Activities

The Euro-Inf Spread Project aims at:

Awarding the first Euro-Inf Quality Labels
Transferring benefits of the Euro-Inf project results to national QA systems
Extending network and membership of EQANIE
Raising the acceptance of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Accreditation Criteria
Exploring possibilities for accreditation of continuous professional development (CPD)

Work Package 1: Pilot accreditations

Pilot Accreditations will be conducted for three study programmes (yet to be determined). It is envisaged that these programmes are awarded the first Euro-Inf Quality Labels provided that they are successfully reviewed by a team of EQANIE experts. A short description of the programmes and a summary of results will be published in English language on the Euro-Inf website.

Work Package 2: Transfer of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards

In a second approach, the project results shall be transferred into four national accreditation systems. The objective is to explore ways to feed the results of the Euro-Inf Project into national accreditation systems, both within and beyond the countries represented in the project consortium. Firstly, an analysis of the national standards and/or guidelines for informatics programmes in the respective countries will be conducted.

The subsequent work may also include a meeting of project representatives with national stakeholders, on the basis of which recommendations for the usage of Euro-Inf are produced. The accreditation institution then issues a statement, possibly including a commitment to the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Criteria as reference framework for the assessment of informatics degree programmes. Successful examples of transfer of methods or project results into national contexts will be presented at the final dissemination conference.

Status Quo

Four target countries for the transfer of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Accreditation Criteria have been identified.

Italy

Analysis of the state of implementation of the Bologna process with regard to quality assurance and enhancement in informatics higher education (HE) in Italy, and a comparison of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Guidelines to existing field-specific standards and guidelines applicable to Italian informatics degree programmes (author: Enrico Nardelli, University of Roma Tor Vergata/GRIN).

Country Report Italy

Latvia

Analysis of the state of implementation of the Bologna process with regard to quality assurance and enhancement in informatics HE in Latvia, and a comparison of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Guidelines to existing field-specific standards and guidelines applicable to Latvian informatics degree programmes (author: Juris Dzelme, HEQEC).

Country Report Latvia

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is the third target country for the transfer of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards. A meeting between EQANIE and Czech stakeholders involved in quality assurance of informatics Higher Education will take place in the beginning of June 2010. A report on the state of implementation of the Bologna process with regard to quality assurance and enhancement in informatics HE in the Czech Republic is being prepared.

Spain

Spain was determined as fourth target country for the transfer of the Euro-Inf Framework Standards. The Spanish National Conference of Deans and Directors for Universities’ Schools of Informatics (CODDI) has recently become member of EQANIE. A report on the state of implementation of the Bologna process with regard to quality assurance and enhancement in informatics HE in Spain is being prepared.

Work Package 3: Dissemination at External Events

A further objective is to disseminate the results of the Euro-Inf Project at at least four external events organised by partners or affiliates, related thematic networks or other relevant stakeholders in the field of informatics. In order to extent access to the Euro-Inf Standards and Criteria beyond those having proficiency of English language, the standards will be translated into the languages of those countries represented in the consortium: Italian, German, Latvian.

To ensure maximum impact and sustainability of the results, the partners will produce a proposal how the benefits Euro-Inf could be transferred to continuous education. The overall impact will be an increasing understanding and commitment to quality assurance in informatics education as well as an increasing transnational comparability and compatibility of qualifications.

Work Package 4: Final Dissemination Conference

The results of the Euro-Inf Project as well as the output of the Euro-Inf Spread Project will be presented at a final dissemination conference at the end of the project period, most probably in early Autumn 2010. The conference venue will be Milano. As Speakers will, among others, be invited the coordinators of those degree programmes that successfully hosted a pilot accreditation visit. The final dissemination conference will also include an award ceremony of the Euro-Inf Quality Label for those programmes that received a positive judgement by the auditing teams and Project Board. Furthermore, representatives from national accreditation systems will be invited to present and discuss field-specific standards and guidelines for the quality assessment of study programmes. Euro-Inf partners will explain the state of the project’s dissemination and exploitation and present the mission and objectives of Euro-Inf and EQANIE.

Euro-Inf Spread will also further refine the European Framework Standards for Informatics. It will, on the one hand, follow the proposal by the Bologna Follow-up-Group for the development of subject-specific descriptors of learning outcomes. On the other hand, it will broaden its scope by developing provisions to guarantee quality and allow accreditation of continuing education and continuous professional development programmes.