The Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education adopted 2009 established the Agency for Science and Higher Education (ASHE) as the quality assurance agency for higher education in Croatia. The Agency provides the external evaluation of higher education institutions using different types of quality evaluations and on the basis of the European Standards and Guidelines.
Responsible bodies
External evaluation of the ASHE is carried out by ENQA on the basis of the ASHE self-evaluation report. The policy framework, indicators and targets regarding the quality assurance in higher education is governed and developed by the Ministry of Science and Education. Quality assurance in higher education and science in Croatia is monitored by the Agency for Science and Higher Education.
The Croatian Agency for Science and Higher Education was modeled after the best European practices in quality assurance in science and higher education. Becoming a full member of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and being listed in EQAR (European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education) in 2011, the Agency proved its reliability as a quality assurance agency working in the European Higher Education Area.
ASHE independently performs tasks within its competences and purview as established by the Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (Official Gazette no. 45/09), Act on Scientific Activity and Higher Education (Official Gazette no. 123/03, 105/04, 174/04, 2/07 i 46/07) and the Act on Recognition of Foreign Higher Education Qualifications (Official Gazette no. 158/03, 198/03, 138/06 and 045/2011).
The mission of ASHE is to continuously support quality improvement of science and higher education, by applying European and international best practices. In order to achieve its mission, ASHE cooperates closely with higher education institutions, scientific organisations, and other stakeholders in higher education and science, on:
- quality improvement of higher education and science, as well as opportunities to acquire specific educational levels
- dissemination of reliable information on the quality of academic standards to students, higher education institutions’ management and the public
- comparing the achieved standards and quality levels with the quality and standards of similar institutions in the country and EU
- active trend following
- developing the quality culture in higher education and science.
According to the Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education, the Agency performs a part of the procedure of initial accreditation, procedures of reaccreditation, thematic evaluation and audit, collects and processes data on Croatian higher education, science and related systems, which serve as a basis for analyses necessary to establish standards and criteria of evaluations carried out by ASHE, as well as a basis for informed and evidence-based strategic decision-making of bodies in the system of higher education and science.
ASHE also provides information and unifies data on the conditions of enrolment to higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia. One of the ASHE tasks is to administer and support the activities of the National Council for Higher Education, National Council for Science, Council for Financing Scientific Activity and Higher Education, Ethics Committee in Science and Higher Education, Area Councils, Scientific Field Committees, Humanities and Arts Committees and expert panels.
The third tier of quality assurance in higher education in Croatia is the higher education institutions themselves - Universities, Faculties, Schools and Polytechnics. In addition to the ones administered by the ASHE, each of them develops and manages its own internal quality assurance protocols and mechanisms.
Approaches and Methods for Quality Assurance
The evaluation of higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia is carried out in accordance with the Act on Scientific Activity and Higher Education (Official Gazette, 123/03) and the Ordinance on Criteria and Criteria for Evaluating the Quality and Efficiency of Higher Education Institutions and Study Programs.
The documents used in the evaluation process of higher education institutions are:
- Evaluation procedure of higher education institutions
- Criteria for evaluation of higher education institutions
- Instructions for compiling Self-Analysis Tables
- Instructions for compiling the Self-Analysis
- Instructions for compiling the Final Report of the Expert Committee
All documents comply with Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, ENQA.
By 30 June each year, the National Council for Higher Education draws up a plan for the evaluation of higher education institutions for the following calendar year, and reports on it to higher education institutions. Outside the annual plan, the evaluation of a higher education institution may be requested by the Croatian Parliament, the Government of the Republic of Croatia or the Minister of Science and Education.
The National Council appoints an expert commission which is given the task of carrying out the evaluation of the higher education institution. The expert committee is appointed at least 3 months before the scheduled visit to the higher education institution. The expert commission consists of 5 members, of which are:
- 3 university professors (or scientists from the institute) from scientific fields in which study programs are conducted at the evaluated higher education institution within the university, and for the evaluation of polytechnics and colleges, 3 members from the ranks of university professors and university professors with at least one the member must be a high school professor. None of the members may be employed full-time or part-time in the evaluated higher education institution, nor teach in it as an external associate. At least one of them must be from another Croatian university and at least one from abroad.
- 1 university professor, ie university professor, from a scientific field that does not include study programs conducted by a valued higher education institution, and who is also a good expert of the quality assurance system of higher education.
- 1 student from one of the scientific fields in which the study programs of the evaluated higher education institution, but from another Croatian university.
Criteria applied in the evaluation of higher education institutions within universities, and integrated universities in the Republic of Croatia, are based on the Act on Scientific Activity and Higher Education and the Ordinance on Criteria and Criteria for Evaluating the Quality and Efficiency of Higher Education Institutions and Study Programs.
The evaluation of higher education institutions take into account the general documents/programs necessary for the regulation of scientific and teaching work at the higher education institution, as well as the quantitative and qualitative elements that characterize the work of the higher education institution.
The higher education institution must have general documents, ie programs necessary for arranging scientific and teaching work at the higher education institution. Their content and quality are judged by the expert committee for external evaluation of the higher education institution.
Quantitative indicators for the evaluation of higher education institutions are contained in relation to the characteristics that can be expressed in numerical size and/or graphical representation. After studying the Self-Analysis of the higher education institution and a visit to the evaluated higher education institution, the expert committee compares the values of the obtained quantitative indicators with those set as standards and makes a judgment on the degree of compliance with each of the quantitative indicators.
Qualitative criteria are based on the Act on Scientific Activity and Higher Education and the Ordinance on Criteria and Criteria, as well as on generally accepted knowledge about the professional level and good practice in higher education in Croatia and European countries. The expert committee makes its judgment on the degree of meeting the qualitative criteria based on its own good knowledge of the quality characteristics of higher education and science in Europe and the world.
The expert commission expresses its judgments in the Final Report and submits the report to the National Council through the Agency. The expert services of the Agency agree with the members of the expert commission the deadline for compiling the Final Report, which may not be longer than 30 days after the visit. The Agency submits the final report of the expert commission to the higher education institution to which it refers. The higher education institution may comment on the report within 15 days, submitting to the National Council for consideration its remarks on the Report and the necessary clarifications on the findings in it.
The Agency prepares for the session of the National Council a Report on the performed procedures in the evaluation of the higher education institution. The National Council considers the entire documentation from the Report on the performed procedures in the evaluation of the higher education institution (Article 12) and makes a decision. The National Council for Higher Education informs the Minister of Science and Education, the higher education institution and the public about the results of the evaluation of the higher education institution. The National Council for Higher Education monitors the overall course and general results of the evaluation of higher education institutions, and within its legal competencies, proposes and encourages the adoption of measures for the improvement of higher education.