EGM 30 download.pdf - European Federation of Geologists

100%Euro-Ages90%80%70%60%% of degrees50%40%30%20%Non-BolognaDoctorateMasters240 ECTS180 ECTSShort Cycle10%0%DenmarkIcelandIrelandKoreaNorwayPolandSwedenUnited StatesNetherlandsSlovak RepublicEstoniaFranceItalyUnited KingdomOECD averageEU19 averageBelgiumAustraliaCzech RepublicPortugalFinlandNew ZealandSwitzerlandAustriaGermanySloveniaSpainHungaryFigure 1. The proportion of Three Cycle System degree types in some Bologna signatory nations and in other countries worldwide. The data is extractedfrom OECD Education at a Glance (2010). The degrees that are ‘non-Bologna compliant’ do not correspond to the Three Cycle System (see text)of European Quality Assurance Agencies.These meetings define the actionlines that each nation needs to undertaketo establish the legislative, administrativeand academic framework to implementthe Process. The action lines have beenrevised with time, making the BolognaProcess a vital and ongoing process. It wasoriginally intended that this process shouldbe completed by 2010. However, in spite ofconsiderable progress being made at institutional,national and international levels,these reforms are not yet complete. On12 March 2010, Ministers from the countriesparticipating in the Bologna Processadopted the Budapest-Vienna Declarationand officially launched the EuropeanHigher Education Area. In this declarationthey note “further work, involving staffand students, is necessary at European,national, and especially institutional levelsto achieve the European Higher EducationArea” (see the Official Bologna Processwebsite, 2010, for details). Much work hastaken place outside of these conferences,in particular the Tuning Project (Tuning,2010) has developed tools to assist changeat the level of the Institutes of Higher Educationand professional programmes. TheTuning Project is an EU-funded projectof the European Universities in which thesubject of Earth Science has been an activearea of investigation since its inception in2000. This article will review the role ofBologna action lines and Tuning in implementingthe Bologna Process within EarthScience Higher Education in Europe.Principle components of the BolognaProcessThe ‘Three Cycle System’The Bologna Process requires that highereducation in signatory states follows theso-called ‘Three Cycle System’. The basicBachelor (Cycle 1) degree should takeeither three or four years with the Masters(Cycle 2) degree being attained after a totalof five years of study. The Doctorate orCycle 3 degree should then take anotherthree years after having completed bothCycles 1 and 2. There is, however, somevariation in this system. There is a ‘ShortCycle’ degree, usually available after twoyears, in some professional courses. Also,the length of Masters programmes variesfrom one to two years to complementthe three to four years of Bachelor programmes.In a community in which freemovement is a fundamental right somestudents may achieve a Masters in fouror in six years, whilst most do so in theprescribed five years. Also, some countriesallow students to proceed from a Bachelordirectly to a Doctorate, although increasinglythe Masters is deemed to be covered ina programme of certified Doctoral trainingwhich is in addition to the research requirementof that degree. Whilst there has beenconsiderable debate within Europe thesematters are not yet fully resolved. Figure1 shows the proportion of degrees awardedby countries both within and outside theBologna Process that correspond to the‘Three Cycle System’ (OECD Educationat a Glance, 2010). The number of non-Bologna compliant degrees will decreasewith time as new courses are initiated.Quality AssuranceThe development of a pan-European QualityAssurance system for higher educationwill be the driver which monitors and promotesthe implementation of the Bolognareforms. This is currently a work in progresswith, in 2009, about one third of signatorynations still only embarking on the process.In general, the model that is followedis that where the discipline, programme,department, office, or institute producesa self-assessment report that is critically10 European Geologist 30