One of EUA’s core missions is to contribute to the development of individual institutions and to strengthen the sector as a whole. This is achieved through a range of activities such as the Institutional Evaluation Programme, the coordinated evaluations, and thematic conferences and workshops for senior university leaders and managers. In addition, EUA also offers consultancy services which are specifically tailored to the specific needs of institutions and their stakeholders.
Consultancy activities may include for instance:
- Working with institutions to address their individual needs in the area of internal quality assurance through staff training seminars or other specifically designed projects or studies
- Specialised expert advice focused on particular issues, e.g., finance, human resources, communication strategy, ICT, fundraising, etc.
- Evaluation exercises that have a different scope than the IEP, e.g., organisation of doctoral schools, research activities, Bologna implementation, institutional mergers, etc.
- Evaluations of national QA agencies.
The underlying principle of these activities is to provide a supportive and improvement-orientated consultancy. The scope of each activity is tailored to the needs of the organisation in question. Terms of reference are agreed for every consultancy and include the purpose of the consultancy and the fundamental protocol for its organisation. Through its extensive European and international network, EUA will provide knowledgeable senior experts whose profiles are appropriate to each specific activity.
Consultancy activities are offered to both EUA member organisations and other organisations working within the field of higher education. Examples of past consultancies include:
- Evaluation of the Hungarian Accreditation Agency (2001)
- Evaluation of medical education and clinical training in Portugal (2001)
- Grenoble research audit, France (2005): a consultancy of research activities and recommendations on the way to maximise cooperation across several institutions and their research impact
- Evaluation of the Bologna Unit of the Swiss rectors’ conference (2007)
- Evaluation of ARACIS, the Romania Accreditation Agency (2008)
- Expertise and audit of the merger of the three universities in Strasbourg, France (2008-2009)
- Evaluation of the Université de la Grande Région/Universität der Großregion (UniGR), a cross-border network ofuniversities located in the French Community of Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg (2012)
For further information on EUA’s consultancy services, please contact Senior Adviser Andrée Sursock.