Joint European Project
JEP 23030 - 2002
Master of Science in Socio-economics

Minutes of the Meetings

Contents:

1. Minutes of Meetings 15^th - 20^th September 2005

2. Minutes of Meetings 14^th July 2005

3. Minutes of Meetings 10^th - 12^th November 2003

Minutes of the partnership conference on
“Evaluation of the textbooks and perspectives for quality assurance
of education in the partner institutions”,
Tashkent, 15.09– 20.09.2005

Reports on the projects achievements: Status and results, Prof. Elmira Alimova, BAFE: The Bishkek Academy of Economics and Finance (BAFE) has collected all needed approvals and some of the accreditations for its new magisterial program and has completed the admission procedure for the educational year 2005/2006. The program is drawing heavily of the experience and know how transfer from the Institute of Advanced Studies. The ECTS is a basis for the measuring the progress of the educational process. The sustainability is assured through the students fees charged. For the initial support of this program the BAFE will be inviting few guest professors from some partner institutions.

Prof. Chinara Adamkulova, KEF, KGU: The Kyrgyz European Faculty of KSU has introduced in its practice not only the principles of the ECTS, and is using the learning content support platform Atutor for both the bachelor and magisterial programs but also has introduced the principles of the Internal Quality Assessment and Management. Due to the fact that their financing is based on students’ fees the sustainability in operations is assured.

Prof. B. Khodiev, TSEU: The Tashkent Economic University (TSUE) is starting two pilot magisterial level courses on “Public Finance Management” and “Taxes and Taxation” based on both the existence system of notes and the pilot implementation of the intermediate credit points accounting. For creating the informational and methodological basis for the pilot courses two leaflets will be compiled by the TSUE´s working groups, namely, “Information Package for the University’s magisterial program” and the “Manual on implementation of the ECTS to TSUE conditions”. For the courses an instruction on the use of the Atutor platform for the self-preparation of the students will be compiled so that to improve the accounting of theses hours in the credit point system.. The computer support to both the teachers and the students will be improved by group work and instructions. Due to the ongoing restructuring of the TSUE management there is an urgent need for know transfer on the issue. Dr. Marion Schomburg as kind as to invite two to three TSUE staff member for a study tour in Kassel, Germany, on University management and quality assurance.

Prof. A. Kadirov, Institute of Economics of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences: The Institute of Economics (IE) of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences is pioneering the transfer from the Soviet stile “candidate of sciences” to the commonly accepted PhD graduation process. For that purpose a new postgraduate educational programme has been developed and the textbooks created with the TEMPUS support will be used for this post graduate educational programme. The official permission for the new program will be received by January 2006. For the initial support of this program the IE will be inviting guest professors from some partner institutions. For creating the informational and methodological basis for the postgraduate educational program two leaflets will be compiled “Information Package for the postgraduate educational program” and the “Manual on implementation of the ECTS to the PhD graduation process”

Session on quality assurance

Prof. Mafirat Kasimova, TSEU, was moderating a round table discussion on the rapid changing programming, teaching and learning environment of TSUE. The centrally guided changes seem to be the only beginning of a longer process of quality improvement and mutual recognition of diplomas. To a high extend changes are induced also by the tight financial constrains the TSUE is being imposed to, i.e., up to 30 percent budget cuts have been indicated.

Presentations of Prof. Elmira Alimova, BAFE, and Prof. Chinara Adamkulova, KEF, KGU, on New evaluation and quality improvement methods to be applied at KEF and BAFE:

The internal evaluation of teaching is meant to:

• Survey the current situation of teaching and research in the faculty
• Establish effective dialog between students and teachers on the faculty’s practices and also to improve the teaching process.
• Generate proposals for quality improvement both in teaching and research

External experts will be using the results of the internal evaluation then for conducting external evaluation. Their work is aiming at assessing the compatibility between the content of the lectures, the level and the quality of the learning process as compared to the national educational standards. The assessment is based on attestation of a selected sample of teaching material and evaluation protocols.

The present system of University’s certification is to a high extend oriented to the process of the education but not to the quality of the “final product”. The quantitative indicators used as, the number of full professors, the number books in the library, the unit area per a student, etc., are rather a basis for the conditions of education but not for the quality of the educational process. To the indicators for the quality of the education can be added the demand on the graduated from a certain discipline, the professional success, etc.

Dr. Marion Schomburg, Methodological Department, University of Kassel, Germany, informed about the system of quality assurance of the University of Kassel. The emphasis was on:

- the implementation of an evaluation system needs a time (about two years)
- the prefered approach is a “soft” implementation for the acceptance of this system by the deans and teachers
- the importance of support, coordination and supervision by a central administration
- a rewarding system (higher budget) in case of good results of evaluation for the faculties.

