Quality management systems for higher education?

Quality, its assurance, management and assessment, has become a topical issue in higher education. This paper outlines some of the issues involved in setting up quality management systems in an educational environment. In discussion of quality audit and assessment in higher education is followed by a brief review of current approaches to quality management in industry. The Engineering Professors´ Conference (EPC) approach to quality assurance in higher education is introduced, to provide a conceptual framework for quality system development. A case study of the implementation of a quality system in one university engineering department is provided. Finally some practical conclusions are drawn, which should help a department set up its own quality system