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The purpose of this article is to analyze main principles, forms and approaches to education quality evaluation in the process of establishment, development and crucial changes in the state accreditation of educational institutions and study programmes in Russian higher education in the last 20 years.

The major research method used in the paper is the qualitative analysis of legal and statistical documents, research papers and accreditation practices, which impacted the development and transformation of accreditation forms in Russia.

The transformation process of state accreditation during the last 20 years was conditioned by the changes in the state education policy and socio-economic situation. In a short period, under the influence of internal and external factors, Russian higher education has experienced significant changes in the structure of higher education and quality assurance. This resulted in different approaches to accreditation: state and independent, mandatory and voluntary, national and international.

The research outcomes may be applicable in the countries with developing accreditation systems and comparable scope of education.

The study identifies the tendencies in the development of higher education and quality evaluation.

The paper systematizes the tendencies of development in quality assurance and distinguishes specific features and diversity of forms of the quality assurance in one of the largest systems of higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept, criteria and definitions of quality of higher education from the perspectives of the leadership of three new independent accreditation agencies in Kyrgyzstan.

The author employed interpretative qualitative research design. The data for this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with the leadership of three independent accreditation agencies and through review and the qualitative analyses of new policies on accreditation of higher education institutions, new accreditation standards and criteria. A priori codes by using categories were defined in advance and emergent codes based on data driven were used for data analyses.

The research findings support the author’s argument that the new independent accreditation processes will not assure quality because first, the agencies are not independent of the Ministry of Education and Science; second, the current standards do not provide evidence of quality; and third, the institutions do not have what in Europe is called a “quality culture” – ongoing, continuous efforts toward quality.

This is first scholarly work looking at independent accreditation process at its beginning stage. The results of an article can have influence on further development of accreditation system and improvement of accreditation standards.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) communicatively engaged in legitimization concerning accreditation.

This study utilized the rhetorical analysis approach outlined by Hoffman and Ford (2010) to explore the accreditation-related texts from an online source created by CHEA, Information About Accreditation.

The analysis identified three overarching approaches to include: isomorphism to address regulatory legitimacy, organizational identity management to address pragmatic legitimacy, and a dialogic approach to address normative legitimacy. This analysis also developed a new theoretical model for the rhetorical construction of legitimacy, “A Model for the Rhetorical Construction of Legitimacy,” that can be summarized as: organizations foster a type of legitimacy through a legitimizing strategy by demonstrating how the purpose of the legitimizing strategy is achieved by the implementation of the legitimizing strategy.

Limitations include that data were gathered only from online, web-based texts during a period in which the rhetorical situation was ongoing.

This study expands research concerning the rhetorical approach to issues management in that it examines the way legitimacy is negotiated through the various rhetorical strategies of an organization. Additionally, information is offered about the rhetorical structure of texts when an organization seeks to legitimize certain ideas.

This analysis developed a theoretical model for the rhetorical construction of legitimacy, “A Model for the Rhetorical Construction of Legitimacy,” that demonstrates important relationships between legitimizing strategies and types of legitimacy. Understanding these relationships may allow for a better interpretation of how legitimacy theory is represented within a communicative venture.

Our chapter addresses the balance assessment professionals must strike in supporting academic freedom, shared governance practices, and learning improvement efforts within colleges and universities in the United States. Specifically, we address how assessment professionals (faculty or staff whose primary job involves accreditation or the assessment of student learning) can encourage increased educational equity while supporting academic freedom. The authors offer a unique perspective. As former faculty members, current assessment practitioners, and a current academic administrator, we work to ensure that our institutions are using assessments of student learning to improve learning for all students. This work gives us insight into the ways in which assessment information shapes institutional efforts, balancing the rights of faculty to control the curriculum with the rights of historically underserved students (including students from underserved ethnic or racial groups, first generation college students, students from low-income households, and students with special needs or disabilities) to receive a quality education. We propose that one solution to this apparent conflict is to provide faculty with data that allow them to analyze the ways in which their assessment choices influence educational equity. To contextualize our work in this area we summarize institutional and faculty freedoms and discuss areas of conflict. We then describe ways to reduce areas of conflict by creating a culture of inquiry that centers around consideration of data and opportunities to modify assessments to increase educational equity.