Ms. Schomburg offers further information and help for the implementation of Quality Assurance Systems especially for Uzbek Universities. She invites the partner universities for a workshop and practical training at the University of Kassel.

Sessions of the working groups on the evaluation protocols of the textbooks

The following sessions have been hold:

1. Macroeconomics and macroeconomic equilibrium
- Elmira Alimova - Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics
- Ermeka Lailieva– Kyrgyz National University
- Dmitriy Trostyanskiy – Institute of Economics of Uzbek Academy of Science
- Dilmurod Rasulev– Tashkent State University of Economics
- Mukhiddin Yusupov - Tashkent State University of Economics

2. Financial and Capital markets
- Irina Djalalova - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Khairilla Kurbanov - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Olim Azizov - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Valentina Scherbakova - Kyrgyz National University
- Aygul Kalchakeeva - Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics

3. Public Finance
- Tamila Khairullaeva - Institute of Economics of Uzbek Academy of Science
- Rakhmatulla Tadjiev - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Ulugbek Mukhitdinov - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Natalya Bragina - Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics

4. Econometrics
- Rano Dadabaeva - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Tatyana Sarsatskaya - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Chinara Adamkulova - Kyrgyz National University

5. Risk management and evaluation of assets
- Abbas Shermukhamedov - Tashkent State University of Economics
- Roza Savitahunova - Kyrgyz National University
- Svetlana Baysubanova - Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics

The result of their work was a set of recommendation for improvement of the Textbooks.

It has been agreed that the required changes will be introduced by the end of November. Thereafter the authors will be free to print up to 100 copies of the final version of their Textbooks.

During working groups sessions the following textbooks have been reviewed:

I. Tashkent State University of Economics
1. Introduction to dynamics of general economic equilibrium, Dilmurod Rasulev
2. Advanced Macroeconomics, Mukhiddin Yusupov
3. Risk management, Abbas Shermukhamedov
4. Advanced Econometrics, Rano Dadabaeva&Tatyana Sarsatskaya
5. Corporate Finance, Khairilla Kurbanov
6. Capital market in transition economies, Irina Djalalova
7. Public Finance, Rakhmatilla Tadjiev& Ulugbek Mukhitdinov,
8. Financial markets and instruments, Olim Azizov

II. Institute of Economics of Uzbek Academy of science
9. Public sector economics, Tamila Khairullaeva
10. Advanced macroeconomics, Dmitriy Trostyanskiy

III. Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics
11. Exchange rates management, Aygul Kalchakeeva
12. Public Finance, Natalya Bragina

IV. Kyrgyz National University
13. Experiments and quasi experiments in sociology, Chinara Adamkulova
14. Macroeconomics: advanced course, Ermeka Lailieva
15. Risk management, Roza Savitahunova
16. International capital flows and transition economies, Valentina Scherbakova
17. General economic equilibrium, Chingiz Shamshiev

Presentation by Aigul Kalchakeeva, BAFE, on the Syllabus for “Finance and Credit”

Practical workshop on the use of Atutor in the educational process moderated by Prof. Chinara Adamkulova, Kyrgyz National University

Summary and Concluding remarks:

The presentations of the partners identified quite a divers picture:

• The Kyrgyz European Faculty of KSU has introduced in its practice not only the principles of the ECTS, and is using the learning content support platform Atutor for both the bachelor and magisterial programs but also by apointing course managers has introduced the principles of the Internal Quality Assessment and Management. Due to the fact that their financing is based on students’ fees the sustainability in operations is assured.

• The Bishkek Academy of Economics and Finance (BAFE) has collected all needed approvals and some of the accreditations for its new magisterial program and has completed the admission procedure for the educational year 2005/2006. The program is drawing heavily of the experience and know how transfer from the Institute of Advanced Studies. The ECTS is a basis for the measuring the progress of the educational process. The sustainability is assured through the students fees charged. For the initial support of this program the BAFE will be inviting few guest professors from project partner institutions.

• The Institute of Economics (IE) of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences is pioneering the transfer from the Soviet stile “candidate of sciences” to the commonly accepted PhD graduation process. For that purpose a new postgraduate educational programme has been developed and the textbooks created with the TEMPUS support will be used for this post graduate educational programme. The official permission for the new program will be received by January 2006. For the initial support of this program the IE will be inviting guest professors from some partner institutions. For creating the informational and methodological basis for the postgraduate educational program two leaflets will be compiled “Information Package for the postgraduate educational program” and the “Manual on implementation of the ECTS to the PhD graduation process”

• The Tashkent Economic University (TSUE) is starting two pilot magisterial level courses on “Public Finance Management” and “Taxes and Taxation” based on both the existence system of notes and the pilot implementation of the intermediate credit points accounting. For creating the informational and methodological basis for the pilot courses two leaflets will be compiled by the TSUE´s working groups, namely, “Information Package for the University’s magisterial program” and the “Manual on implementation of the ECTS to TSUE conditions”. For the courses an instruction on the use of the Atutor platform for the self preparation of the students will be compiled so that to improve the accounting of theses hours in the credit point system.. The computer support to both the teachers and the students will be improved by group work and instructions. Due to the ongoing restructuring of the TSUE management there is a urgent need for know transfer on the issue. Dr. Marion Schomburg as kind as to invite two to three TSUE staff member for a study tour in Kassel, Germany, on University management and quality assurance.

