sofia university’s experience in implementing the bologna process

SOFIA UNIVERSITY’S EXPERIENCE IN IMPLEMENTING THE BOLOGNA PROCESS

In September 1998 the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation 98/561/ЕС for guaranteeing quality assurance in the area of Higher Education through •the introduction of quality assurance mechanisms in all EU countries•collaboration between the national agencies with a view to achieving quality assuranceOn June 19th 1999 the education ministers signed the so-called Bologna Declaration, creating a Common European Higher Education area. The Bologna Declaration put into concrete terms the principles of the Sorbonne Declaration for Harmonising the Architecture of the European System of Higher Education, signed in Paris on May 25th 1998.

In the past Bulgarian Higher Education institutions needed only•to stay informed about the initiators of the changes in the area of Higher Education in Europe, of their causes and directions. At present they need – to act with an awareness of their role as participants in

these changes– to prove that they can function as equal partners in the

common European Higher Education area.


Reaching the goals set by the Bologna Declaration involves•introducing mechanisms assuring equal quality standards in all university programmes; •awarding ECTS transfer credits

•providing students with marketable knowledge and skills

•making higher education relevant to young people’s needs and opportunities for professional realization within Europe and beyond its borders.


The changes in Bulgarian Higher Education, proceeding from the country’s accession to the EU, resulted in the adoption of

•The Classificator of Higher Education Fields of and Professional Directions

•Regulation No 162 of July 23th, 2002 specifying the State Requirements for the Acquisition of the Educational and Qualification Degrees of “Bachelor” and “Master”•Regulation No 21 of September 30th, 2004 for the implementation of a credit accrual and transfer system in the Higher Education institutions.


For Sofia University’s academic authorities, it became a

task of the highest priority to bring the curricular

documentation and the teaching process into harmony

with the normative requirements. The activities in this

area include:


• I. Approving the new curricula for the Bachelor’s Educational and Qualification Degree in accordance with the Bologna Declaration:

1. The new curricula for the Bachelor’s Educational and Qualification Degree were devised based on

• a 4-year period of study with a total of teaching hours no less that 2,200 hours and no more than 3000 hours;

• a division of the courses into compulsory, offering fundamental and broad-scale preparation within the chosen speciality from the professional direction, elective courses, providing specific knowledge and competences within the scope of the discipline, and optional courses, which enable students to acquire knowledge and skills in various scholarly fields according to their individual interests;


• a State Examination of a Defense of a Final-Year Dissertation to

complete the degree course.

• In the extramural form of education, teaching is based on

contact hours no less than 50% of those for the full-time form of

study

2. The new curricula for the Master’s Educational and Qualification

Degree were designed with a view to the existence of three

basic formats with different periods of study:


• further and more elaborate specialization within the scope of

the knowledge and competences already acquired at the

Bachelor’s degree level – a period of no less than 1 year;

• higher education after secondary education in degree

programmes where only a Master’s degree format has been

envisaged (i.e. the so-called “regulated professions”) – a

period of no less than 5 years;


• Additional broad and interdisciplinary education of graduates who have gone through the two degree levels but in areas other than that of the master’s programme they have applied for – a period depending on the applicant’s earlier preparation and in conformity with Sofia University’s Code of Regulations.

• The courses are divided into compulsory, elective and optional;• the course of education ends with a State Examination of a

Defence of a Final-Year Dissertation;• In the extramural form of education, teaching is based on class

hours not less than 50% of those for the full-time form of study


ІІ. Following a decision of the Academic Council, Sofia

University embarked on the design of an effective and

efficient system of accrual and transfer of ECTS credits. The

system was first put into force in the 2003/2004 academic

year. It was developed using the experience of leading

European universities and in compliance with the decisions

taken at the Sorbonne meeting and the Bologna Declaration.


The development, application and modernization and

updating of the credit system at Sofia University went

through several stages, as can be seen from the relevant

documentation and the minutes of a number of meetings

and seminars held at Faculty and Academic Council

levels. Some of the activities were:


1. Experimental introduction of credits in three faculties of Sofia University: Faculty of Geology and Geography, Faculty of Economics and Faculty of Physics.2. TEMPUS project JEP 12126 with Sofia University in the leading position. It completed its objective to prepare the University for participation in the Socrates/Erasmus programme, to launch an experiment for the introduction of ECTS and to develop a Model Information Packet. 3. In 1998 the first institutional partnership contract was signed between Sofia University and the European Commission, so that in 1999-2000 the University began transferring credits with 33 European partners.


