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Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen mr. dr. Francis de Lanoy, Acting Rector Magnifìcus UNA Postbus 3059 Curaçao
Positief oordeel onder voonraarden over de kwaliteit van de opleiding wo-master Accountancy van de Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen
1.
lnleiding
datum
Bij brief van 12 december 2009 heeft F. de Lanoy, rector magnifìcus van de Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen te Willemstad, de Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie onderwerp (NVAO) verzocht om de opleiding wo-master Accountancy op kwaliteit te toetsen. Het Oordeel nieuwe opleiding wobetreft een opleiding ( ECTS) die op Curacao wordt verzorgd. master 25 september 201 2
Accountancy Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen (000065)
Bij brief van
I
juli 2005 heeft de minister van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap de NVAO
vezocht een oordeel uit te spreken over de kwaliteit van opleidingen die publieke
instellingen voor hoger ondenrvijs op de Nederlandse Antillen of Aruba aan de NVAO Het referentiekader voor dit oordeel vormt het Accreditatiekader bestaande voorleggen. NVAO/201 22536/ND hoger onderwijs dan wel het Toetsingskader nieuwe opleidingen hoger opleidingen bülagen zoals de NVAO in 2003 vastgesteld. Het gaat daarbij evenwel niet om een onderwijs, door I accreditatie dan wel toets nieuwe opleiding in de zin van de Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek (WHW). De instellingen op de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba zijn immers geen instellingen in de zin van die wet. ons kenmerk
De NVAO heeft voor de beoordeling van de aanvraag een panel van deskundigen ingesteld Het panel kende de volgende samenstelling: - Prof. dr. J. Klaassen, emeritus professor Business Economy VU, previously partner of KPMG and ex chair of the Examenbureau Registeraccountants, the predecessor of CEA (also representative of CEA); - Prof. dr. Arco van de Ven is Professor Accounting lnformation Systems at TiasNimbas, the business school of Tilburg University and Eindhoven University of Technology. He is also professor Controlling at the Open University of the Netherlands; - Drs. Lindomar Scoop RA, Chairman KPMG in the Dutch Caribbean & Suriname; - R.P. (Ruud) Verbij (student member), student Technische lnformatica, Universiteit Twente. De beoordeling door het panel van de nieuwe opleiding wo-master Accountancy is verricht aan de hand van het Toetsingskader nieuwe opleidingen hoger ondenrvijs [wo- master] van de NVAO (Toetsingskader; Stcrt. 2OO3,12O).
Op 15 juni 2012heeft het panel advies uitgebracht aan de NVAO
lnlichtingen Frank Wamelink
+31 (0)70 3'12 23 43
[email protected]
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2.
Advies Panel
2.1. Samenvatting bevindingen panel The following considerations have played an important role in the panel's assessment Learning objectives are to a large extend framed by the purpose to prepare for two civil regulated postgraduate academic programs: the post-initial Controlling programme (Register Controller) and the post-initial Accountancy programme (Register Accountant), The programme also has the ambition to provide a preparation for enrolment in US regulated Accountancy Programmes: CMA (Certified management Accountant) and CPA (Certifìed Public Accountant). This will require additional preparation. The end qualifications of both the Master of Science programme is justified by several benchmark procedures and by comparing the qualifications of the graduate with several relevant international standards. This proves that the end qualifications are in line with the expectations of the professional field and in line with comparable established and generally recognized Programmes.
The end qualifìcations of the MSc have a clear link with the professional practice as they comply with the qualiflcations set by the CEA (Commissie Eindtermen Accountantopleiding) and the qualifìcations of the "Vereniging van Register Controllers" (VRC) for entering into post initial post graduate programs to become RA and RC respectively.. The end qualifìcations are definitely formulated at master level. This is corroborated by the fact that the programme is a copy of the accredited programme in Groningen. The panel considers the end qualifications to be well defìned. The programmes present a strong justification of the respective end qualifications. Both in meeting the requirements of the fìeld and in setting the academic level. Additionally the end qualifications are well formulated and provide clear direction for lecturers and students. The panel studied the course outlines and the complementary study materials of both programmes and this confirmed that in general the subject of the course, its assignments and literature used are deflnitely up to the master standard. ln various courses students acquire knowledge resulting from scientific research by studying articles published in scientific journals when preparing for assignments. Students are stimulated to critically reflect on themes in the courses. The panel established that the literature used during the programmes is issued by wellknown publishers in the academic world. The literature list is in accordance with what the panel would expect from a master programme in accountancy. ln the Master of Science programme the main subjects related to the development of research skills are: Advanced Research Methods; Strategy and Organization in Practice and the Master thesis.
lnternationalisation is supported by: English as language of instruction; an international student body; participation in international student exchange programs; international
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exchange between professors and partners with international institutions and participation of staff members in international conferences and seminars The end qualifìcations have been adequately translated into learning goals in the various programme courses.