The Partners agreed that from the printed 100 copies of each Textbook up to 25 could transferred for use to the other project parties, if requested.

The costs of the invited guest professors from other partner’s institutions will covered by the project to the following extend:

• Travel and Subsistence (if outside of the home city)

• The working time will be compensated on hourly basis but up to 480 EUR for a 24-lecture course.

KEF proposed, upon request, to help the partner institution in improving and actualization of their curricula.

List of Presentations and electronic textbooks kept by the TSUE in electronic form:

Risk Management

Program

Of the partnership conference on “Evaluation of the textbooks and perspectives for quality assurance of education in the partner institutions”

Organizers Tashkent State University of Economics in cooperation with the Institute of Economics of the Uzbek Academy of Science (Uzbekistan), Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, (Austria), University of Kassel (Germany) within the framework of TEMPUS CD-JEP-23030–2002

Conference Venue: Hotel ROVSHAN

17th September, Saturday

18th September, Sunday

9.30-12.00 Sessions of the working groups
• Econometrics
• Public Finance
• Financial markets and risk assessment
• Macroeconomics and Equilibrium modeling
10:30 Coffee Brake
10:45 Continuation of the WG Session
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Presentation by Aigul Kalchakeeva, BAFE, on the Sylabus for Finance and Credit
Practical workshop on the use of ATutor in the educational process
Moderator: Prof. Ch.Adamkulova, Kyrgyz National University
16.30 Closing and Summary

19 September, Monday

9.00 Meeting of participants in the Center of Modeling of TSUE
9.30 Brief review of results of Conference activity
Dr. T. Balabanov, project coordinator
10.00 Report on current Tempus activities
Ms. Aziza Abdurakhmanova, Tempus programme coordinator, NTO
11.00-12.00 Recommendations and conclusions

The workshop will be held in Tashkent in the conference
hall of the “Rovshan” Hotel on 17-19 September, 2005.
The project’s Organization Committee kindly invites
you to participate in our conference.

The address:
Hotel “Rovshan”
118, Mirabadskaya str.
Tashkent 700015, Uzbekistan
Tel: (998-71) 1207747 (Hotel)
Tel: (998-71) 132-64-42, 132-64-46
Fax: (998-71) 132-64-47, 132-63-80
e-mail: gkarieva@yahoo.co

Minutes of the meetings within the framework of the coordinators visit to Tashkent and Bishkek,
14^th July 20004

Meeting at the TEMPUS National Office chaired by Ms. Aziza Abdurakhmanova: 14^th of July

Present:
Ms. Gulnora Karieva, Prof. Bokhadir Khodiev, Prof. Adburashid Kadirov, Dr. Mukhitdin Yusupov, Dr. Todor Balabanov

Objective:
Performance improvement of the teamwork in the partner institutions and specifically improvement of the internal rating of the TSUE

In the overview of the achievement and problems Dr. Todor Balabanov stated that:

1. TSUE has prepared 8 textbooks on different economic subjects originating from courses in I H S, Vienna. The quality is in general adequate (also reflected by the TSUE referees). The remark was that there is a need of improved motivation of the teacher to perfect their textbooks, mostly in provision of a technical support for the editing and outlaying of the textbooks.

2. To the coordinators opinion there is a need of improvement in the use of the “Teaching and Modeling Laboratory” at the TSUE, namely there should a full time employee assigned to the support of the users of the Laboratory.

3. The latest A-tutor version should be implemented and then explained to the teachers for use in their practice. The use of the Atutor Learning Content Management System (LCMS) in the educational process is providing for quality assurance at the Master level

4. The contribution of the Institute of Economics to the Uzbek Academy of Sciences is highly appreciated and the quality of their textbooks is much above the average within the project

5. The Uzbek partners will have to dynamically adjust their expectation to the available project budget items which is quite important in a project having 4 Central Asian partners

6. We are planning a partner’s seminar to internally evaluate the textbooks needed for the pilot courses 2005/2006.

Prof. Bokhadir Khodiev, in his statement, preferred to refer to the previous communication and basically clarified this way for him the main issues and problems.

Prof. Adburashid Kadirov in his statement made an accent on their experience in Bologna process as one of their contributions to the planned seminar and also on their willingness to work together with TSUE in its organization.