• 4. Project № 8/19.09.2002, entitled “Improving education quality at

Sofia University thogh integration of intellectual and information

resources” lasted to 2004 and was implemented jointly with the

World Bank

• 5. Within the framework of the above project, a working group

produced in 2003 a methodology for the implementation of ECTS. It

was discussed at two seminars with the Vice-Deans and the

concrete opportunities for defining the credit values were finalized;


• 6. The Department for Information and In-Service Training of

Teachers introduced a a specialised system of credit award

within the framework of the Teachers’ continuing education.

The system underwent approbation during a 4-year period.

• 7. ECTS coordinators were appointed for all academic levels:

university, faculty and departmental


• 8. Common documentation formats were adopted for all faculties.

They included registers of information on the credits accrued by the

student as well as various forms, such as academic records,

diplomas, etc.

• 9. Between 2001 and 2005 special efforts went into making fully

functional and efficient, both at university and faculty level, the

administrative structures responsible for selecting students and

enabling student mobility within the Erasmus/Socrates programme.


• ІІІ. ECTS credits at Sofia University represent a relative and not an absolute expression of students’ workload. The credit system at SU has been developed with a view to reflecting:

• 1. the actual amount of input for preparation within each course1. The correlation between the actual amount of input within each course and the total amount of input within the full course of study throughout an academic year, including lectures, seminars, practical work, consultations, research, independent study (in the library, at home, fieldwork), examinations and other forms of assessment.


2. ECTS credits must be allocated for all courses and disciplines within the curriculum.

3. The total number of credits is divided among all courses but credits are awarded only to students who have successfully completed the academic year and have fulfilled the assessment criteria.

4. The number of credits within a course is fixed and is the same for all students who have taken the exam.

5. The ECTS requirement is for 60 credits a year (30 credits per semester).


6. Credits are awarded only when the final course examination

has been passed successfully.

7. In conformity with the new Common State Requirements

for Higher Education, at the Bachelor level 1 credit is granted for

between 9.67 and 12.5 contact hours, if the course of study is a four-

year one:

•1 credit = 12,5 (9,67) contact hours + 17,5 (20,33) non-contact hours

•1 credit = 12,5 (9,67) + 17,5 (20,33) = 30 hours of study


• ІV. Upon Bulgaria’s accession to EU and the ensuing changes

in the normative basis, Sofia University began issuing a

European Diploma Supplement. This increases the students’

employability outside Bulgaria and adds to the

competitiveness of higher education in Europe.


• V. Since Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, Sofia University has

participated in a series of meetings and European initiatives.

It continues to pursue the objective of analysing and applying

the ideas they have produced in order to raise to an even

higher level the knowledge and skills standards of both

undergraduate and graduate students.


• VІ. Problems involved in the implementation of the Bologna

Process:

• - по време на изработването на новите учебни планове;

• In the course of designing the new curricula

• devising a common ECTS methodology applicable across the

university

• The overload in some curricula and the presence of teaching

hours above the required number


• Different number of credits allocated for identically titled

courses within different curricula

• Recognizing the semester in the case of students who have

spent it at a university abroad within the student mobility

framework;

• in certain courses, the absence of criteria for evaluating and

assessing students’ homework


• Sofia University is determined to continue working towards

answering European quality requirements in every aspect of higher

education.

•

• The positive impact of the Bologna Process lies in the willing

cooperation of partners and the diversity of development on a

national level of the principles of the Common European Education

Area. Responsibility and active involvement guarantee its success.


For more information, go to Sofia

University’s website

http://uni-sofia.bg

e-mail: mshishiniova@ biofac.uni-sofia.bg


Thank you


sofia university’s experience in implementing the bologna process

Documents

area of higher education

higher education relevant

education ministers

bologna processin

bologna processreaching

socalled bologna declaration

bologna processthe changes

sorbonne declaration