HUMANE Seminar
Université Toulouse 1, Capitole, France
Friday 25 to Saturday 26 September, 2015

Quality Management

Quality Management Definition: ‘a system by which an organisation aims to reduce and eventually eliminate nonconformance to specifications, standards and customer expectations in the most cost effective and efficient manner’ Is this definition taken from the “business dictionary” valid in all its forms for HEIs? 

Quality management as a means to ensure the quality of training and research has existed in North America and British institutions for some time. In France it has existed for training in Engineering since the 1930s. It is obvious that early development of quality management as a condition for accreditation is closely linked to vocational training and the link with the professional world where there is a ready capacity to set up relevant specifications and standards. 

The Bologna declaration is best known for the ECTS system it created that allows student mobility between different countries: one tends to forget that mutual recognition relies on trust based on common standards verified by quality management procedures and common quality assurance standards and guidelines. 

It has created a drive toward accreditation and common quality assurance standards that aims to improve the reliability of the overall system. 

But whereas the business schools are submitted to common standards through common quality management standards verified by institutions that boast international recognition and as a consequence are directly comparable, other institutions with a wider range of academic disciplines lack a common accreditation process that would allow more direct comparisons by students as well as other stakeholders. 

HEI’s are closely linked to a country’s identity: in this framework the question of who sets the standards and specifications is crucial and subject to continuous debate even in those areas such as engineering where professional bodies have helped to legitimate common standards. On the other hand there is virtually no experience of this at national or international levels, and perhaps even active resistance, in subject areas such as humanities or pure mathematics. 

That is why today ENQA compares and accredits national accreditation systems, it doesn’t allow for direct comparisons between institutions. This means that at national levels quality management and accreditation systems are often a means to ensure that minimum standards are respected by institutions that rely heavily on public money. 

At the international level league table rankings, even though their methodologies are the subject of intense criticism, have become proxy indicators of “quality” and sources of inter-institutional comparison. There is good evidence to suggest that they have become a crucial determinant of international student choice. 

Through the experience of a variety of speakers we’ll debate these issues and questions.

Speakers

Frederic Forest - Deputy Director - Financial Allocations, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, France (FR)
Alex Pellacani - Finance Manager, Università degli Studi di Trento (IT) 
Katrina Swanton - Academic Quality Advisor, Edinburgh Napier University (UK)
Tia Loukkola - Director, Institutional Development unit, EUA (BE)
Anna Muraveva - Russian National Observatory on Vocational Education (RU)
Nel Van Dijk - Head of Quality, Communication and Policy, Amsterdam School of Arts (NL)
Etienne Desmet - Chief Operating Officer, Université Paris Dauphine (FR)

Seminar Chair:

Ian Creagh - Head of Administration and College Secretary, King’s College London (UK)

Details of presentations and abstracts will follow shortly.

Download the Seminar Flyer
You can download the flyer: here

Information

Who Can Attend?
The HUMANE Seminar in Toulouse is open to: 
HUMANE Members
HUMANE Members
HUMANE Members can also attend with one or more colleagues
HUMANE Members can also send colleagues from their University
WSAN Members 
Winter School Alumni can attend all HUMANE events
Other Higher Education professionals may apply to attend here

Seminar Fee
The Seminar Fee is € 495 . This includes lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday and the social programme on Saturday afternoon.

Accompanying people and HUMANE Friends are charged at € 160, this includes lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday and the social programme on Saturday afternoon. 

Upon registration you will receive a confirmation letter and invoice. Please wait until you receive the invoice before arranging the payment.

Accommodation and Practical Information
WIll be sent to participants when available.

Provisional Seminar Schedule
Friday 25 September: 
Registration and lunch from 12:00 / Seminar sessions 14:00 to 18:00 // HUMANE Seminar Dinner 20:00
Saturday 26 September:
Seminar sessions 09:00 to 13:00 / lunch / social programme then dinner

Social Programme
We will have a guided tour of Toulouse on Saturday afternoon.

Seminar Website
Information can be found here
http://www.humane.eu/events/seminars/2015/toulouse/

Register
Please register online at: online registration
http://www.humane.eu/index.php?id=336