Ms. Aziza Abdurakhmanova stated that the TEMPUS National Office would be glad to be fully informed of the project development and to that end the e-mails on substantive issues should be also forwarded to the TEMPUS Office.

15^th of July Ms. Gulnora Karieva and Dr. Todor Balabanov made detailed review of two of the textbooks, namely, “Corporate Finances” and “Econometrics II” and recommended provision of a technical support for the editing and outlaying of all textbooks. The authors should be reviewing together with the technical editor the respective textbooks so that by the end of August high quality copies can be ready for use.

Dr. Mukhitdin Yusupov presented the program of the pilot courses and after discussion with Dr. Todor Balabanov a Credit Points system applicable to the TSUE has been elaborated.

The pilot courses will be making extensive use of the Atutor Learning Content Management System (LCMS) in the educational process so that to gather pedagogical and quality assurance experience at the Master level.

The following two subjects have been selected by the TSUE management and approved for implementation by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

Approved by
Tashkent State University of Economics
Rector Academician S. S. Gulyamov

TEMPUS PROJECT CD_JEP-23030-2002
Operational Curriculum of the Specialty 5a340601 - Public Finance Management
2. Curriculum

OPERATIONAL CURRICULUM of the SPECIALTY 5A340801 – TAX AND TAXATION
2. Curriculum

The following six manuals created with the direct support from our JEP will be used during the first year of the pilot courses:

1. Financial markets and instruments

2. Introduction to dynamic general equilibrium economics

3. Risk management

4. Corporate Finance

5. Public finance management

6. Capital market in transition economy

They should be ready for use by the beginning of the educational year 2005/2006.

Meeting with Prof. Adburashid Kadirov at the Institute of Economics of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences

As of 2005/2006 the Institute will be launching pilot education of the PhD students that will be containing many components of the Bologna process and of the Berlin Declaration. The courses will be held both by own teachers as well as by invited professors and will be following the program listed bellow:

A total of 90 credit points will be required for a PhD student to graduate from the first stage of the PhD process.
In addition two of the JEP supported manuals, namely Macroeconomics II and Public Good Economics have been reviewed and the recommendation discussed with the authors.

Meetings with Prof. Chinara Adamkulova, KEF-KGU, Bishkek

For both the Bachelor and the Magisterial Level a total of 65 courses have been installed on the Atutor. Below only the Magisterial Level courses are listed

KEF-KGU has accumulated significant pedagogical and quality assurance experience by making of extensive of the Atutor Learning Content Management System (LCMS) in its educational process both for Bachelor and Master level.

To allow the other partners to benefit from this experience it was agreed that Prof. Lalieva would be moderating the Practical Workshop on the use of Atutor in the educational process at the Partnership Conference this fall in Tashkent.

Meetings at the Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics (BAFE)

Review of and recommendation on the JEP supported manuals written by:

• Prof. Aigul Kalchakeeva: Management of the Exchange Rates

• Dr. Natalia Bragina: Public goods economics

Negotiation with the local companies on the delivery of the required equipments – contacts for both KEF-KGU and BAFE signed.

During all the meetings the idea of a partnership conference was discussed and the following program drafted:

Tentative program of the Partnership Conference, JEP 2303
Proposed Dates: 19 - 20 September 2005
Proposed Place of the Seminar: Modeling and Educational Laboratory, 8th floor TSUE
Moderation: Dr. Todor Balabanov

19^th of September

10:00 – 12:20 Plenary Session

Presentations of: The Minister, the Rector, Aziza Abdurakhmanova, EU representative, Project coordinator

12:00 – 14:00 Business Lunch at a nearby Restaurant

14:00 – 16:00 Session on Quality Assurance

Presentations by the participants of the Quality Assurance Seminar in Germany:

• Prof. Mafirat Kasimova – Tashkent State University of Economics - 20 minutes

• Dr. Bakhodir Khakimov - Institute of Economics of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences - 20 minutes

• Prof. Elmira Alimova - Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics- 20 minutes

• Prof. Chinara Adamkulova Kyrgyz – European Faculty of the Kyrgyz National University- 20 minutes

• Prof. Hans Brinkmann, University of Kassel - 20 minutes

Discussion

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee Break

17:00 – Open-ended

Discussion of the program of the working groups for the next day

19:00 Reception for the JEP participants only

20^th of September

9:30 – 12:00 Sessions of the Working Groups

• Econometrics and Macro Economics

• Public Finance

• Financial markets and Risk Assessment

• Equilibrium Modeling

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

13:00 – 16:00 Practical Workshop on the use of Atutor in the educational process

Moderator: Prof. Lalieva, Kyrgyz National University

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 - Open-ended

Recommendations and Conclusions

Minutes of the Stakeholders Meeting on the Tempus project CP-JEP 23030-2002
IHS, 10^th and 12^th of November 2003, Stumperg 56, 1060 Vienna

List of Participants:

