Licensing and accreditation are two separate processes that are carried out with the aim of ensuring quality in higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Licensing is the process of verifying the fulfillment of the minimum standards for starting work and performing higher education activities. A license is a work permit issued to higher education institutions by the competent educational authorities after independent commissions of licensing experts, appointed by the competent educational authorities, have verified the fulfillment of minimum standards. The minimum standards and the process of compliance verification are prescribed by the competent educational authorities in their licensing acts. The minimum standards are usually quantitatively standardized and refer to the spatial, material, technical and human resources of the higher education institution, such as the necessary surface area2/student, number of library units, number of computers/student, number of full-time academic staff, etc.
Accreditation by its very definition represents the procedure of formal recognition of the higher education institution or the study program it carries out by an external body, based on an external quality assessment, which determines the fulfillment of certain standards and criteria.
Accreditation is a process by which, on the basis of an external audit and quality assessment, it is confirmed that the higher education institution has fulfilled the prescribed standards and criteria in its work. The criteria for accreditation were adopted by the Agency and they are unique and mandatory for all higher education institutions in BiH, both public and private. According to these criteria, higher education institutions conduct a self-evaluation, prepare a self-evaluation report, and the verification of the fulfillment of the criteria is carried out by an independent committee of accreditation experts appointed by the Agency based on the proposal of the competent educational authorities.
Therefore, the Accreditation of the higher education institution a formal, publicly announced decision on the quality of the institution, made on the basis of external evaluation and criteria for the accreditation of higher education institutions, which is issued for a certain period.
Self-evaluation or internal evaluation is assessment, periodic control and documentation of own quality parameters, teaching and study programs, administration and management, scientific research work, etc., carried out by the higher education institution.
External (external or external) evaluation is a procedure in which an independent body (committee of experts) collects data, information and evidence about the work of a higher education institution or study program in order to produce a quality statement and which consists of at least three activities, including the analysis of self-evaluation reports, a visit to the higher education institution and the preparation of a report on external evaluation with recommendations.
Quality assurance in Bosnia and Herzegovina
By joining the Bologna process in Berlin in 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina undertook the obligation to establish a quality system in higher education that promotes that process. The Conference of European Ministers of Education adopted the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) in Bergen in 2005, which established a unique European methodology in this area.
Realizing its obligations from the Bologna Process, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Framework Law on Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina" No. 57/07 and 57/09), and in order to realize the Bologna goal of establishing a quality system, two key steps: the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina" No. 13/08) which are fully harmonized with ESG, and the Agency was established for the development of higher education and quality assurance (Agency), with responsibilities defined by the Framework Law on Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Framework Law).
The Agency for the Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance, acting according to Article 48 of the Framework Law, adopted the Criteria for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions (criteria), which have their source in ESG and Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The criteria are universal for all higher education institutions, both universities and colleges, both public and private, and they are applied completely equally and consistently at all higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, both the ESG and the Bosnian Standards and Guidelines, in addition to determining the subject of quality assurance (which should be evaluated and developed), also determine quality assessment mechanisms. Starting from the basic assumption that the greatest responsibility for the quality of education lies with the higher education institution itself, the internal quality system, which is established and developed by the higher education institution itself, becomes a key factor in quality assurance in higher education. From that logic, a unique European model for quality assurance was developed, based on an internal system, periodic external evaluation of that system, and quality assurance of those who perform external evaluations.
The external quality assessment is carried out in four steps:
- to the self-evaluation made by the higher education institution,
- external review performed by independent experts,
- the report on the fulfillment of quality criteria and recommendations for quality improvement, which is published publicly, and
- subsequent activities undertaken by the higher education institution after the completion of the external assessment, in order to realize the recommendations from the report.
In this sense, the criteria for accreditation define what a higher education institution should undertake in order to demonstrate that it provides credible education and other activities, as well as what independent experts assess. Pursuant to the Framework Law, the Agency established, and all ministries of education in Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted, the List of Experts who evaluate and conduct quality audits and make recommendations on the accreditation of higher education institutions and study programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, identifying four groups experts:
- Experts - representatives of the academic community in BiH,
- Experts - representatives of business and practice,
- Students, i
- International experts
Commissions made up of all four groups of experts analyze the self-evaluation reports, and visit higher education institutions to determine the degree of fulfillment of the criteria, and make recommendations for improving quality. The evaluation of each of the criteria is determined by the commission with four levels:
- complete fulfillment of the criteria,
- satisfactory fulfillment of the criteria,
- partial fulfillment of criteria, i
- non-fulfillment of the criteria.
Therefore, the Criteria are a mandatory document and the degree of their fulfillment depends on the outcome of the accreditation.
University of Zenica in external quality assurance procedures
The University of Zenica, as one of the youngest public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has gone through various stages on the way to the establishment and functioning of the quality assurance system. The stages of development of the quality assurance system at the University level can mostly be identified with the stages of development of quality assurance in higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the adoption and implementation of its legislation that followed European trends in this area.
The university has also undergone significant external evaluations, which include: external evaluation by the National Committee for Higher Education of Slovenia - Evaluation Council in 2008, external evaluation by the European University Association (EUA - European University Association from Brussels) in 2009 and external evaluation four study programs with foreign evaluation agencies and experts (study programs at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Technology, Pedagogy and Economics) in 2012. As a result of all long-term activities and successfully conducted 'pilot' external evaluations, and actively participating in all significant activities in the implementation of the Bologna principles in higher education, especially in the area of quality assurance, the University was among the first public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to make the necessary preparations for its accreditation. However, due to the aforementioned problems in the implementation of the accreditation procedure, and due to the need to fulfill the legally prescribed obligation of accreditation of higher education institutions, on 24.04.2009 the University Decision on temporary accreditation of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, number: 10-38-4945-3/09 dated 04.24.2009. years. After extensive preparations and resolution of a number of legal ambiguities in the accreditation procedure, and after an external evaluation by the Commission of experts appointed by the Agency for the Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance, on September 7, 2014, the University of Zenica was awarded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports - Doboj canton handed over the Decision on accreditation for a period of 4 years. Thus, the University of Zenica became the first accredited university in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, on September 16, 2014, the Agency issued the University with a Decision on enrollment in the State Register of Accredited Higher Education Institutions in BiH and thus enabled its connection with European and international structures dealing with quality assurance. During 2014, an external evaluation of the III cycle study program at the Faculty of Health was also carried out by a selected expert foreign commission.
You can find out more about the development of the quality assurance system in higher education in BiH and the stages of its development at the University of Zenica at this link.
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