BAClight newsletter, June 2011 by Barbados Accreditation Council

“Your Gateway to Global Recognition”

JUNE 2011 | Vol.5 No. 1

FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

QUALITY MATTERS! “What you don’t know public. The Council is urging situation which has confronted could hurt you” can members of the public to applicants is where on completion be found on one of the Council’s posters which promotes its recognition services to the general

ascertain tthe recognition of prospective institutions and erings before investing their offerin money, time and other resources. The reality is that from time to time, ap applicants have been informed by b the Council that programme their prospective prosp of study or institution will not be recognized by the Council recogni as it is n not recognized in its home cou country by the relevant competent authority(ies). competen Issuing such information can be disheartening not only to customers but also to the Council. The other

of studies, the qualification could not be recognized by the Council as it was not recognized by the competent authority in its home country. These competent authorities are generally counterpart national/state accreditation agencies, Ministries or other relevant agencies in the particular jurisdiction for the parent institution. With the establishment of the Barbados Accreditation Council, citizens and residents of Barbados should not have to receive such unfortunate news if they first seek to obtain the recognition/ Continued on page 3

WHAT’S INSIDE:

Chairman’s Word 2 From the Desk of the Executive Director 3 Focus on Registered Educational Providers 4 10th Bienniel INQAAHE Conference 4

Accredibase Report 2011 Fake Degree Scam Exposed BAC News Around the Region

6 7 9 10

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

CHAIRMAN’S WORD

Chairman, Ms. Yvonne Walkes, SCM, JP

“Quality is something you work at. It is a learning process” (Claudia Levy)

t the beginning of the twenty-first century, Barbados, like the rest of the Caribbean and some other small developing states, lagged with the implementation of a robust quality assurance system in tertiary education. Small states recognised that if they were to be relevant and competitive in a globalised world, they needed to adopt systems that would

bring consistency, greater of political will and support from efficiency and excellence in governments. tertiary education. At the regional level, Caribbean This article shows some territories under the CARICOM of the approaches made umbrella, brought attention to by Barbados to embrace these challenges and in early a quality assurance 2000 spearheaded an initiative to (QA) system in tertiary enhance quality assurance in the education. It further region. Under the Revised Treaty highlights Barbados’ of Chaguaramas 2001, Articles 46 respectively, ‘buy in’ and ownership 35 (2) and of the system through its policies were instituted to set up investment in the Barbados national bodies to deal with the Accreditation Council accreditation and equivalencies of (BAC). It also demonstrates qualifications and the movement that key approaches such of skilled Caribbean nationals. aas commitment, consistent planning, financial and The Barbados Government p human resources, internal welcomed this impetus and was and external partnerships quick in setting up a national and stakeholder infrastructure to fully implement involvement, must be a quality assurance system in embarked upon in order tertiary education. The Barbados to ensure the successful Accreditation Council (BAC) implementation of an was established through an Act efficient and effective system. of Parliament on 15 December 2004 and became operational in Policy makers, in QA systems, May 2006 as the sole government have identified a number of agency with responsibility for the challenges encountered assuring quality and integrity by small states. Among them of post-secondary and tertiary are: lack of funds, absence of education and training in trained personnel, limited Barbados. The government of knowledge of quality assurance Barbados is responsible for the systems, convincing persons investment resources of the BAC. to ‘buy into’ the idea and lack Continued on page 8

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

“ENHANCING ACCESS TO TERTIARY EDUCATION IN A GLOBALIZED ENVIRONMENT: THE QUALITY IMPERATIVE” Conference Sub-Themes include:

• Enhancing Academic Services and On and Off Campus Life to Maximize Student Success • Online Learning: Issues and Trends • Cross Border Tertiary Education: Challenges and Opportunities • Tertiary Education Accessibility and Financing • ICTs and E-Libraries • Student Learning and Retention • Pre Conference Workshop theme is entitled “Strategies and Initiatives to Attract and Retain Students to Meet the Quality Imperative”

Log on to for more information Continued from page 1

accreditation status of institutions a unified system of credits, as and/or programmes of study. credits would be assigned to each level of qualification; (iii) One of the strategic interventions facilitate transfer of credits that would facilitate the between tertiary institutions; recognition of local qualifications and (iv) encourage lifelong will be the National Qualifications learning opportunities through Framework (NQF) of Barbados. informal and formal educational Amongst other benefits, the NQF routes. The Barbados NQF will would: (i) provide for a seamless be a critical component of the system between academic and proposed Human Resource technical, vocational education Development Strategy which and training; (ii) provide for is currently being debated in

the House of Parliament. As soon as this national initiative is approved, readers will be apprised further on the NQF, in future BAClight editions. Until then, the Council anticipates you will enjoy reading this edition of BAClight! 