Tashkent State University of Economics: Prof. Bakhodir Khodiev and Prof. Gulnora Karieva

The Institute of Economics, of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Uzbekistan: Prof. Alisher Rasulev

Kyrgyz – European Faculty of the Kyrgyz State National University named after “G. Balsagin”: Prof. Chinara Adamkulova

Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics, Kirgizistan: Prof. Abdyrahman Mavlianov

Kassel International Management School (KIMS): Prof. Dr. Nigel Holden and Prof. Dr. Hans Brinckmann

IHS staff members: Prof. Klaus Ritzberger, Dr. Christian Helmenstein, Prof. Wolfgang Polasek and Dr. Todor Balabanov

Invited Speaker: Martina Bergler – Austrian Bureau for EU-Third Countries Collaboration

Program for the 10th of November

9:30 – 11:00

Moderators Dr. Christian Helmenstein and Dr. Todor Balabanov: Presentation of the partners and some views on the possible cooperation options: I H S management is strongly supportive to the project and will be seeking additional means for furthering the cooperation.

11:00 – 11:45

Martina Bergler: Bologna Process and the European Credit Transfer System. A copy of the presentation has been kindly provided to the IHS and will be presented at the Conference ”Integration of the higher education of Kirgizistan in the Bologna process: problem of university management”, Bishkek, 9-10 of December, 2003 as a joint presentation of Martina Bergler / Todor Balabanov (for the preliminary conference programme see the Attachment).

11:45 – 12:45

Discussion on the First Outline of a Joint Publication (Book) on the Transformation Process in Central Asia tentatively titled: Central Asian Universities on their way to Europe
The title has been accepted and for the purpose participants of the other Central Asian countries will be invited to the conferences. Beyond the first one (Bishkek, 9-10.12.03, For the programme see Attachment 1) the second Central Asian conference is to be organized in Tashkent (tentatively April 2004) and then the final outline of the book will drafted.

12:45 – 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00 - 15:30

Discussion on the university specific transformation processes in the Central Asian Partner Countries by: Prof. Bakhodir Khodiev, Prof. Alisher Rasulev, Prof. Chinara Adamkulova, and Prof. Abdyrahman Mavlianov.

There are three levels of interaction with the Central Asian Partners. The first level is the Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics where the Magisterial level programmes are still to be developed and accredited; the second level are the Tashkent State University of Economics and the Kyrgyz – European Faculty of the Kyrgyz State National University – both have long term experience with the Magisterial level programmes. The third level is the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences of Republic of Uzbekistan where they want to integrate the magisterial education into their PhD programme.

15:30 – 16:30

Presentation by Prof. Wolfgang Polasek of the first and second year courses at the I H S. The presentation was accented on the importance of the first year’s courses for our project. On that basis Prof. Abdyrahman Mavlianov decided to send three to four people to the macro and econometrics six-week first year courses with follow up participation in the second year 12 UL advanced courses on the same subject. In this relation Prof. Wolfgang Polasek kindly agreed to pay a visit to Bishkek and personally interview and select the candidates for these courses. During the same period Polasek will make two lectures on I H S courses in Bishkek.

16:30 – 18:00

Prof. Dr. Hans Brinckmann: Presentation on the ways and means for quality improvement of the education process. A proposal has been made to visit each of the four Central Asian partners and to make a SWOT analysis of the educational processes of their universities. As result they will be able to provide purpose oriented advise on the appropriate systems of accreditation, quality assurance and evaluation for each of them. The proposal was received with very high approval rate and we will be planning a programme of visits for the year 2005 and beginning of 2006. (See also Attachment 2)

18:00 – 18:45

Prof. Dr. Nigel Holden: Presentation of the distance learning system used by the Kassel Management School. After some initial troubles the communication has been established and the interactive session started. It has been decided to repeat this kind of session during the conference in Bishkek (9-10.12.03) in order to reach a broader audience,
19:00 Business Dinner at the Chinese Restaurant – Stumpergasse

 

Program for the 11^th of November

9:30 – 11:00

Prof. Dr. Nigel Holden. Announced his decision to present an overview of the international experience on the systems of accreditation, quality assurance and evaluation to the Bishkek conference (9-10.12.03). The presentation will be translated into Russian and Nigel will be personally checking the translation quality.

11:00 – 12:00

Prof. Klaus Ritzberger: Study Plan of the Department of Economics and Finance for the winter semester 2004 and beyond.

A very clear presentation of the PIE and the Program of Finance and on the future merger of the Program of the Centre for Central European Financial Market on Finance Economics with the I H S program with an aim to have an increased representation of lectures on corporate finance in the offered courses as well as to double the number of students. The participants learned that before sending trainees to the second year courses they will have to check on the internet the publications of the respective lecturer in order to be better prepared for the courses.