The panel also tested for the agreement of the programmes with the requirements of CEA. These requirements explicitly define the coverage of (and study time spend on) subject areas. The panel speciflcally analyzed the programme for these requirements and found that three subjects are not covered sufflciently in the Programme. These are:
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Law;
Taxation law and; Management Accounting. The management of the programme and the panel agree on this deficit. The programme directors analysed the curricula during the site visit and confirmed that adjustments have to be made. The programme directors clearly showed the willingness to correct for this lack. The panel assesses the 'Correspondence between the aims and objectives and the curriculum' due to the omissions in the programme mentioned above as unsatisfactory, however this is repairable in short time. The structure and content of the Master of Science programme is influenced by the requirements that are formulated by CEA . These requirements define the subjects educated and provide for the consistency of the Programme.
The programme is demanding, the workload is appropriately distributed over the study years,
The panel considers that the admission requirements meet the standard. Students are properly informed about the content of the programme and the job prospective. There are no obvious obstacles for students that enrol in the programme to meet its demands. Possible deficiencies are actively identified by the programme leadership and suffìcient possibilities to remedy these are in place. The development process of acquiring sufficient academic qualifications by the staff members and initiation of research are crucial for the delivery of both scientific programmes assessed. Additionally the panel observes that the full-time staff is lacking expertise on certain main subjects of accounting and controlling. There are also no research activities in the fields of auditing, financial accounting and management accounting, apart from a few staff members preparing a dissertation. This lack is now fìlled in by guest lectures and international lectures. The current academic qualifications of the full{ime staff and the research environment fall short to bear responsibility for a scientific master Programme. Given this the international guest professors are made responsible for the quality of the Programme. The master programme Accountancy is delivered under supervision of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. The FEB confirmed to be able to carry
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the responsibility for the academic level of the master programme during the partnership period. There are six measures through which the FEB can execute this responsibility: - The UNA master programme is a copy of the accredited master programme as delivered at the RUG. This includes the material made available through the electronic learning environment;
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The core of the six mandatory subject fields are delivered by Dutch professors during the intensive weeks of the course; Local lectures are instructed by the Dutch professors; All exams are developed by FEB; FEB lecturers check corrections of the exams by sample; FEB lecturers will be the first thesis supervrsors.
A programme to enhance the scientific standing of the UNA staff, by providing facilities for research (including the preparation of dissertations) for specific staff members, by hiring more well academically qualified staff and by enhancing research seminars is a prerequisite for the Master programme to be viable in the long run since FEB has indicated that the responsibility for the scientific quality of the programme should be taken over by UNA in the medium term future . ln the case of the Master of Science programme this development model has to guarantee the scientific level and has to compensate for the lack of appropriate academic qualifications of the full{ime staff (the number of PhD holders and professors is too low according to Dutch standards).
Available staff is rather minimal. lf the vacancies are fulfìlled this will improve slightly. The number of guest lecturers also compensates to some extent for this. Although the panel can not overlook the limited resources available, which by defìnition touch on the quality of the staff,it considers that these resources are well managed. There is a professional policy developed on several aspects of the quality of the staff. The panel found no indications that teaching is hampered by the educational or organisational quality of the staff. Next to that the staff brings in relevant and suffìcient linkage with the professional fìeld. UNA invested in the recent years in the implementation of a quality assurance policy that meets the accreditation standards. Several panels and committees in the recent period have confìrmed that the Quality Assurance Policy of UNA meets these standards. For this panel the professional presentation of all documentation related to this application; the disposal of evaluation results, prove of active discussion of the evaluation results and the formulation of relevant improvements are the most important demonstration of a systematic approach.
The panel judges the conditions for continuity to be positive under the condition that the partnership with the RUG and the academic environment develop according to the intentions in the mutual agreement between the RUG and UNA. The panel considers that the arrangement with FEB is indispensible to meet the standards of the NVAO in the case of the Master of Science Programme. lt supports the aims and goals formulated in the agreement between FEB and UNA and believes that the time span for achievement is realistic. Execution of this arrangement is conditional for a positive advise of the panel on the master Programme. At this moment the panel considers that there are sufflcient conditions for continuity of the partnership.