Accrediting agencies come in two sizes, the large regional associations that determine academic standards throughout the United States such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and smaller specialized agencies that determine specific criteria for academic programs such as Accrediting Bureau of Engineering Technology (ABET) or American Psychological Association (APA). On the surface, both types of accreditation are voluntary. However, essentials in the world of academia, such as government, state and local funding, are dependent on, at a minimum, regional accreditation. Thus, regional accreditation is sought by all. In the current world of tight funding, however, the role of specialized accreditation is taking on significance even though it plays a different, but similar role.

Presents a comparative study of the US accreditation system and of the CRE’s (European Association of Universities) quality audits. After an examination of the published literature on recent developments of the systems their strong and weak points are discussed. This is followed by a very detailed analysis of the procedures for both systems and based, on the personal experience of the author, it is recommended that the responsibility of creating the necessary mechanisms for quality assessment and quality improvement should lie with each and every institution, while outside independent agencies, such as the already existing six US regional accrediting associations, should assume the role of meta‐evaluating or auditing.

The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively review one example of academic-industry cooperation, namely, the partnership arrangements between the CFA Institute and universities around the globe. There is a scarcity of literature relating to academic-industry cooperation between the finance discipline and business.

Relevant data were hand-collected and a comprehensive analysis of individual CFA partner programs was undertaken, including the geographical distribution of the programs and program characteristics and ranking of partners programs; the motivation for and approaches of universities toward the CFA Institute partnership and program design are identified. The general findings are validated with a detailed analysis of the CFA partner postgraduate programs offered in Australian universities.

The research finds that the primary focus of cooperation between the CFA Institute and universities is the adoption of practitioner-relevant academic curriculum in universities, which should assist in setting industry educational standards. The authors observed a great diversity of partner institutions and programs around the globe, their rankings and their approach to cooperation with the CFA Institute thanks to the flexibility of their partnership arrangements. This explains the rapid growth of universities seeking formal cooperation with the CFA Institute. However, this growth has created challenges for the CFA Institute in managing and delivering value in their partnership arrangements.

Due to data limitations, the research does not provide an empirical analysis of factors driving enrollments in Australian postgraduate finance programs.

The paper serves as a guide to universities interested in engaging in cooperation with the CFA Institute. This study is also useful for the professional bodies that evaluate various models of cooperation with educational institutions.

The paper is the first, to the authors' knowledge, to examine the practical aspects of cooperation between universities and a professional body in the finance discipline. Moreover, it is the first to evaluate perceived benefits and problems universities may experience by entering into a popular CFA Institute Partner Program.

Argues a market‐orientation for the ISO 9000 quality assurance standards. Discusses the experiences of the International Management Centres (IMC) in seeking and gaining certification to ISO 9002. Argues that policing educational process delivery ‐ the keeping of promises ‐ would be a more useful activity for governmental policy‐makers than the policing of educational content ‐ the nature of the promise. Summarises in brief the clauses of ISO 9002 as they apply to IMC. Concludes with recommendations to educational institution administrators and policy‐makers.

Argues a market‐orientation for the ISO 9000 quality assurance standards. Discusses the experiences of the International Management Centres (IMC) in seeking and gaining certification to ISO 9002. Argues that policing educational process delivery ‐ the keeping of promises ‐ would be a more useful activity for governmental policy‐makers than the policing of educational content ‐ the nature of the promise. Summarises in brief the clauses of ISO 9002 as they apply to IMC. Concludes with recommendations to educational institution administrators and policy‐makers.

Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education institutions in Vietnam.

Based on an interpretative study, semi-structured interviews were used as a major research instrument augmented with document analysis across three case studies. Interviews were conducted with 35 participants from three groups of stakeholders.

The concept of quality was found to be under-conceptualised in this Vietnamese context. Quality was conceptualised as meeting societal needs across the case studies underpinned by the belief that the purpose of higher education is to prepare graduates for employment.

The study was conducted in similar disciplines at three state-owned universities in Vietnam in 2011. This provides insight within this context and timeframe that may not be generalised. It is suggested to extend this research to other disciplines, the private sector and other groups of stakeholders.

The paper discusses the necessity of revisiting the philosophy of higher education and re-conceptualising quality in Vietnam that informs quality assurance processes that are relevant to the cultural context.

This paper provides a centralised Confucian perspective to the literature on quality assurance in higher education. How quality is perceived by academic leaders, quality assurance members and, in particular, academic staff can be used to inform policy. In a centralised country such as Vietnam, academic leaders and quality assurance members may indicate their “obedient” attitudes to policies, leading to the same view with what is centrally enacted, while the academic staff have a different perception of quality.