12:00 – 14:20

Discussions of the project implementation modalities: The Central Asian partners with experience with Magisterial programmes will be sending trainees to the second year courses, namely, 7 trainees from the Kyrgyz – European Faculty of the Kyrgyz State National University and up to 21 trainees from the Tashkent State University of Economics. Prof. Abdyrahman Mavlianov decided to send three people to the macro and econometrics six-week first year courses with follow up participation in the second year 12 UL advanced courses on the same subject.
The cluster of trainees for 2004 and their specific areas of interests will be presented during the Bishkek conference. The training period for or the option of sending trainees during the calendar year 2005 will have to be included in the first report to the ITF (1st of December 03). This option will allow for reducing the flow of trainees to the I H S courses to the level of a maximum 4 trainees at once.

The proposal of Dr. Christian Helmenstein to invite 4 postgraduate students to I H S for first years course was gladly accepted. We will be looking for an appropriate EU program, i.e., Individual Mobility Grants, to finance the fellowships.

Attachment 1: Preliminary Programme of the International conference
“Integration of the Kyrgyzstan’s education system into the Bologna process: university management issues”

Organizers of the conference:

Administration of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic

Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic

Representatives of the European Commission in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Supported by the State Agency on Science and Intellectual Property under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, TEMPUS TACIS, Educational Network “EdNet” (USA), Central Asian Association of universities.

Partners:

Bern University (Switzerland)

Institute for Advanced Studies (Austria)

Kassel International School of Management (Germany)

Kyrgyz National University named after J. Balasagyn

International University of Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics

Date and place of the conference:

December 9 -10, 2003

Bishkek, Government House, HYATT hotel

Time-limit:

Reports on plenary sessions – up to 20 minutes;

Reports in the sections/working groups – up to 15 minutes;

break – after two working hours

Tuesday, 9th of December, 2003

9.00 – 11.00

Ormonbekov T. O. (head of the Social department of the Administration of the President of the KR), «About implementation of President A. Akaev’s instructions on entering Kyrgyzstan into the international education space»

Boldjurova I. S. (Ministry of Education of the KR), «About prospective of joining Kyrgyzstan the Bologna process»

Allen Waddams (Ambassador of the Representatives of European Commission in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), «Appeal to the conference’s participants»

Aidaraliev A. A. (Chairman of the Working Group «Bologna process and innovation openness of universities», academician NAS KR) IUK President, «IUK experience of joining Bologna process»

Omorov R. O. Osmonaliev K. O. (State Agency on science and intellectual property under the Government of the KR), «Science as a significant aspect of Bologna process»

J. Knight (Education Network EdNet), «About implementation of American Credit system in the educational process»

11.00 – 11.15

Coffee-break

11.15 – 13.00

Section № 1 - Issues of up-to-date university management and education quality assurance

Moderator: Aidaraliev A. A. (IUK president)

Bergler M./Balabanov T. (Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna), «Bologna process and ECTS»

Nigel Holden (Kassel International School of Management, Germany) “Developing a quality assurance system for socio-economics teaching in Central Asian universities”

Shapovalova E. B. (KNU), «Role of a university library in the European system»

Kuflei O. V. (KNU), «New Technologies in higher education and electronic teaching materials»

13.00 – 14.00

Lunch

14.00 – 15.00

Section № 2 - «Experience of the credit system implementation in the educational process»

Moderators: Yantsen V. K. (IUK), «Modernization of the educational process management model in IUK (10-years experience of innovation activities)»

Adamkulova Ch. U. (KNU), «Implementation of French educational system in the National University of Kyrgyzstan»

Narkoziev A. K., Dubchenko G. N. (IUK) «Role of an educational department in the educational process monitoring»

Mirkin E. L. (IUK), «Educational standards development (on the materials of «System analysis» ? «Management» specialties)»

Sartov T. E. (KNU), «Technique of creation of informational resources for turning higher education to the credit system»

15.00 – 15.45

Section № 3 - «About transferring of Kyrgyzstan’s universities to the two-level model of higher education: Bachelor – Master»:

Moderators: Mavlyanov A. S. (Rector of Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics), Smanaliev K. M. (deputy Minister of Education of the KR)

Adieva A. A. (IUK) «Definition of the content of higher education taking into account the Bologna declaration requirements (on the example of «Economics» specialty)»

Bekboeva R. R. (IUK) «Principles of compilation of an up-to-date IUK curriculum and syllabus (on the materials of the IUK magistrates)»

Alimova E. T. (BAFE) «Significance of international educational programs for transferring to the two-level educational model in Kyrgyzstan»

Mambetakunov E. (KNU), «Methodology of education and Bologna process»

Brimkulov U. N., Abakirova G. B. (KNU), «Comparative analysis of European universities’ and KNU “Computer science” curricula»

15.45 – 16.00

Coffee-break

16.00 – 17.00

Section № 4 - «Role of science in the integration of Kyrgyzstan’s universities into the Bologna process»

Moderators: Omorov R. O., Osmonaliev K. O.

