{"id":125473,"date":"2021-04-14T14:47:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=125473"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:33","slug":"nvao-chair-flierman-steps-down-its-good-if-a-negative-decision-is-handed-down-occasionally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/04\/14\/nvao-chair-flierman-steps-down-its-good-if-a-negative-decision-is-handed-down-occasionally\/","title":{"rendered":"NVAO Chair Flierman steps down: ‘It\u2019s good if a negative decision is handed down occasionally’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you make a lot of enemies if you are tasked with safeguarding the quality of higher education? \u201cYou can\u2019t be everyone\u2019s friend all the time\u201d, NVAO Chair Anne Flierman says. He is stepping down just as the educational certification system is set to be overhauled.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnne Sunderman<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Every study programme in higher education is subject to detailed review once every six years by the Dutch-Flemish accreditation organisation NVAO. Now and then a negative decision on a programme\u2019s quality is handed down, which leads to disappointment and even anger among board members, academic managers and teaching faculty.<\/p>\n

Anne Flierman had the honour of serving as Chair of the NVAO for eight years. Everyone is looking over your shoulder: government and politicians, students and faculty, and governing bodies. \u201cThe more you accommodate one of these parties, the more the others become critical, angry or distrustful. It\u2019s an art to maintain your credibility and everyone\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did he manage to do it? Flierman thinks he did. \u201cWhich doesn\u2019t detract from the fact that people are usually unhappy when you make a negative decision. On rare occasions a board member who has been subject to such a decision will say to you: you people are actually right. But I\u2019ve also had the experience of boards or even associations of universities and universities of applied sciences getting really angry with me. We sometimes also have to disappoint the Ministry of Education. On occasion we have to tell our staff members: we\u2019re not here to be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he doesn\u2019t lie awake at night thinking about it: \u201cIt\u2019s good for the credibility of the system if a negative decision is handed down every now and then. Then there\u2019s more trust that everything is functioning properly when we come out with a positive finding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swallowing objections<\/h2>

However, now, just as Flierman is retiring, there will be big changes to the system of certification. If it is up to outgoing Minister Van Engelshoven, starting in 2024 institutions will be able to perform their own programme reviews. The NVAO will then only check whether they have done it properly.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\tWhy would you ask the butcher to certify his own meat?\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The system of institutional self-accreditation came about after universities had been pressing for the plan for some time<\/a>, but it didn\u2019t happen without resistance. For a long time universities of applied sciences, student organisations, and the governing VVD party were not convinced, because why would you ask a butcher to certify his own meat? Most organisations seem to have swallowed their objections, except for the Dutch Student Union<\/a>. But the House of Representatives and Senate still have to approve the change.<\/p>\n

In the new system, each university and university of applied sciences will be reviewed every six years. And just as with study programme accreditation now, the institutions that are not immediately approved will receive a second chance.<\/p>\n

That one professor<\/h2>

Up until now, boards could wave around a NVAO report if a study programme received a yellow card, but in future they will have to compile such a report themselves. Won\u2019t they be inviting a lot of difficult discussions, perhaps with their most renowned faculty members?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obviously complicated to tell that one professor who won a Spinoza Grant that his or her programme could do with improvements\u201d, Flierman acknowledges. \u201cThere are enough board members who have told me that a negative NVAO review wasn\u2019t really so bad for them. It gave them an external carrot and stick if they thought that some things had to change in a certain study programme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201dIt doesn\u2019t hurt to shake things up once in a while\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

They\u2019re going to have a lot on their plates when the responsibility shifts to institutional accreditation. \u201cBut OK, that\u2019s what they want\u201d, he says. \u201cMoreover, it\u2019s time to make changes to the system. Programme review as we do it now has been through six cycles in the Netherlands. It doesn\u2019t hurt to shake things up once in a while with a new approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

