How does AKKORK guarantee the independence of the expertise?
- In accordance with the statutes AKKORK is not affiliate or structural unit of government organizations and State education authorities.
External review of quality assurance is
performed by special panels of certified experts from among
the staff of universities and academic institutions, employers
organizations, student organizations. Independence, impartiality and
professionalism of the experts is guaranteed by internal
systems and procedures of AKKORK which include the following
criteria:
1. Openness
of information on the mechanisms and assessment procedures, the availability of its results in accordance
with legislation of the Russian Federation.
2. Elimination
of discrimination and biased decision-making.
3. Competence, provided by highly qualified experts, the use of standardized assessment tools and technological
assessment instruments.
4. Impartiality
and confidentiality.
5. Harmonization
of approaches with the certification procedures of university/academy/institute
graduates qualifications.
The result
of quality assessment and quality assurance of education
is a report written by the experts. Each expert is
responsible for the quality of the report. The final text
of the expert report is sent for review to the AKKORK
Advisory Council.
AKKORK Advisory Council consists of authoritative
representing universities and academic institutions, employers
organizations, student organizations. The decisions of the AKKORK Advisory
Council are impartial and independent due to the collegial nature of such
decisions making.
In the
case when an educational institution intends to pass not
only the quality expertise, but accreditation the approved reports are
sent to the AKKORK Accreditation Council .
Members of the AKKORK Advisory Council and AKKORK
Accreditation Council can not be linked with each other
with official and business relations. AKKORKAdvisory Council and the
experts can not influence the decision of the
Accreditation Council, as well as members of the
Accreditation Council - influence the results of expertise. Such a separation of
powers allows to avoid the possibility of abuse and
prevent undue influence of any structure of AKKORK on the final
decision.
Educational institutions have the opportunity to dispute the
decision of the AKKORK Advisory Council and AKKORK Accreditation Council.
At
present in Accreditation and Advisory Councils are some university leaders,
that is not the ordinary case in QA agencies in Western Europe. However all
these people are the most authoritative specialists in RF in QA sphere. Each of
them represents different Academic and Methodical Associations. The functions
of the Vice Rectors are not the management of his own university, but the
management of the Academic and Methodical Associations. Academic and Methodical
Association is a body in the RF system of higher professional education in each
of the study fields that are being taught all over Russia. Main tasks of the
Academic and Methodical Councils in each of the fields are: participation in
the State Education Standards development and preliminary curriculums approved
by the State; coordination of the activities of scientific-pedagogical
societies of the universities, employers representatives, institutions and
organizations in the sphere of quality maintenance and development of the
contents of Higher and Postgraduate professional education; development of the
suggestions on the structure of the corresponding field of higher and
postgraduate education and contents of the main education program; expertise of
the academic and methodical documentation necessary for the bachelor and master
preparation in the sphere of higher professional and postgraduate education in
the corresponding field of study.