Valda V. Alleyne (Ms) Executive Director

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

FOCUS ON REGISTERD

EDUCATIONAL PROVIDERS

he ongoing economic recession which is being felt in the Caribbean, has challenged the restructuring and reorganizing of businesses, so as to compel their repositioning in order to remain competitive within the market place. The demand for market share and a focus on financial returns may be seen by most as important. It however would be shortsighted, if management at the enterprise level did not pay close attention to human resource development as part of the overall package in the reordering process.

Employers and management personnel are therefore encouraged to take an objective look at repositioning their businesses through the empowerment of their human resources. It is advisable that management embarks on a plan of training and retraining of their staff. This training and retraining ought to be seen as key components to the success of any enterprise, as training has proven to significantly contribute to improved levels of efficiency, productivity and the delivery of high quality service.

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

10 BIENNIAL

In responding to the needs of the market, Regional Management Services Inc. offers high quality workplace training programmes which are suited to all levels of staff. It is our aim to create a better understanding by all employees and employers of the following:-

The best practices to be observed in the work place Workplace policies and procedures Terms and conditions of services Legal responsibilities and obligations The management of workplace issues Emerging issues in the work environment. Dennis de Peiza Managing Director Regional Management Service Inc P.O. BOX 845 Bridgetown Barbados Tel: 246-230-9322 E-mail: rmsinc@sunbeach.net

The 10th Biennial INQAAHE Conference was held from April 4 – 7, in Madrid, Spain. It was hosted by the Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de La Calidad Y Acreditación (ANECA), the quality assurance agency in Madrid, Spain and had as its theme “Quality Assurance: Foundation for the Future”.

There were four (4) subthemes: i. Globalizing forces and national/ regional goals ii. Professionalization of Quality Assurance (QA) iii. Effective QA processes for diversity, development and sustainability; and iv. Independence of quality assurance vis a vis different stakeholders The four PreConference workshops focused on the following topics and were well attended: i.

Standards, Learning Outcomes and Programme Accreditation ii. Managing an External Quality Assurance Agency iii. Internal QA Systems within Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs); and iv. Effective Site Visits

L INQAAHE CONFERENCE The address delivered by His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias, Prince Felipe de Borbón y Grecia was the highlight of Opening Ceremony. In his address, His Royal Highness reiterated the need for top quality education globally in order to increase production efficiency, competitiveness, the employment rate and well being of nations. He further lauded the INQAAHE whose work “contributes to creating a space where different academic and cultural traditions can meet and obtain mechanisms to know each other and to generate mutual trust”.

with increasing trade education services. Dr. Badrawi reiterated that globalization will require review and revamp, even of the approaches used by External Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAAs) especially as these relate to cross border education and distance education/elearning. In terms of opportunities, Dr. David Woodhouse, Past President, INQAAHE in his Closing Remarks, stressed the need for EQAAs to undertake self evaluation by asking questions such as: How well have we done? Is it good enough? – By asking these questions, a sense of “fitness for purpose” within the organization should emerge. In terms of hope for the future, Dr. Woodhouse emphasized that the concept of “fitness for purpose” must be the guiding principle where institutions define clear outcomes and report on them equally through an external quality assurance system. His word of caution for EQAAs was:

Dr. Nadia Badrawi, President of the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE) delivered a dynamic presentation during the first Plenary Session where she spoke on the topic of “Globalizing Forces and National/Regional Goals”. Dr. Badrawi stated that globalization, through the prevalence of information communications technology, has resulted in the emergence of joint degrees, satellite “Quality” is not what EQAs do! campuses, global certificates “Accountability for Quality” and franchising, amongst other is what both Insititutions and EQAs do!” current trends. The participants noted that the fast growing QA services, such as institutional and The Conference attracted over programme accreditation, were 300 participants from quality increasing globally in tandem

assurance agencies and tertiary/ higher educational institutions and related government Ministries worldwide. The Caribbean was represented by aproximately ten (10) persons drawn from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Papers were presented by Dr. Sandra Gift and Ms. Jacqueline Moniquette of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr. Ethley London and Dr. Angela Penny of the University Council of Jamaica, Mrs. Lorna Parkins of the Caribbean Accreditation Authority on Medicine and Other Health Professions, Dr. Louis Whittington of UWI; and Mr. Mervyn Extavour, President of the National Association of Technical, Tertiary and Professional Educators of Trinidad and Tobago and Treasurer of CANQATE. From a cultural and social side, participants would have enjoyed the historical and modern sites and beautiful scenery that Madrid had to offer tourists. In addition, invited participants were treated to a dinner in the dining area of the famous Real Madrid “Santiago Bernabéu” football stadium which offered a fantastic view of the colossal stadium.

