New Approaches to Quality Assurance Process in a Context of Changes.

Abstract

This document briefly reviews social changes having an effect on the higher education system and the implications for quality assurance mechanisms. It focuses on main challenges those mechanisms have to face in order to successfully participate in a long-lasting process of improvements to tertiary education and describes some characteristics of several quality assurance agencies which hinder innovation efforts and delay adequate and timely responses to social needs instead of helping improve services delivered by higher education institutions. They need to link quality assurance and institutional planning and work all together in order to this action is embedded in their daily work. This article points to how quality assurance agencies can significantly collaborate to this end while exerting their evaluation and regulation functions.