Diploma Supplement

INTRODUCTION

Changes to the European Education system are taking place at a rapid pace, so fast that it is very difficult to keep track of all changes as they occur. The AQUATNET group has been keeping track of the changes and have produced a report summarising some of the major developments. 

Below is a short introduction to the report. The full report can be downloaded by selecting the report on the right banner.

The Thematic network hopes you find the report interesting and welcome any feedback. Please send any comments to the AQUATNET coordinator; David Murphy, david@aquatt.ie or post it on the discussion forum.  
   

NEW -  Download Now (large file 746KB)
DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT FINAL REPORT,  November '03 (END OF 3 YEAR PHASE)

by Margaret Eleftheriou
(AQUATNET representative and AquaTT Director)

This report details a complete overview of the work the network has been carrying out over the last 3 year. It also provides an overview of the latest EU developments with regards to Education and Training, a useful resource for anyone working in the Education and Training area.

The main task of AQUA-TNET for the 3-year period 2001-2003 was to attempt to adapt the proposed Diploma Supplement on a pilot scale for our partner university Aquaculture courses. At the outset of the present project, the Diploma Supplement model, the product of a joint initiative by the EU, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, was intended to be a document attached to a higher education diploma or certificate, designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of studies carried out and successfully completed by the person named in the original qualification/certificate/ diploma.

DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT REPORT UPDATE July '03

by Margaret Eleftheriou
(AQUATNET representative and AquaTT Director)

1. Scale and pace of Bologna events
It is worthwhile pointing out that information ABOUT the Bologna seminar programmes is usually posted on the Berlin website (www.bologna-berlin2003.de/en/links/index.htm) but that information FROM the seminars is often very late in arriving, and detailed presentations, rather than over-simplified Powerpoint presentations, are posted even later. This means that unless one has been a participant, it is very difficult to find out what has happened. Sometimes significant conclusions have been reached which will have far-reaching consequences, yet the information is almost impossible to access. This does not accord with the so-called drive towards transparency that is one of the main points of the Bologna process.
I have therefore quoted directly from the documents that I found, for two reasons: a) to guarantee direct dissemination  to the AQUATNET group; b) some of the statements are so unlikely that only direct quotation can do them justice. These direct quotations are shown in italics.
I also present a list of essential documents (Appendix 1) and weblinks (Appendix 2), to facilitate dissemination of relevant information on which AQUATNET members can base their own judgement.

• Since September 8th, there has been at least one and sometimes two, major events every month. These events are major in that they are either:
  official Bologna seminars (whose dates and venues have sometimes been changed from the original postings) (See Table 1)
• official documents from the EU itself giving vital new information or more new decisions (See Appendix 1)
• papers from meetings (ie, EUA) that are also posted on the Bologna site and are at least semi-official (See Appendix 1, 2)

All of these communications serve to:

• push the Bologna Process itself further
• or else shed new light or give new insights into either the process itself (as in the official pronouncements by EU officials from M.Busquin and Ms Reding)
• or delineate the increasingly radical role to be played by universities.

At the time of writing, these all seem to have culminated in the EUA meeting in Graz at the beginning of June, a very important meeting when the official body of European Universities gave their draft response and recommendations concerning the Bologna Process, to be submitted to Berlin in September.

To read more download the full report by highlighting it on the right banner