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

Accredibase News

+44 (0) 1234 834670 www.accredibase.com | service@accredibase.com

Accredibase Report 2011 Reveals 48% Increase In Fake Universities

he 2011 annual Accredibase™ report into diploma and accreditation mill activity has revealed an stounding 48% increase worldwide in the number of known diploma and accreditation mills in the past year alone. As the Internet is the primary home for these bogus education and accreditation providers, little action is taken to stop them from helping unscrupulous candidates deceive unsuspecting employers. This year’s Accredibase™ report examines the current status of the diploma mill situation and considers what can be done to protect the public and businesses.

Country

Number

% Change

Louisiana

Delaware

District of Columbia

United Kingdom

339

Italy

207

Belgium

Netherlands

Switzerland

Ireland

Germany

According to the 2011 report, the USA remains 12 33 the world’s fake college capital. This year has seen Spain 11 0 a 20% increase in known diploma mills in the US, Austria 11 57 with the number rising from 810 to 1,008. While France more than 40% percent of the diploma mills operate The UK remains Europe’s bogus university capital in California, Hawaii, Washington and Florida, the with 57% percent of European diploma mills report reveals that District of Columbia has seen claiming to operate from its shores. the sharpest increase among US states with 74%, rising from 19 to 33 mills over the past year. This year has seen a 25% increase in known diploma mills in the UK, with the number rising from 271 to Country Number % Change 339, whilst in Europe as a whole the total number has risen from 454 to 593, an increase of 31%. Californa 147 10

Hawaii

Washington

Florida

Texas

New York

Arizona

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

Diploma mills are largely online entities whose degrees are worthless due to the lack of valid accreditation and recognition. The wide reach and anonymity of the Internet offers these operations the perfect market to exploit, which is alarming not just for prospective employers but for society as a whole. ■ See the full report at www.accredibase.com

AROUND THE WORLD BEIJING PROSECUTORS ARREST 8 IN FAKE DEGREE CERTIFICATE SCAM

hree Beijing-based education companies are under investigation after more than 100 company executives paid nearly 10 million yuan (US $1.5 million) only to find out their promised Columbia International Institute degree certificates were worthless, the capital’s Haidian district prosecutors announced Monday. Eight suspects from three education and training companies were arrested on charges of illegal operation in late May, according to Zhou Zhicheng, a Haidian district prosecutor investigating the case. Two suspects surnamed Yu and Hu had founded the Bozhiruida Technology and Education Company in 2008, he said. Without any qualifications the company began to enroll students, mostly corporate executives, promising them business degrees from a private institute headquartered in New York, one of the US’s so-called degree mills, Zhou told the Global Times. The degrees are not recognized by either US or Chinese official

educational accrediting bodies, “It’s certain that most people Zhou said. attending these classes knew the certificate was fake,” Li Zhe, “To get the degrees, students a public relations executive needed to attend 12 lectures of British human resources within a year and hand in a thesis consultancy Antal International in Beijing.” in Beijing, told the Global Times Monday. The company later signed cooperation agreements with two “Anyone at their level would other companies to bring in more have sensed it. They just needed students. the degree for comfort: These kinds of MBA degrees play a very The companies hired teachers limited role in high-level talent from top universities at a recruitment.” minimum 10,000 yuan a lecture to teach at changing venues, Haidian People’s Procuratorate Zhou said. had handled seven other fake certificate cases involving “We don’t have evidence to prove 7,968,000 yuan from January to the teachers were aware of the fact May, Li Zizhou, an employee of that they were part of the illegal the publicity office of the Haidian operation,” he said, “but I believe, People’s Procuratorate, told the only for myself, that they knew Global Times Monday. exactly what they were doing.” Former Microsoft China chief Executive victims had hailed Tang Jun has been trapped in from Fortune 500 companies, fake degree scandal since last July Zhou said, but insisted he must when Fang Zhouzi, known for protect their privacy. his fight against academic fraud, revealed that Tang graduated Most victims were not really from a degree mill called the so innocent, human resource Pacific Western University. ■ experts say. They just wanted to buy an easy business degree. Source: Accredibase, July 2011