Jamankulov J.M., Sharapov V. P. (KNU) ” Social – psychological key points of students work quality improvement”

Akmatov A. (KNU), “Evaluation of the training quality of a high – caliber specialist”.

Wednesday, December 10th, 03

9.00 – 10.00

Section № 1 - Reports, discussions and drawing up recommendations and suggestions

10.00 – 10.45

Section № 2 - Reports, discussions and drawing up recommendations and suggestions

10.45 – 11. 00

Coffee-break

11.00 – 12.00

Section № 3 - Reports, discussions and drawing up recommendations and suggestions

12.00 – 13.00

Section № 4 - Reports, discussions and drawing up recommendations and suggestions

13.00 – 14.00

Lunch

14.00 – 15.00

Reports of moderators, discussion of results and suggestions. Acceptance of the conference recommendations.

15.00 – 18.00

TEMPUS TACIS

 

Attachment 2:

Professor Brinckmann explained the approach to quality assurance (QA), which was fully consistent with the Bologna process. This approach was based on three intersecting elements: accreditation, evaluation and quality management. It was shown that this approach and that QA would bring long-term benefits to the higher education institutions of Central Asia, to professors, to students and to stakeholders. It was not the intention of KIMS to impose their own quality assurance values on those institutions in a heavy-handed way; rather it was up to them to take advantage of this TEMPUS project to introduce QA. KIMS stressed that the success of the project was the recognition in the Central Asian institutions was not just about establishing procedures in a rule-like way, but to create a positive attitude among the professors and senior administrators towards the concept of QA.

But at the outset three important points should be mentioned:

• The introduction of a quality assurance system into a university or institution of higher education will need the support of professors and administrators (many Western universities appoint a full-time professor to be responsible for quality assurance. Because it is a question of introducing changes into traditional practices and procedures it is important that the scheme has the full backing of the university’s president.

• Quality assurance can only be introduced by stages and its acceptance across all faculties and departments of a university may take years. So in the case of Central Asian universities it makes sense to introduce quality assurance on a pilot basis (as is happening in terms of this TEMPUS project).

• The very fact that Central Asian universities are actively sponsoring quality assurance, even on a pilot basis, can send positive signals to potential university partners in other countries.

The importance of quality assurance systems in higher education

All higher education systems make great efforts to introduce or to intensify quality assurance in HE. The goals for these endeavors are:

• to promote public confidence, at home and overseas, in higher education and the standards of awards;

• to ensure that there is clarity and transparency about the purposes of programs and the meaning of awards;

• to assist institutions in enhancing the quality of their provision;

• to enable the funding councils to fulfill their statutory responsibilities;

• to generate reliable public information that is helpful to potential students, employers, parents, government, funding councils and the institutions themselves;

• to provide a measure of accountability for the resources provided by the public purse and individuals to fund institutions.

Quality assurance requires basic knowledge about the performance of the higher education institution. So the first essential step is to develop a scheme for performance measurement. The most important functions of performance measurement can be seen in:

• Transparency and accountability

• Learning and improvement

• Appraising and staff development

• Sanctions and control

Quality assurance requires in the second step an agreement of all stakeholders what should be seen as quality in higher education. You will find a set of different perspectives, because quality is a multidimensional concept: What is good for whom under which circumstances. So you can differentiate between approaches like:

• the traditional approach: to convey prestige and positional advantage

• the 'scientific' or expert approach: to conform to standards determined by experts

• the managerial or 'excellence' approach: to measure customer satisfaction in pursuit of market advantage

• the consumerist approach: to empower the customer

• the democratic approach: to achieve common goals in the interests of the community as a whole

The next challenge in quality assurance will be to confront the institution and its members with the goals, the status of performance and the difference between both, that means you need a feed back tool. Such tools are evaluation, scientific studies, traditional audits, monitoring, continuous performance measurement, policy analysis, and benchmarking.

All of these approaches have their specific pros and cons and it is a question of leadership to develop a scheme customised to the needs of the institution or the system. In these approaches to a better knowledge of performance, output and outcomes, the higher education institution is assisted in framing an answer to the crucial question of how and what to measure: What is an indicator for what quality and how can you measure this in a way, which follows the rules of validity and reliability, have relevance and at the same time the power of motivation?

One of the most controversial issues is quantity versus quality: do we have to look for performance indicators for input (e.g. numbers of students, third party funds), throughput (e.g. lessons, drop-outs) and output (e.g. graduates, doctoral studies, publications ...)? If so, we can do this in very different way and with very different implications. Performance measurement is simple, when the organization has products and when it is production oriented, when products are simple and uniform, when production is autonomous, all the causalities are known, and the environment of the institution is stable.

