initiatives, the Glasgow Declaration (Glasgow) dated March 2005 focused on the priorities of university activities in the field of higher education quality assurance, emphasizing the link between the systematic quality culture, level of autonomy and funding as well as the university commitment to an internal quality culture that is consistent with their institutional mission and goals [10].

Considering the ministerial summit in Berlin in September 2003, the EU position on quality assurance policy in 2004 was adopted by the EUA Council on April 1, 2004 in Marseille, France. This allowed to develop the position of the EUA in the context of the principles on implementing the quality assurance measures of the Berlin Communique (Graz Declaration) [11].

The Salamanca Convention, which marked the creation of the EAU in 2001, highlighted the importance of quality for European universities. The Salamanca Declaration relates to quality, accountability and autonomy as key aspects of university responsibility to society and the public. The Salamanca Convention was preceded by the European Rectors' Conference (CRE), which aimed to study the context and possibilities of accreditation across European borders [14].

Thus, quality ensurance is one of the main directions of EUA cooperation with the European ducational organizations, but not the only.

Recently, on 22 May, the European Commission developed the second part of its ambitious education package for the creation of a "European Education Area" by 2025, in the frames of which EUA promotes cooperation in such spheres as innovative and inclusive education, doctoral education, lifelong learning, etc.

In particular, in the EAU statement "European Education Area: EUA welcomes latest proposals on cross-border cooperation and recognition" [9] it is stressed that the EUA "is pleased with the 'strong consensus for the need to further step up mobility, accompanied by reinforced strategic partnerships and policy support, to drive more innovative and inclusive education, training and youth policies', including the Erasmus + programme and a successor agenda for Education & Training 2020. EUA also welcomes an increased emphasis on lifelong learning, which should comprise both vocational and higher education and training systems" [9].

Besides, EUA "supports strengthening cross-border collaboration to improve educational provision and remove remaining obstacles to the free movement of learners across Europe. Cooperation develops and promotes the innovative approaches that tomorrow's higher education will need. The "European Universities" would be one way to facilitate such intense cross-border collaboration. According to the Communication, these bottom-up networks of existing higher education institutions would develop long-term strategies for top quality education, research and innovation. However, the numerous more specific cooperation projects already supported by the Erasmus+ programme are equally important as they help enhance higher education quality across Europe on a broad basis. Furthermore, closer cooperation with other sectors and addressing linkages with other educational levels is indeed needed" [9].

Conclusions and prospects of further research

The analysis of the peculiarities of cooperation of the European university association with European educational organizations (Group E4 (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education; European Student's Union; European Association of Institutions in Higher Education); Science of Europe; European Association of Research and Technology Organizations; The Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research; League of European Research Universities) allowed highlighting its modern trends, in particular:

• ensuring quality of higher education;

• implementation of innovations in research and higher education;

• promoting students' mobility;

• development of doctoral education;

• modernizing teachers' training, etc.

Further studies will be aimed at the peculiarities of international cooperation of the EUA.

References

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2. Бойченко, М. А. (2014). Діяльність Європейської мережі підтримки таланту: процесуальний аспект. Вісник Глухівського національного педагогічного університету імені Олександра Довженка. Серія: Педагогічні науки, 26, 15-20 (Boichenko, M. A. (2015). Activities of the European talent support network: procedural aspect. Bulletin of Hlukhiv Oleksandr Dovzhenko national pedagogical university. Series: Pedagogical Sciences, 26, 15-20).

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4. Єременко, І., Сбруєва, А. (2017). Забезпечення якості підготовки докторів філософіїв контексті розбудови Європейського простору вищої освіти Педагогічні науки: теорія, історія, інноваційні технології, 10 (74), 86-103 (Boichenko, M. A. (2015). Yeremenko, Sbruieva, A. (2017). Quality assurance of doctoral training in the context of the development of the European higher education area. Pedagogical sciences: theory, history, innovative technologies, 10 (74), 86-103). DOI 10.24139/2312-5993/2017.10/086-103

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