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

CHAIRMAN’S WORD Continued from page 8

Furthermore, Barbados can feel honoured to be one of the first three countries in the Region to have a fully functioning accreditation body. From 2006 to 2010 the BAC has issued 725 Skills Certificates and verified 1500 to 12 CARICOM states including Barbados.

development, registration, quality indicators for programmatic and institutional accreditation, as well as workshops for evaluators and external reviewers have been constantly executed to ensure excellence in education and training. A CANQATE Core Group, established among providers, took on responsibility The Council’s mandate includes to assist in ‘creating a quality the: issuing of Certificates of culture’, in tertiary education, in Recognition of CARICOM Skills Barbados. Qualification, in accordance with the provisions of the Caribbean The Council has also established Community (Movement of partnerships and membership Skilled Nationals) Act 2004, to with a number of national, and international eligible CARICOM nationals regional and the verifying of Certificates agencies to assist in carrying out issued by other Member States to its mandate. Agencies including Barbados Immigration CARICOM nationals; building the and sustaining of relations with Department, CSME Focal Point, regional and extra-regional the Technical and Vocational a c c r e d i t a t i o n / r e c o g n i t i o n Education and Training (TVET) bodies; evaluating foreign-based Council, the Association of qualifications to local awards; Caribbean Tertiary Institutions the Caribbean registering new and previously (ACTI), registered tertiary education Area Network for Quality providers and conducting Assurance in Tertiary Education technical workshops to facilitate (CANQATE), the Accreditation the registration and accreditation Council of Trinidad & Tobago process for tertiary educational (ACTT), the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), the Caribbean providers. Accreditation Authority for Since 2006, the Council has set in Education in Medicine and other motion a number of mechanisms Health Professions (CAAM-HP), to ensure that officers, the International Network for institutional personnel and Quality Assurance Agencies in providers have on-going training Higher Education (INQAAHE) in quality assurance processes. and the National Recognition Technical and developmental Information Centre for United workshops focusing on Kingdom (UK-NARIC), assist curriculum design and the Council with the exchange of information and quality

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

assurance standards and practices from different parts of the world. Promotion and marketing within BAC, also plays a vital role in allowing the public to be part of this world-wide phenomenon. Through an ongoing promotion and marketing drive, the public is informed of the Council and its mandate, with promotion via various media, including advertorials in the print and electronic media. It also engages in public information sessions and career fairs with private and public sector agencies, institutions and providers to disseminate vital information. BAC has also established a website and works through other social networks in its effort to further sensitize the public on the importance of quality assurance systems. Amidst financial hardships, Barbados is committed to moving ahead to ensure that it sets up an enabling structure that provides numerous tools to shape, guide and assure quality education, training and skills development for its citizens. Accreditation of institutions is in progress and to assist stakeholders to further meet their needs, the BAC is embarking on a workshop in October 2011. Furthermore, BAC has begun to investigate existing policies, procedures and systems for the Continued on page 12

Registration Workshop report is a requirement for registration. The participants indicated the n March 25, 2011 the BAC following as the most important continued its mandate information they learned during to assist tertiary education the workshop: providers with the registration process, with the hosting of its  How to prepare the evaluative report fourth Registration Workshop.  Examples as guidelines for The workshop attracted 18 evaluative statements representatives from various  The process of registration local educational providers. This  Completion of Registration workshop included additional (Writing of Evaluative material with the guides for Reports) writing effective evaluative  Benefits of registration reports being discussed. The  The process of having participants were given the external evaluators every 3 opportunity to write evaluative years statements, in a practical  How to write evaluative component which allowed for statements using the group work. The evaluative registration criteria

Summer Intern

Ms. Ch M Charlene l PPrescodd

his summer, BAC was pleased to facilitate the 6-week internship of Ms. Charlene Prescod of the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic. Ms. Prescod successfully completed the Certificate in Office Administration, and has since started studies in the Diploma in Office Administration. She is due to graduate in June, 2012. We wish her every success in her future endeavours.

 Tips on how the process of acquiring health and fire certificates can be accelerated  Some of the benefits from being registered  Help is available The participants expressed their gratitude for the informative and free workshop in this present economic climate. 

