AEC Institutional and Programme Review Scheme

After studying the issue of external quality assurance and accreditation in the “Accreditation in European professional music training” project, the AEC has decided to propose a new service to its members in the form of institutional and programme review visits.

Upon request, AEC member institutions can receive a visit by a team of ‘critical friends’ to review the institution or one or several programme(s), and get assistance in their quality enhancement activities. The final product will be a report with recommendations for improvements.

The review of the institution or of the programme(s) will be based on the framework developed by the AEC in the Accreditation project, i.e. a set of common European standards and procedures for the external review of institutions and programmes in higher music education (downloadable below).

Practicalities

Visits usually last two to three days and the institution is expected to submit a brief self-evaluation report and other documentation to the AEC before the visit takes place.
All costs regarding travel of the experts will be covered from the Erasmus Network for Music "Polifonia". Visited institutions are invited to offer local accommodation and meals. However, in exceptional cases local accommodation and subsistence costs can be covered by the "Polifonia" budget. Please note that financial assistance can be offered only for a limited number of visits during the project period from 1 October 2007 – 1 October 2010. Please note that only institutions in EU countries and Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Turkey are eligible for support from the "Polifonia" budget.

Institutions interested in such visits are invited to contact the AEC Office. Upon acceptance of the request, the AEC Office will communicate with the institution to establish a plan for the review process.

Useful Documents
- The handbook How to prepare for an institutional or programme review in Higher Music Education? contains all the necessary information on the aims of the quality assurance and accreditation exercise, on how to apply and prepare for an AEC review and on the course of the visit. The handbook contains a time schedule from the request of the institution until the production of the final report, as well as examples of possible itineraries for 3-or 4-days visits.

- The Framework Document contains detailed standards and procedures on which the self-evaluation, the discussions and the final report will be based.

Downloadable documents
Brochure on the AEC Institutional and Programme Review Scheme	En-Fr-De
AEC Framework Document "Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Music Education: Characteristics, Criteria and Procedures”	English  Polish  Italian
Practical handbook ‘How to prepare for an institutional or programme review in Higher Music Education?’	English  Polish
Summarized Report AEC Review Visit Oviedo	English
Report AEC Programme Review Visit Groningen	English