More paperwork<\/h2>

But there are other risks associated with setting up a new system. For example, just as in talent shows no one wants to be the first to be rejected, in the land of higher education no one wants to be the first to fail an institutional certification procedure. \u201cIn future, everyone will be making an all-out effort to clear the first hurdle with room to spare\u201d, Flierman expects. \u201cAfterwards they have to ensure that programme reviews are properly run. There is a high risk that this will greatly increase the amount of work required. The Minister has also flagged this up.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in future board members will have to criticise their own people and<\/em> they will be landed with a big pile of paperwork? \u201cThat is somewhat overstated\u201d, he smiles. \u201cBut with the coming of this new system board members of universities and universities of applied sciences will indeed be taking on a substantial amount of extra responsibility for their own people. And they will be called to account sooner when problems arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Constantly keeping up with the paperwork is the trick for limiting workload from growing out of control, he believes. \u201cMany in the Netherlands are currently busy with their tax returns. Those who have kept orderly records have a much easier time with this than those who have to plough through all their papers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The same holds for accreditation. \u201cAs educational institution, you have to continually make sure you have and can access certain amounts of information on your programmes. Luckily, I\u2019ve spoken to a reasonable number of administrators who say, I just have to press a button \u2013 as it were \u2013 and I can see how all my programmes stand in terms of quality and standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fire brigade function<\/h2>

Accreditation remains a balancing act, Flierman says. \u201cOn the one hand, you have to make sure to respect the autonomy of universities and universities of applied sciences. On the other hand, students, tax payers and government are best served if now and then someone takes a hard look at programme standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

He attaches a great deal of value to the \u2018fire brigade function\u2019 of the NVAO: if something serious suddenly happens in a programme or institution that calls into question the quality of education, then someone has to be able to react quickly.<\/p>\n

In the current system this is scarcely ever the case. That\u2019s because the Minister has to first officially request that the NVAO set up a review. \u201cBefore you can take a decision on such an issue or come to some kind of conclusion, a year or two have passed\u201d, Flierman explains. \u201cThat means that, by the time the finding is handed down the next regular accreditation exercise is on the horizon. In our view, this fire brigade function is not very well organised in the current system.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

It would be best if the NVAO in future gets the opportunity to enter into dialogue with an institution of its own accord if something is going on. Certainly not for the smallest or slightest deficiency, he insists, but only if a really serious problem arises around programme quality. \u201cA typical response from umbrella organisations to this topic is to say, \u2018That\u2019s very nice in theory, but there have to be adequate safeguards put in place.\u2019 That means that these are the kinds of discussions we face in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not one size fits all<\/h2>

He also has the impression that universities are generally more critical of external reviews than universities of applied sciences. He thinks a partial explanation can be found in the dynamic between teaching and research. \u201cResearch accomplishments are usually extremely important for the career prospects of faculty members\u201d, he says. \u201cBut for the outside world, it\u2019s primarily teaching that determines how people evaluate an educational institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

So yes, he does see differences between professional and academic streams of higher education. \u201cBut you can\u2019t use one-size-fits-all for educational institutions. There are universities of applied sciences that are reluctant and others that are quite open, and there are academic universities that are exceptionally transparent and others that are much more distrustful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201dNo lecturer thinks, \r\nI\u2019m going to do a bad job teaching today\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

All in all, Flierman feels he can retire with an easy conscience. In his view, the quality of higher education in the Netherlands has, across the board, reached a high standard. \u201cAnd it would have been that way even without the NVAO. Actually, I don\u2019t know a single lecturer who goes to work in the morning thinking: I\u2019m going to do a bad job teaching today.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, some form of external review \u2013 or even the bare existence of one \u2013 stimulates educational institutions to do their best to design curricula that deliver high quality teaching. \u201cA negative NVAO review does have an impact on your reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baby-sitting service<\/h2>

Flierman considers it a privilege to have been Chair of the NVAO, but it is now time for other activities. \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard my whole life, mostly in managerial positions. I\u2019ve always taken great pleasure in my work, but these were also intense times. So it is good to gradually be able to slow down and do things at a calmer pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the time being he will remain involved with Nuffic, the Netherlands\u2019 organisation for internationalisation in education, and as a regulator for Landschap Overijssel and with Koninklijke Visio, an expertise centre for the blind and visually impaired. His sons are particularly looking forward to \u201cgrandpa\u2019s baby-sitting service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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