| The partners have to agree on the composition of the joint programme team: |
| • Leadership and role of each partner in the team; |
| • Tasks assigned to the team and individual partners. |
Guidelines
Leadership and roles
• The success of a joint master’s is largely dependent on the work of the programme management and the programme team. The programme leader is a university staff member who assumes overall academic and administrative responsibility for the joint master’s degree;
• This responsibility is shared with the other members of the programme team, each representing and engaging his or her partner university;
• In all cases, leadership is of a collegial / consensual nature.
Tasks of the team and individual partners
• The programme team is responsible for all phases of setting up a joint master’s: design, development and implementation. It takes into account institutional and national regulations;
• The programme team determines the admission criteria for the study programme and the admission procedures;
• The programme team acts as an examination committee and determines the examination rules, including the assessment system and the conditions for awarding credits and the joint diploma;
• The university of the course leader is responsible for the (internal) quality assurance of the study programme, while each partner university provides all the data necessary to fulfill this task. Together they develop a procedure for the continuous evaluation of the programme;
• This continuous assessment forms the basis for a formal (national, professional) accreditation on request.
Recommendations
• The team leader involves his university and seeks affiliation with the chosen partners. As a penholder, he must lead the design, development and implementation processes. He invites partners to provide their best input in each phase. The team leader ensures that he receives the educational, organizational and technological support from his faculty and university to lead these processes. Partners do the same on their part;
• The programme team must distinguish the respective phases when setting up a joint master’s programme. Each stage requires a certain amount of time. Depending on the institutional support of the team leader and the partners, the design phase lasts at least three months, followed by a development phase of at least six months after which the programme can be implemented.
next chapter: Ensure (cross-) institutional support
previous chapter: Create the partnership for the joint master’s programme
back to overview: Models and guidelines for the design and development of joint master’s programmes