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lf however conditions change and the collaboration ends, the UNA loses the eligibitity to deliver a master Programme. Might that situation occur, the positive advise of the NVAO should be withdrawn. Given these considerations, the panel recommends NVAO to advise positivety under the conditions mentioned above and for the period that these conditions are fulfilled for the the Master of Science in Accountancy at University of the Netherlands Antilles.
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2.2. Schematisch overzicht oordeel panel De onderstaande tabel geeft per onderuerp en per facet het oordeel van het panel weer
Onderwerp
Oordeel
Facet
1 Doelstellingen opleiding
V
1.'l Domeinspecifieke eisen
Oordeel
1.2 Master 1.3 Oriëntatie wo
2 Programma
Voonvaardelijk V
2.1 Eisen wo 2.2 Relatie doelstellingen -
o
2.3 Samenhang programma 2.4 Studielast 2.5 lnstroom 2.6 Duur 3 lnzet van personeel
V
3.1 Eisen wo 3.2 Kwantiteit 3.3 Kwaliteit
4 Voorzieningen
V
4.1 Materiële voorzieningen 4.2 Studiebegeleiding
5 lnterne
V
kwaliteitszorg 6 Condities voor
continuiteit
5.1 Systematische aanpak 5.2 Betrokkenheid
V
6.'l Afstudeergarantie 6.2 lnvesteringen
Voonrvaardelijk
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2.3. Advies van het panel Het panel adviseert de NVAO om een positief oordeel onder voorwaarden vast te stellen ten aanzien van de kwaliteit van de nieuwe opleiding wo-master Accountancy van de Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen. Het panel suggereert om met de UNA de afspraak te maken om binnen een redelijke termijn na te gaan of het proces van het versterken van de onderzoeksomgeving en verbeteren van de academisch kwalificaties van de staf voldoende voortgang heeft.
3. Overwegingen NVAO
3.1. De NVAO heeft vastgesteld 3.
1
.1
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dat de werkwijze van het deskundigenpanel bij de beoordeling van de nieuwe opleiding van de Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen voor de opleiding wo-master Accountancy zorgvuldig en gedegen is geweest. De gevolgde werkwijze en procedure alsmede geraadpleegde informatiebronnen zijn helder en nauwkeurig geformuleerd en vermeld;
3.1
.2.
dat het panel zijn oordeel heeft opgesteld en onderbouwd overeenkomstig het toepasselijke Toetsingskader nieuwe opleidingen hoger onderwijs van de NVAO en de daarbij behorende beslisregels heeft gevolgd. Op het niveau van de facetten zijn de analyses van het panel duidelijk en consistent, en ze leiden tot heldere conclusies. Op het niveau van de ondenruerpen zijn de oordelen over de facetten op juiste en zorgvuldige wijze afgewogen en neergelegd in heldere conclusies.
3.1.3. dat het panel in zijn advies een aantal kanttekeningen heeft opgenomen onder andere ten aanzien van de onderzoeksomgeving en de academische kwalificaties van de docenten. De NVAO onderschrijft deze kanttekeningen van het panel.
3.2.
De NVAO is in het licht van het vorenstaande tot de slotsom gekomen dat het paneladvies over de voorliggende opleiding zorgvuldig en gedegen tot stand is gekomen en dat het eindoordeel deugdelijk is gemotiveerd.
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I 4. Oordeel De NVAO oordeelt positief onder voorwaarden over de basiskwaliteit van de nieuwe opleiding wo-master Accountancy (60 ECTS); voltijdse variant; locatie: Willemstad, Curaçao) van de Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen.
De voo¡vvaarden waaronder dit positieve oordeel van kracht blijft zijn de volgende: a) de samenwetuing met de Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen wordt uitgevoerd in overeenstemming met de brief van 27 maaft 2012 met als onderwerp: "Betrokkenheid FEB/RUG by MSc Accountancy van de UNA" afkomstig van Prof. Dr. J.H. Garretsen, decaan van de Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen gericht aan Prof. Dr. J. Klaassen, vootzitter van het NVAO panel voor de beoordeling van de Accountancy opleidingen van de UNA. Deze brief is als btjlage opgenomen in het panelrapport. b) de NVAO ontvangt voór 1 juni 2014 een schiftelijke evaluatie van de vooftgang van de uitvoeing van het Staff development plan van de Faculteit der Economische en Sociale Wetenschappen van de UNA. Aan de hand van deze evaluatie zal de NVAO beoordelen of, in het licht van de tijdelijke aard van het anangement met de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, ook op termijn het academisch gehalte van de opleidingen gewaarborgd blijft. Het oordeel is van kracht vanaf 25 september 2012 tot en met 24 september 201 8 Den Haag, 25 september 2012 Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie
R.P. Zevenbergen (bestuurder)
