Higher Education Quality Assurance in Ukraine Serhiy Kvit

Higher Education Quality Assurance in Ukraine © Serhiy Kvit, 2020 Квіт

Higher Education in Ukraine in Figures • November 2019 – 381 state-funded (+75 subdivisions), 23 municipal (+1) and 140 private HEIs (+51) • 1, 4 mln students including about 25, 000 of Ph. D and Doctoral students (56% contract-base form of study and 44% state budget form of study) • About 76, 000 foreign students in Ukraine • About 77, 000 Ukrainian students studying abroad • Graduates (44% social, economic and humanities; 16% engineers; 8% medical workers, 7% teachers, 6% transport workers, 4% natural sciences, the others)

Distribution of HE Responsibilities • the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine bears the overall responsibility for developing and implementing education policy • the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NAQA) is responsible for ensuring the development, promotion and improvement of the quality of higher education, established for evaluating higher education and providing recommendations for the development of a Quality Assurance System (QA) in higher education

NAQA mandate • Accreditation of educational programs (bachelor, master, Ph. D) • Accreditation of thesis defense committees • Accreditation of independent agencies • Institutional accreditation of higher education institutions (HEIs) • Development of university rankings • Compliance with academic integrity • Other activities (Annual Report on the State of Higher Education in Ukraine, development of education policy regulations, agreeing HE standards etc)

• To establish an autonomous Background national QA system aligned with the EHEA • To develop QA systems at institutional levels 2014 - radical • To ensure accountable and reforming of the autonomous university management and governance Higher Education • To involve stakeholders into the sector in Ukraine decision-making process

2014 - the Law on Higher Education – NAQA as independent public non-profit organization 2015 - the first personal NAQA composition – no official start 2017 – the Law on Education – improved procedure of NAQA members election December 2018 - the new personal NAQA composition February 2019 - NAQA official start of work Today – requirements for QA and transparency; implementation of the HE state policy; addressing modern challenges

MISSION to become a catalyst for changes in HE in Ukraine to create quality culture VALUES • PARTNERSHIP • TRUST • INDEPENDENCE • PROFESSIONALISM • INNOVATION • ACADEMIC INTEGRITY • TRANSPERENCY

WHAT has been DONE (mid-February 2019 – end of August 2020) • Secretariat • Regulations for Study Programmes Accreditation • Regulation for Academic Integrity Issues • 29 Subject Area Councils • 329 subject-area councils members • 35 trainers • 2528 experts from all fields of knowledge (1976 experts represent research and teaching staff, and 552 experts represent students) • Trainings, Round Tables, Workshops

NAQA Structure NAQA (23 elected members) Secretariat (62 staff units) Trainers (35) Accreditation Experts (2528) Subject Area Councils (29) Subject Area Councils members (329)

• ENQA Affiliate • Full membership in INQAAHE, CEENQA, ICAI • Bilateral Agreements: Poland, France, Georgia, Kazakhstan • Latvia QA • Germany • The UK organizations • Italy and Foreign • Lithuania QA Agencies • Estonia • Belgium. . . Stakeholders • Employers Associations • Student Organizations • HEIs …… International organizations and projects • Erasmus+ National Office • British Council • American Councils • USAID • OSCE • IFERP • IRF…. Other Partners • Antiplagiarism companies • ……

Accreditation of Study Programmes • Regulation on Study Programme Accreditation • 10 criteria aligned to ESG-2015 • 4 grades (A, B, E, F) • Accreditation process in brief: Self-Assessment – Expert Group – Subject Area Council – NAQA • Expertise (expert group includes three experts including student expert) • Subject area council checks and verifies (includes stakeholders) • NAQA’s final decision (includes stakeholders)

NAQA`s Accreditation Process Within 3 months

November 2019 – February 2020: 369 accreditations completed March-September 2020: 540 online accreditations completed About 1% – exceptional accreditations (level A) About 62% (level B) 35% - conditional one-year accreditations (level E) About 2% – denials of accreditation (level F)

Thank you for your attention!