Summary decision
The assessment panel evaluates the aims and objectives of the programme as excellent with respect to the development of general competences and general academic-oriented competences at an advanced level. The aims and objectives adequately aim at the instillation of an advanced understanding of and insight in the academic-disciplinary knowledge of the various areas of the European Studies.
There is an excellent alignment in the aims and objectives with the professional requirements set by (international) peer groups as there is for the needs of the intended professional field as the international faculty is very well acquainted with the European and international professional field in the areas of European Studies. The final qualifications are well derived from the academic discipline.
The programme offers a broad range of introductory and advanced courses in the studied areas of European studies from a multidisciplinary perspective. The knowledge advancement in the programme is further supported by the professionalism of the programme management, the staff which is also active in the (non-academic) professional field and most often is highly recognized internationally. According to the panel the academic level of the study programme is of high enough level for a master’s level study programme.
The programme adequately addresses the competences and skills required for independent application of general and discipline-specific knowledge in new contexts. The assessment panel is of the opinion that the programme has a great interest in European Union ‘interdisciplinary’ elements. The assessment panel remarks that given the fact that the Department is not a genuine research department the students are not directly engaged in current research, which is to some extend a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, the panel is convinced that the teaching staff, performing research in their own institutions, integrates their findings and experiences in their courses. Currently further developments are going on in the department to attract funds for and setting up more (own) research.
The programme covers every single dimension which is of importance to the study of European Interdisciplinary Studies, even though the individual course components or seminars dealing with the various issues may be rather small. The assessment panel describes the coherence of the programme as very strong as all courses in the programme highly contribute to the studied areas of European Studies in all their aspects in a logical sequential manner.
The high workload, 66 ECTS, does not allow students to combine a professional career with studying at the college. There is a fairly equal spreading of the workload over the two semesters. At the moment of the assessment site visit, the programme did not have an operational mechanism to systematically measure the actual study time and follow up on the match between the estimated and the actual study time. The assessment panel suggests to develop a policy with respect to the workload of the study programme and on how the match between the actual and the estimated study time can best be monitored and to clearly communicate these findings to the students.
The selection criteria are fair and well chosen, and the selection committees do a thorough screening of the students. The panel does suggests to improve the transparency of the national selection criteria. Currently there is no policy with respect to competences already acquired elsewhere and qualifications acquainted elsewhere, as the qualities of the students are screened and evaluated individually. With respect to the language requirements there are tests for students’ proficiency in English and French upon arrival in the programme. If the mastery of English or French proves inadequate students are directed towards language courses.
The Master of Arts in European Interdisciplinary Studies consists of 66 ECTS. The duration of the programme is therefore in line with the formal regulations.
The programme uses a good variety of learning activities and good quality course materials and reference materials. The programme does not use a distinct educational approach as the individual lecturers decide which didactic methods to use for the courses. There is however a good debate related to this subject between the programme management teams and the visiting staff. The academic or teaching assistants can be thought of as the ‘safe keepers’ of the study programme. The courses are taught by flying staff, being resident at the campus for the few days in which they teach their course or seminar. This results in very intensive contact hours, which is very challenging for students.
The programme uses a good variety of test and examination formats. Students are informed in advance about the evaluation policy of the individual lecturers, the examination regulations and the nature of the examination format used for the individual courses.
The Master’s thesis comprises 16 ECTS. The Master’s thesis is linked to one of the optional courses or to one of the seminars, scheduled in the second semester. The preparation for the Master’s thesis is thus mainly done in the second semester. The assessment panel suggests to start the Master’s thesis work earlier in the academic year. The Master theses have an original academic character and demonstrate the student’s independent academic problem solving ability at academic level.
The research expertise of the permanent staff involved in teaching the programme is very high. This is demonstrated by the sometimes impressive lists of research output, relevant for their teaching in the programme. The assessment panel noticed a slight imbalance in the research expertise and a lack of common research philosophy among the staff, given the diversity of backgrounds of the teaching staff as well. For the selection of the permanent staff open and transparent selection procedures are used. This in contrary to the visiting staff.
The programme is taught by a rather limited number of permanent lecturers (amongst which the programme directors), associated with the College, completed with a large number of lecturers, attracted to teach a course or one particular seminar in one of the programmes. The very limited ‘core faculty’ members are putting a high pressure on the staff members who are permanently involved in teaching the programme.
The expertise of the permanent teaching staff is excellent, both with respect to the content knowledge taught and to the teaching methodologies applied. Many of the visiting staff members are at the top of their research domain or prominent authorities in their professional endeavours in the related disciplines. The busy time schedules of the visiting staff result in very intensive lecturing weeks for the staff and the student.
The College has at its disposition an adequate number of lecture rooms. These have a good capacity and are well equipped with the necessary tools to enable interactive learning and facilitate modern learning approaches. The library is also very well equipped with an impressive collection. The college currently does not have a learning environment instead intranet is used to communicate announcements to students. The assessment panel repeats that the use of such a tool would be beneficial for the communication between the staff and the students.
The assessment panel is of the opinion that the student support and guidance is very well organized, that the permanent staff can indeed easily be reached and approached after or even during the lectures and that appropriate mechanisms for student counseling and guidance are operational. In addition, the assessment panel suggests to provide a means of contact or record between the student representatives of consecutive years in order to ensure the observance and continuation of certain remarks made in earlier years.
The programme does not have a well considered policy towards internal quality assurance. The assessment panel is of the opinion that too much of the actual initiatives are positioned at the level of the Department, while more could be steered at the level of the College. The Department makes use of the good informal contacts between the students and the staff, and of the high quality monitoring of issues and possible problems by teaching assistants. The assessment panel strongly suggests to develop an internal quality assurance system at the level of the College and to schedule the necessary evaluations at the level of the study programme.
The assessment panel finds that the changes in the curricula are not always based on verifiable targets set in the past, and rather intuitively follow the flow of the evolutions and events occurring. Consequently the assessment panel is of the opinion that a more policy-based responsive, other than the –in its own right valuable- reactive responsiveness, would be beneficial for the college. The assessment panel is convinced that a more formal structure for these matters would – in the long run – prove worthwhile.
The permanent staff are dedicated and highly committed to the College. The involvement of the visiting staff is less obviously quantifiable. The involvement of the students in the curriculum debate is good and the student representatives function very well in an informal manner. The assessment panel is of the opinion that the informal contacts of the academic staff with the alumni and the professional field function quite well but are of a much too informal nature to be guaranteed for the future.
The assessment panel finds that the aims and objectives of the five programmes are indeed realized and that these are in line with its aims and objectives. The graduates are being very well prepared to enter a professional occupation in a broad range of European Studies related areas. The assessment panel is of the opinion that the quality of the Master’s theses is very good and the quality of the examinations is very high.
Nor the programme management teams nor the College as an institute have developed a real policy towards target figures or pass rates for the study programmes. The assessment panel is of the opinion that the current procedures used to gather information are to informal and are taking too much for granted. However the assessment panel is of the opinion that the success rate achieved by the programme is very high.
