Quality of rankings in the spotlight

1. Quality of rankings in the spotlight Waldemar Siwinski Vice President IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

2. What is IREG Observatory • IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellenceassociation of ranking organizations, and universities. • Its goal - improvement of the quality of international and national ranking of higher education institutions. • also: • establishing a permanent system of discussion (opened to international community) and evaluation of different rankings, • stimulating exchange of ‘good practice’ in rankings. Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

3. What is IREG Observatory First General Assembly Meeting, Warsaw 2010 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

4. What is IREG Observatory IREG Executive Committee President:Jan Sadlak, f. Director, UNESCO-CEPES, Romania Vice-Presidents:Liu Nian Cai, Center for World-Class Universities, Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Waldemar Siwiński, Perspektywy Education Foundation, Warsaw, Poland Gero Federkeil, CHE-Centre for Educational Development, Gütersloh, Germany Members: Paul Serban Agachi, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Michelle Cooper, Institute for Higher Education Policy Washington, DC, USA Ferdinand Devinsky, Slovak Academic Ranking and Rating Agency (ARRA), Bratislava, Slovakia Sholpan Kalanova, Independent Kazakhstan Quality Assurance Agency in Education, Kazakhstan Olesya Lynovytska, Scientific Research Institute of Applied Technologies, Kiev, Ukraine Marko Marhl, University of Maribor, Slovenia Robert J. Morse, U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, USA Victor Antonovich Sadovnichy, Lomonosov Moscov State University, Russia Managing Director:Kazimierz Bilanow, Poland www.ireg-observatory.org Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

5. What IREG Observatory doing • Main goal – Quality of rankings • IREG Observatory cares about the quality of rankings an it: • organizes international conferences on rankings, • establishes standards of good practice in the field of rankings (see: Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institution), • organizes ranking audits (on voluntary basis), • plays active role, as a consultant in the preparation of new national and international rankings. Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

6. IREG Conferences Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

7. IREG Conferences Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

8. Invitation to London See you in London Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

9. Berlin Principles on Ranking • Be clear about purpose and target groups • Provide clarity about sources • Specify linguistic, cultural, economic, and historical contexts • Be transparent regarding methodology • Pay due attention to ethical standards and good practice • Use audited and verifiable data • Apply measures of quality assurance Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

10. Standards in ranking • IREG RANKING AUDIT • Audit, conducted by independent academic teams: • verifies if a ranking under review is done professionally, observesgood practices and providesstudents, their parents and employers with the information allowing them to compare and assess programs offered by higher education institutions. Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

11. IREG Ranking Audit • Background: • Growing number of national and int’l rankings • Increasing relevance/impact of rankings • Many users lack deep understanding of rankings and their methodologies • Purpose: • Enhance transparency of ranking process • Give users a tool to identify trustworthyrankings • Improve the quality of rankings Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

12. IREG Ranking Audit • General principles: • Overall responsibility lies with IREG Executive Committee • Procedures guarantee maximum transparency andimpartiality • Procedures follow good practices developed in qualityassurance systems (accreditation) • Audit of individual rankings, not of ranking organisations Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

13. The IREG Ranking Audit Process Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

14. First completed audits QS Perspektywy Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

15. First completed audits Awarding ceremony, May 2013 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

16. Wise man motto Albert Einstein: – Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014

17. Thank you Waldemar Siwinski w.siwinski@ireg-observatory.orgwww.ireg-observatory.org Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014 Education and global cities, St. Petersburg, March 2014