Internal Newsletter Launched

AC launched its internal newsletter BACyard in January this year. The monthly newsletter is circulated to the Board of Directors and staff. The contents consist of self improvement and motivational articles, highlights of BAC and staff achievements, changes to any BAC services, a calendar of the following month’s events, jokes, poems and tips on customer service excellence.  BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

CANQATE

BUILDS CAPACITY IN PEER REVIEW TRAINING

BRANDED AS THE ‘BEST TRAINING PROGRAM EVER’ BY THE FACILITATORS, The Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (CANQATE) successfully conducted the first Peer Review/Evaluator training for the region. The workshop, held at the PomMarine Hotel from July 18 – 21, 2011, attracted sixteen (16) representatives from CANQATE member countries: Antigua, Barbados, Commonwealth of Dominica, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. In her Welcome Remarks, Ms Valda Alleyne, President of CANQATE remarked, “Globally, higher or tertiary education as it is commonly called within the Caribbean is undergoing transformation as a result of globalization which has resulted in the liberalization of the sector and facilitated cross border education so that there are diverse providers and programmes of study.

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

One group deliberating during the break out session

A smaller group reviews the information given at the workshop

that their commitment to quality is signalled through the implementation of internal quality assurance systems that meet standards/criteria established by external quality assurance agencies” as “citizens are becoming cautious about their investment in time, money and effort to attain higher level qualifications.” The President also urged the EQAAs to form strong partnerships with Ms Alleyne advised that the tertiary/higher education institutions should “ensure educational providers. “External Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAAs) are therefore being challenged to think “outside the box” by developing quality assurance frameworks that are robust enough to deter “diploma mills” and other unscrupulous providers from fraudulent practices; but conducive enough to encourage genuine investors in the provision of quality tertiary education.”

Ms Valda Alleyne, President, CANQATE (fourth from right, sitting); Mr. Mervyn Extavour, Treasurer, CANQATE (second from left, standing); Dr. Ruby Alleyne, facilitator (second from left, sitting); Mr. Jason Stafford, co-facilitator (third from left, standing) and the workshop participants

workshop comprised multimedia presentations, focused discussions, simulations, and an intensive writing laboratory. In closing, the President outlined the next steps; and the participants were presented with their certificates in a short closing ceremony. Dr Francis Severin, Head, UWI Open Campus, Facilitator, Dr Ruby Alleyne taking the participants through the paces Dominica delivered the Vote of Ms Alleyne continued to President, Quality Assurance Thanks. highlight the achievements of and Institutional Advancement CANQATE over the past 2 years, of the University at Trinidad and which included the launch of the Tobago (UTT). Dr Alleyne is a new website at www.canqate. leading Quality Assurance (QA) org that allows for social practitioner who has worked interaction amongst members; throughout the CARICOM the awarding of scholarships to in quality assurance in higher the International Network for education for over a decade. Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Mr Stafford is currently Manager, Institutional Conference which was held in the Spain, April 2011; and the Peer Advancement of UTT and is the former Manager, Institutional Review Training Workshop. The workshop was developed Advancement of ACTT. Mr It is anticipated that the and delivered by consultants Stafford has worked in the area competencies gained by the Dr Ruby Alleyne and Mr of higher education quality participants will be realized Jason Stafford. Dr Alleyne assurance, institutional research, through the transfer of knowledge was the founding Executive planning and policy development in their home countries and through the offer of skills in Director of the Accreditation for the past six years. regional peer review activities. ď Ž Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) and is presently Vice- The highly interactive training

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1

| 11

CHAIRMAN’S WORD

TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL PROVIDERS ... you cannot afford to be without

ACCREDITATION

Continued from page 8

development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in Barbados. The NQF is part of a wider Human Resource Development Strategy for the country. Earlier efforts to assist with quality assurance were organised through a project Management Committee which included a component for developing an Accreditation Equivalency Articulation (AEA) framework. The BAC’s Equivalency Committee has also been able to establish over 100 precedents. In terms of articulation/transfer of credits, Barbados has made notable progress, with some local tertiary institutions reaching agreements with regional and extra-regional institutions in various areas. ‘Buy in’ and ownership of a quality assurance system, in tertiary education, needs commitment, consistent planning, financial and human resources, internal and external partnerships, and stakeholder involvement. This is a work

Prospective students are now choosing to attend and pursue ONLY Accredited Institutions and Programmes of Study. Apply for your

ACCREDITATION STATUS TODAY. F OR M ORE I NF ORMAT I ON CONTAC T: Telephone: (246) 436-9094 | Email: info@bac.gov.bb website: http://www.bac.gov.bb

in progress for the BAC but Barbados is demonstrating that quality is possible, even when resources are limited. Barbados is therefore, prepared to take on the challenge by putting appropriate

measures in place so that, like some other smaller states, it can be a player in tertiary education and training in any part of the world. 

Remember the words of Peter Drucker

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it, it is what the customer gets out of it”.

BAClight Newsletter, June 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1