The Yerevan Conference in May this year will conclude another round of the Bologna Process. Given the Bologna Follow-up Group’s role in finalising documents that will be adopted by Ministers, the discussion on the future of the Process is particularly high on EUA’s agenda.
It’s good news that the host for the next round (2015-2018) has already been decided: in 2018 Ministers will gather in Paris, probably at the Sorbonne, where it all began, back in 1998.
The following documents have been finalised by the BFUG, but would yet have to be adopted by the Bologna Ministers at the Yerevan Conference in May this year:  

• The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)
• As reported the ESG are finalised, but still subject to adoption of Bologna Ministers. Until then, the “old” ESG are still valid. Further information is available here.
• Structural Reforms Working Group report
• Pathfinder Group report on automatic recognition
• A European approach for simplified QA of Joint programmes
• ECTS Users’ Guide. More...

The revised ECTS Users’ Guide was endorsed by the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) during its meeting on 27-28 November 2014 in Rome and now it is subject to approval by the Ministerial Conference in May 2015 in Yerevan, Armenia.
Following the request from Bologna Ministers in Bucharest in 2012, the ECTS Users’ Guide of 2009 has been revised, in order to strengthen the “meaningful implementation of learning outcomes” in the EHEA. The Guide takes forward the objective of Ministers to “call on institutions to further link study credits with both learning outcomes and student workload and to include the attainment of learning outcomes in assessment procedures”.
The revised version is based on a solid foundation of work done in recent years, both within the Bologna Process and in individual countries, to help the academic community and other stakeholders in higher education to move in the direction of the changes advocated by the Bologna Process
For the revised Guide, please click here. More...

At its meeting in Rome on 27-28 November 2014 the BFUG endorsed the final report of Structural Reforms working group as well as the Pathfinder group on automatic recognition.
Structural Reforms working group (SRWG)
The main reason why the BFUG decided to appoint only four working groups in the 2012 – 2015 program, and to give each one a broad mandate, was a desire to provide a more coherent context and framework for the further development of the EHEA. This was not least the case for structural reforms and it gave rise to a broad mandate and a broad membership of the group, with four co-chairs (Council of Europe (coordinator), Belgium (Flemish Community), Holy See and Poland), and a membership of some 40 EHEA members and consultative members.
Pathfinder group on automatic recognition (PfG)
Aware of the importance of improving recognition processes, the EHEA Ministers committed themselves to the long-term goal of automatic recognition of comparable academic degrees in the Bucharest Communiqué, adopted in April 2012.
The Ministers proposed that a Pathfinder Group on Automatic Recognition of 10 countries (Belgium [French Community], Belgium [Flemish Community], Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and The Netherlands), supported by the European Commission, would explore ways to achieve this. The PfG carried out its work over nearly two years from end-2012 to mid-2014, exploring ways on how to achieve automatic recognition through a series of regional initiatives, by consulting a large number of stakeholders, and through the analysis of existing recognition practices across European HEIs with a survey.
For the final report of the PfG, please click here. More...

By Elena Borel. Why did the Belarusan Ministry of Education ignore the Bologna conference in Bucharest? It is as soon as in January that the issue of admission to the European Higher Education Area will be resolved.
In late November the capital of Romania hosted Bologna conference, gathering together researchers of Bologna process on the threshold of the summit of Ministers of Education from the EU countries, which is to take place in Yerevan in 2015. More...

European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (October 2014, endorsed by the BFUG, subject to approval by EHEA ministers)
Joint programmes are a hallmark of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). They are set up to enhance the mobility of students and staff, to facilitate mutual learning and cooperation opportunities and to create programmes of excellence. They offer a genuine European learning experience to students. Joint degrees express the “jointness” also in the awarding of the degree.
For more information please click here. More...

The revised version of the “Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area”, commonly known as ESG  has been endorsed by the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) in September 2014.
Now it is subjected to approval by the Ministerial Conference in May 2015, Yerevan (Armenia).
This revised version was proposed by the E4 Group (ENQA, ESU, EUA and EURASHE) in cooperation with EI, BUSINESSEUROPE and EQAR, following the mandate given in the Bucharest Communiqué by the ministers. The revision included several consultation rounds involving both the key stakeholder organisations and ministries. The many comments, proposals and recommendations received have been very useful and of extremely importance for the revision process. They are reflected in the resulting revised version.
As requested by Ministers, the revised version make the ESG clearer, particularly in terms of their structure and in order to avoid potential confusion with their interpretation. The revised ESG also make a more explicit link to the learning and teaching process in the section on internal QA, and defines the relationship of QA with other Bologna Process developments that have taken place since 2005 (including those relating to Qualifications Frameworks and learning outcomes).

Next steps
The revised version will be discussed and proposed for adopting at the next EHEA Ministerial Meeting that will take place in Yerevan Armenia, May 2015.
(You can also download the proposal directly from here). More...

The Ministry of National Education of Romania (MEN) and the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI) are organizing the second edition of the “Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference” (FOHE-BPRC 2), in Bucharest, Romania on 24 – 26 November 2014.

The academic papers that will be presented during the conference will tackle one of the nine proposed sub-themes of the event:
1. Internationalization
2. Financing and Governance
3. Excellence and diversification of higher education institutions’ missions
4. Teaching, learning and student engagement
5. Social dimension/ Equity
6. Education, Research and Innovation
7. Quality Assurance
8. The impacts of the Bologna Process on the EHEA and beyond
9. Evidence-based policies in higher education: data analytics, impact assessment and reporting

Following the open call for authors, published on the official website, the Editorial Board selected approximatively 60 papers that will be presented at the conference and further published in two research volumes, these being part of the background documents of the 2015 EHEA Ministerial Conference in Yerevan.
Participation in the event is open for all those interested, within the limits set by logistic capacity . No participation fee is required and additional registration details for this category of participants will be available at the beginning of September 2014 on the official website. More...

In spring 2015 Ministers responsible for higher education from the member countries of the Bologna Process will gather in Yerevan, Armenia, for the next Bologna Ministerial Meeting.
As a consultative member, EUA participates in the Ministerial conferences and their preparation. Like in previous rounds of the Bologna Process, therefore, EUA has actively contributed over the past two years to the work of the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) that manages the Process between the meetings. It has participated in all BFUG working groups and contributed to the ongoing development of policy papers and reports that will be tabled at next year’s Ministerial Meeting.
From the present 2012-2015 Bologna round, a number of important outcomes are expected: The BFUG Working Group on Implementation is currently drafting the 2015 Bologna Implementation Report, which will assess progress made since the last report in 2012, and can be expected to become once again an important reference document, both for policy makers and institutions.
Together with other European stakeholder groups, another key aspect of EUA’s work has been preparing a proposal for a revised version of the “Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area”, commonly known as the ESG.
The revised version, proposed by the E4 Group (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), European Students’ Union (ESU), European University Association (EUA), European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE)), in cooperation with Education International (EI), BUSINESSEUROPE and the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), has been endorsed by the BFUG in September 2014 and is now subject to approval by the Ministerial Conference in May 2015. More information is available on the ESG revision website.
Another important element of the Ministerial Conference next year will be discussions on the future of the Bologna Process post-2015. This is expected to result in a new type of outward-looking Bologna Ministerial Communiqué, which will set out the priorities for the years ahead. In preparation, EUA has started to discuss with its collective members, the national rectors’ conferences, the principal elements that will be crucial from the perspective of universities in the years ahead particularly in terms of the goals and content.
EUA will also be contributing to next month’s Future of Higher Education - Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference which also aims to contribute to discussions at next year’s meeting. More information on the event is available here. More...