FAIR - Focus on Automatic Institutional Recognition

Scientific manager: Dott.ssa Giovanna Filippini

Unibo structure involved: DIRI – Area Relazioni Internazionali
Unibo Team: Dott.ssa Paola Candotti, Dott.ssa Clara Borghi, Dott. Francesco Girotti

Website: www.epnuffic.nl/en/diploma-recognition/fair

Project Duration in months: 28
Start Date: 1/01/2015
End Date: 30/04/2017

Budget: 450.000  euro    
Unibo Budget: 13.229,14 euro

Partners:

  • Coordinatore: MINISTERIE VAN ONDERWIJS, CULTUUR EN WETENSCHAP (The Netherlands)
  • AGENCIJA ZA ZNANOST I VISOKO OBRAZOVANJE (Croatia)
  • ASSOCIAZIONE CIMEA (Italy)
  • EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM FOR ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION (The Netherlands)
  • FONDAZIONE CRUI PER LE UNIVERSITA ITALIANE (Italy)
  • MINESTERIUM FÜR WISSENSCHAFT UND WIRTSCHAFT DES LANDES SACHSEN-ANHALT (Germany)
  • MINISTARSTVO ZNANOSTI, OBRAZOVANJA I SPORTA (Croatia)
  • MINISTERIO DE EDUCACION, CULTURA Y DEPORTE (Spain)
  • ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA (Italy)
  • ASSOCIATION EUROPEENNE DE L'UNIVERSITE (Belgium)
  • CARL VON OSSIETZKY UNIVERSITAET OLDENBURG (Germany)
  • KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN (Belgium)
  • ERASMUS UNIVERSITEIT ROTTERDAM (The Netherlands)
  • HOCHSCHULE HARZ (Germany)
  • HOCHSCHULREKTORENKONFERENZ (Germany)
  • KATHOLIEKE HOGESCHOOL LEUVEN VZW-KHL LEUVEN (Belgium)
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PALERMO (Italy)
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA (Italy)
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO (Italy)
  • UNIVERSITAET BREMEN (Germany)
  • UNIVERSITAT DE GIRONA (Spain)
  • UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA (Spain)
  • UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN (Belgium)
  • SVEUCILISTE U RIJECI (Croatia)
  • SVEUCILISTE U SPLITU (Croatia)
  • SVEUCILISTE U ZAGREBU (Croatia)
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA (Spain)
  • UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS (Spain)
  • STICHTING HOGESCHOOL ZUYD (The Netherlands)
  • STICHTING NHTV INTERNATIONALE HOGESCHOOL BREDA (The Netherlands)
  • STICHTING NUFFIC, NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR INTERNATIONALE SAMENWERKING IN HET HOGER ONDERWIJS EN ONDERZOEK (The Netherlands)
  • STYRELSEN FOR VIDEREGAENDE UDDANNELSE (Denmark)
  • SVEUCILISTE JOSIPA JURJA STROSSMAYERA U OSIJEKU (Croatia)
  • UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT (The Netherlands)
  • VLAAMSE GEMEENSCHAP (Belgium)
  • UNIVERSITEIT GENT (Belgium)

Description:
Objective
The objective of the Focus on Automatic Institutional Recognition (FAIR) project is to improve European recognition as practiced by HEIs by implementing elements of automatic recognition.

Experimentation measure
The measure to be tested is the introduction of automatic recognition in institutional recognition procedures. Automatic recognition is a fairly new concept that is explored by the ‘pathfinder group on automatic recognition’ in preparation of the Bologna Ministerial Conference in Yerevan 2015. FAIR aims to test how the recommendations can best be implemented in institutional recognition practices, making use of the collected good practice of the European Area of Recognition (EAR) manuals.

Since most recognition decisions in the EU and EHEA are made within HEIs, the FAIR project is expected to significantly improve European recognition practice.

Target groups
Higher Education Institutions

  • Admissions offices, through smoother recognition procedures and fairer and consistent decisions.
  • HEIs as a whole will benefit as well. Smoother and fairer decisions increase the quality of students and reputation of the institution.

ENIC-NARICs

  • The recommendations on how institutional recognition practice can be improved will assist ENIC-NARICs to perform their tasks as information centres on recognition and their efforts for achieving fair recognition.

Ministries of Education

  • Fairer and smoother recognition decisions for incoming students will make a country a more attractive destination for students and highly skilled workers.

Quality assurance agencies

  • The analysis of existing institutional recognition procedures and the recommendations for improvement will lead to useful expertise for the QA agencies, especially in the light of the revised European Standards & Guidelines.

Students

  • Smoother and fairer recognition decisions will lead to fewer obstacles for students when applying for a higher education programme in another country.

Evaluation measure

The evaluation will entail the following:

  • Baseline assessment in which participating HEIs score their recognition procedures on the basis of objective indicators (a scorecard). The evaluation body guides the baseline assessment of the recognition procedures to ensure that the indicators are clearly understood and reliably scored by the HEIs.
  • Improving the institutional recognition procedures by including automatic recognition elements and recommendations from the EAR-HEI recognition manual
  • Measuring the effect of the new recognition procedures against the previous set of indicators.

The systemic impact envisaged

Automatic recognition is expected to simplify institutional recognition decisions, because substantial parts of the recognition procedure will be standardized. The experience and recommendations on how to do this at national level will be made available by the FAIR project team for all EHEA countries. This will lead to faster and smoother recognition decisions.

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union