Working on the European dimension of quality

The Bologna Declaration spawned many developments regarding quality assurance. One of these was the Joint Quality Initiative, in which actors of a number of countries got together to discuss options for quality assessment and for standards in higher education in a way that would contribute both to harmonisation and to progress in assessment methodology focusing on the output side of the educational process. The theme of graduates¿ competencies was therefore paramount in this book. After the formal opening statement by the Flemish minister of education, it contains a general introduction from CHEPS, reflections from the USA and from the point of view of the European University Association (EUA) and two chapters on projects to define competencies at an international level. One is about the Joint Quality Initiative¿s `Dublin Descriptors¿, characterising bachelor and master level competencies independent of knowledge fields. The other reports on Tuning Educational Structures in Europe, a project that established examples of sets of competencies in a number of disciplines. Presently, follow-up projects are further developing and testing the outcomes of these projects, making this book an important source on backgrounds of current developments on the European scene. The book ends with a statement of the consensus and issues resulting from the conference, and the closing statement by the Dutch minister of education.