But performance measurement in higher education is highly problematic, because it is value and process oriented, the products are complex and diverse, the production is based on teamwork and is interwoven, the causalities are unknown and the environment of higher education is dynamic. So we have to look for design principles that establish trust, interaction, variety and redundancy.

Quality Management, Evaluation, and Accreditation

These are, as we said, the overlapping approaches to quality assurance. We now discuss briefly each in turn.

Accreditation

Accreditation can be seen as a means of state, public authority, or professional recognition of institutions or study programmes. The accreditation process looks for minimal requirements for teaching and research, libraries, social facilities etc and the result is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, possibly supported with some additional recommendations. Accreditation is a rather new phase in the quality assurance movement in HE. It shifts the ownership and legitimacy away from academic self-control into a more mixed ownership of accreditation. There are two models in discussion respect to quality management und evaluation:

The unbundling model with greater independence of peer review, more guaranties for critical reviews, lower acceptance by academia, risk for escapism and window dressing, complicity of peers in external control, ambivalent mixture of improvement and accountability oriented functions.

The bundling model with internal and external quality assurance as self-regulation, with clear distinction in responsibilities, conducive to institutional quality culture, but critical nature of reviews are endangered and lower credibility of peer review and there are risks for duplication of review processes.

Evaluation

Evaluation is, like accreditation, not a self-contained concept, but has to be adapted to the needs and goals of an institution or system. We can distinguish five definitions of evaluation: Evaluation as professional judgement, as measurement, as assessment of congruence between performance and objectives; evaluation can include with decision orientation or it can be a goal free evaluation.

Evaluation is a process. It is useful to distinguish five progressive stages:

• self-evaluation and self-improvement at institutional or faculty level

• external quality assessment by an independent committee

• meta-evaluation of the process

• public debate about evaluation reports

• consequences for financial allocation or particular study programmes.

Quality Management

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) has developed a model which can and should be used by higher education institutions as well. It serves at the same time as a framework for the analysis of the total organization, as an instrument for planning, as a means to ascertain priorities and to make an assessment of different outputs and outcomes. As main principles of quality management the EFQM suggests result orientation, customer focus, leadership and constancy of purpose, management by processes and facts, people development and involvement, continuous learning, innovation and improvement, partnership development, and last but not least public responsibility. It is not an easy task to adapt this highly generalised model to the needs and structures of a higher education institution, but without a continuous and integrative quality management including all aspects of the institution accreditation and evaluation will stay facile to the organisation and its performance.

Problems of Evaluation and Accreditation

Evaluation and accreditation in higher education have many problems in common. There are too many standards and criteria in discussion and in use in different countries. Therefore there is a lack of clear hierarchy of standards. Should we prefer absolute standards or relative ones, how do we judge the measurability of standards and criteria and do we stay to hard data or can we also use the “carpenter’s eye”. For many institutions and systems cost and capacity issues are crucial and have yet to be solved. There is also an urgent need for clear decision-making rules and explicit protocols. In introducing evaluation and accreditation we are facing mayor changes in quality assessment, so from traditional instruments controlling the input to outcome related standards, from assessing formal characteristics of programmes to assessing learning outcomes, from supply-oriented to demand-oriented standards and criteria.

Accreditation and Innovation

Without the institutionalisation of a learning process within the higher education institution, accreditation and evaluation will not have the desired outcome. So we have to adapt these schemes to the new challenges of higher education, like the shift from ‘teaching’ to ‘learning’, from homogeneity of study programmes to differentiation of learning trajectories and flexible credit-accumulation systems with flexible cross-institutional credit-transfer systems. We have to consider new learning modes, like distance learning, lifelong learning tracks and the ‘de-institutionalisation’ of learning.

Since all measuring and benchmarking is past-oriented, there are important risks to keep in mind: the greater the number of standards, the greater the danger of reinforcement of mainstream approaches and imposing uniformity. There are tendencies of rewarding mediocrity instead of excellence. All schemes of evaluation and accreditation show difficulties in assessing innovative developments and the need for more differentiation (institutional and programme).

Implications and Challenges

All systems of higher education have to improve the comparability of higher education programs and to establish the recognition of diplomas and degrees in a wider international context. In all countries new forms of international competition lead to the imperative to deal with new types of higher education providers, including commercial and virtual institutions, some of them acting on a transnational basis. Therefore quality assurance have to encourage international comparability and have to be linked with recognition measures such as credit transfer and accumulation. And generally there has to be a shift in the functions of quality assurance going along with stronger international influences and applications to focus more on transparency and consumer information for students nationally and globally.

We do not minimise the challenges of introducing quality assurance into the universities and institutions of higher education of Central Asia. As it will be clear by now, quality assurance is in many ways a state of mind. In other words, it depends on positive attitudes to its use and potential long-term benefits from as many beneficiaries as possible.