Quality means more than meeting standards. At Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), we examine educational quality at the programme level from three perspectives:
- Responsiveness - Does the programme respond adequately to what students, society, and the professional field need? Do we adapt without losing our identity?
- Strategic alignment - Does the programme contribute to EUR's mission? Do programme, faculty, and institution work together on achieving our shared goals?
- Effective educational design - Is the programme design based on proven educational insights? Do learning objectives, curriculum and assessment align well with each other?
Instruments
We use a combination of instruments that collectively ensure systematic quality assurance - from planning to evaluation, from internal to external.
From evaluation to learning. Our evaluative instruments are not only designed to measure, but primarily to learn. The best evaluation is one that yields actionable insights leading to concrete improvements.
Balancing workload and value. Instruments are selected based on the value they provide to the programme. This approach prevents bureaucracy and maintains focus on what truly contributes to quality enhancement.
Strategic alignment. We choose instruments that fit with an appreciative and development-oriented approach to quality assurance and with a quality concept that places impact at the centre.
Leveraging external instruments. Instruments from external quality assurance such as programme accreditation are embedded in internal quality assurance and actively utilized as a source of learning and development.
Instruments at the institutional level provide structure and coherence. The six-yearly programme accreditation remains our external quality check. The renewed Interim Programme Evaluation (TOE 2.0) gives programmes the opportunity for thorough self-reflection and development halfway through the accreditation cycle, with input from experts.
Instruments at the decentralized level provide room for autonomy and ownership. From student evaluations to alumni research, from curriculum scans to focus groups - programmes choose for themselves, within faculty and institutional frameworks, which instruments fit their context and development questions. At the institutional level, we facilitate collaborative learning and exchange of good practices.
Accreditations and development dialogues
Every six years, programmes are accredited to be authorized to award recognized degrees. This accreditation is a quality mark demonstrating that a programme has received a positive assessment from the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). The accreditation decisions and reports can be consulted via the NVAO website [Besluiten en rapporten | NVAO].
These periodic evaluations are conducted by independent peer panels and focus on two objectives: accountability and improvement. The development-oriented focus of the panel visit is particularly evident in the development dialogue following the panel assessment. In this context, programme management engages in dialogue with the panel about current development issues of the programme. Although the development dialogue is part of the panel visit, the outcomes do not contribute to the accreditation assessment. However, these outcomes are recorded in a separate report. These reports can be found on this page.
Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment (ITK)
In the context of accreditation at the programme level, programmes primarily demonstrate the aspect of effective educational design to the panel. In the context of the Institutional Quality Assurance Assessment (ITK), the institution demonstrates to the panel that our internal quality assurance - in the collaboration between institutional, faculty and programme levels - is organized in such a way that we safeguard the educational quality of all our programmes on all three aspects.
Universities such as EUR that have successfully completed the ITK can have their existing programmes accredited according to the limited rather than extensive assessment framework.
Interim programme evaluations
The Interim Programme Evaluation (TOE) is a development-oriented midterm review at programme level, organized halfway through the accreditation cycle. The main objectives of this instrument are:
- Strengthening ownership over the development and assurance of programme quality
- Developing innovation capacity through targeted approaches and action plans
- Strengthening responsiveness and learning ability at the programme and institutional level
The instrument consists of three core components: a quickscan, SOAR analysis, and development dialogue. The core components are elaborated in a flexible toolbox that allows for the process to be designed in a way that aligns with the internal organization and development questions. Ownership over the process rests with the programme director. All degree-awarding programmes at EUR take part in this midterm review.