On the 10th of June the Third Quality Forum took place. It was organised online by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (the Centre). This Quality Forum was dedicated to discuss the experiences of the first results of external evaluations of study fields that were performed in 2020.
Centre’s senior specialist Natalija Bogdanova presented the results of the evaluation of the first 8 study fields in 16 higher education institutions and the main insights of the experts from the reports of the study field evaluations. Out of 53 study field and cycle accreditation decisions 47 (89 percent) lead to the accreditation of study field and cycle for 7 years, 5 decisions (5 percent) – for three years and there is 1 non-accreditation decision.
The Center has invited several speakers from different higher education institutions to share the experiences on the external evaluation of study fields: Artūras Aleksynas, Head of the Study department of Kaunas university of applied engineering sciences; head of Study service of Klaipėda university Dr. Rasa Grigolienė, Deputy director of Vilnius college of Technologies and Design Anna Limanosvskaja and the Dean of History faculty at Vilnius university dr. Loreta Skurvydaitė.
During the Quality Forum Aušra Leskauskaitė, the adviser of the Center’s study evaluation department, acting head of this department has presented to the participants the results of the Centre's survey on study field evaluation indicators. In the survey, dedicated to the self-evaluation report staff and quality specialists of higher education institutions, the survey participants were asked to name, which indicators of study field evaluation are most expedient while preparing the self-evaluation report, which indicators were the most difficult to analyze, which aspects should be included or highlighted in the formulation of the most difficult to analyze indicators and / or the information requested according to them, and which indicators for the external evaluation of the study fields are redundant.
The culmination of the Third Quality Forum was the discussion, moderated by the Center‘s deputy director Aurelija Valeikienė, on the topic „The eveluation of study fields – how are the goals being achieved?“. During the discussion the participants actively made suggestions on how the methodology of external evaluation of study fields could be improved, what should be taken into the account during the subsequent assessments, the participants have also expressed many possitive experiences about the organizational process of recent evaluations, and discussed topics for future Quality Forums.
It is planned to arrange the next Quality Forum in autumn of this year, but the Center will also offer to meet remotely already at the end of this month to discuss the annual analysis of study field evaluation indicators.
