For 2011, EURASHE has received financial support from the European Commission through Jean Monnet Programme – Key Activity 3 - European associations active at European level in the field of education and training.
Short Cycle Higher Education (SCHE) is a sector of higher education which has started a rather dynamic development in a number of European countries within the recent decade. It seems to be a response to changing requirements for qualified skills and manpower flexibility on the European labour market. Governments of a number of countries are running a discussion on the role, position and arrangements of the sector which has been recognised as a part of the higher education system, and yet indicates some specific characteristics.
The seminar provided a platform for sharing experience and best practices among the participants from different countries. It should lead to identification of perspectives and priorities of further development of the sector and its role within the Bologna process. The programme of the seminar included a presentation of the results and findings of the survey on the situation of SCHE throughout Europe, contributions from the guests from the U.S.A. and Canada, a presentation of the Hungarian situation and views of key stakeholders – students and employers. The seminar benefited from the first public presentation of the results and findings of a complex comparative cross‐European survey on SCHE which was run by EURASHE within the EU‐funded project “L5: Missing Link”.
The seminar also offered the possibility to understand this issue more in details and to discuss different experience within a number of parallel workshops which focused on more detailed aspects of SCHE.
The seminar examined the current situation of the SCHE in the European Higher Education Area from various aspects including:
- mission and position within HE systems;
- links to labour market and employers;
- links to other sectors of higher education, as well as vocational education & training;
- links to European (respectively national) Qualification Frameworks, profile and characteristics of graduates;
- methods of teaching/learning including recognition of prior learning (RPL);
- quality assurance and accreditation;
- regional role of HEIs and community colleges in a changing social and economical environment, in context of life‐long learning;
- role of national bodies, regional and local authorities in steering and (co)funding SCHE.
____________________________________________________________
Download:
Day 1 – Plenary Presentations
Position SCHE in the EHEA: European and National Policy Level, Findings from the EURASHE survey ‘L5 – Missing Link in the Bologna countries’ - Part 1: National Qualifications Frameworks and the SCHE - Magda Kirsch, Educonsult, Belgium
Approaches to Quality Assurance in SCHE (Associate degree) – Henri Ponds, NVAO (Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation)
SCHE in Higher Education: the opinion of the Hungarian employer -Akos Niklai, Vice-President of MGYOSZ (Business Hungary), former president of the Hotel Association of Hungary and of the Hungarian National Tourist Office
__________________________________________________________________
Day 1 – Workshops
Mission and role of SCHE on a national level
- Sylvie Bonichon, Bologna promoter / expert SCHE, The French Case
- Magda Kirsch, Educonsult, Belgium
- Henri Ponds, NVAO, the Netherlands
Role of SCHE, other HE-awards and ‘instruments’ promoting LLL
- Richard Thorn, IoTI, Ireland – Use of embedded awards at SCHE in the Irish Qualifications Framework to promote LLL
- Ad Vermeulen, Fontys University of Applied Science, member of the LLL-network in the Netherlands- SCHE and other ‘instruments’ promoting LLL
- Erzsébet Szlamka, Ministry for National Resources, Hungary
SCHE and its target groups – specifics of students
- Janneke Korf, manager SCHE, Hanzehogeschool, University of Applied
Sciences, the Netherlands
- Balázs Heidrich, Dean, College of Finance and Accountancy, Budapest
Business School
- Dániel Kővári, The National Union of Students in Hungary (HÖOK)
NQF: Links of SCHE with HE and VET
- Hans Daale, EURASHE, Chair WG on LLL
- Nick Davy, Higher Education Policy Officer, Association of Colleges, UK / partner in EUproVET, European Network of National VET Associations
- József Roóz, President, Representative Association for Higher Level
Vocational Training, Hungary, rector emeritus, BBS
__________________________________________________________________
Day 2 – Plenary presentations
Position of the SCHE in the EHEA – Findings from the EURASHE survey ‘L5 – Missing Link in the Bologna countries’ - Part 2: SCHE and HEIs - Magda Kirsch, Educonsult, Belgium
The Community College Model - Michael Allen, Associate Vice President for International Programmes & Services, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
SCHE in the U.S.A and Europe - Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Asst. Prof. Higher Education, University of Toledo / manager of the international ATLANTIS project ‘SHE-programs in the U.S.A. and in Europe’
Partnership and progression – the role of vocational short-cycle HE in lifelong learning and employment in Scotland - John Lewis, manager Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scotland
__________________________________________________________________
Day 2 - Workshops
Employability: SCHE and the Labour Market, need for specialised qualifications
- Snejana Slantcheva, Durst, Asst. Prof. Higher Education,University of Toledo, Ohio
- Csaba Ferencz, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Specifics of SCHE: Characteristics and Requirements in a HE context
- John Lewis, SQA, Scotland
- Eva Sándor-Kriszt, Chair Hungarian Rectors’ Conference, Rector Budapest Business School
Student centred learning in Higher Education – paradigm shift, methodology & implementation
- Zdenka Steblovnik Župan, Association of Slovene HVC & Wood Technology School Maribor, Siovenia
- Jan Nienhuis, project manager, Leido, the Netherlands
The Canadian and American Experience: Community Colleges and HE
-Hervé Pilon, President, Cégep international, Community Colleges, Quebec, Canada
- Michael Allen, Associate Vice President for International Programmes & Services, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
_________________________________________________________
Read the 3 newsletters sent for advertising this event!
NEWSLETTER 3 / NEWSLETTER 2 / NEWSLETTER 1
________________________________________________________
Seminar on ‘SCHE and (Professional) Higher Education’: Important outcomes for the next years!
The official Bologna seminar in Budapest gave the participants the possibility to hear more about the results of the survey by EURASHE on the situation of the Short Cycle Higher Education (SCHE) in the European Union (and within the Bologna Process). The conclusions and recommendations from this report will be no doubt the start for (more) interesting discussions on an international level, about the EQF and the National Qualifications Frameworks, and for international debates on the position of the SCHE – and other programmes at the same level like higher vocational education in the higher education area.
It was therefore very important to hear more about the situation in Canada and the United States of America, in Community Colleges – offering higher education programmes. We can learn from them – but the developments in the Bologna Process can also inspire the policy makers outside Europe.
In the workshop sessions the participants could learn from what is happening in Hungary, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Slovenia, France – with good practices which also can be used as input in the national debates on the position of the SCHE.
In the next years there will be more seminars on SCHE, as a degree in higher (professional) education. All experts, interested staff members of HEI’s, managers, representatives of national and international organisations and everyone who is looking for more information about the developments concerning the use of the SCHE for Lifelong learning, flexible learning pathways and employability… you are welcome to join those seminars.
Kind regards,
on behalf of the organisation committee,
Hans Daale
Co-chair of the EURASHE working group for Lifelong Learning.
DASHE, the Dutch Association for Shorter Higher Education
