…while Melbourne moves ahead

UK higher education institutes are lobbying to get the commission to accept the idea of credits based on learning outcomes rather than length of study. But within the UK, Scottish and Welsh universities are already implementing credit systems compatible with the European Commission's system. The Bologna process objectives enthuse many people. George Winckler, president of the European University Association, believes it is already bearing fruit. " Bologna, although a voluntary process underpinned neither by a new treaty nor by any new bureaucracy, has produced great change in higher education in a short space of time, shattering myths that the sector is slow to respond to new social demands, " he says. Other moves are helping to galvanise the process such as that by Melbourne University (see next feature). And other universities are seeking to harmonise and internationalise their courses. Woollagong in Australia have teamed up to offer a BSc degree in international science. Part of the project involves regular video conferencing between students on the three campuses as a way of developing international perspectives on international scientific issues. But establishing the programme, like the Bologna process, was not without its difficulties. Creating an agreed syllabus and forms of assessment that can be used across three different higher education systems has proved difficult. The degree plan was almost abandoned soon after the universities first got together, but now several other universities have asked if they can get involved too. " Few ministers who gathered in Bologna in 1999 to sign the declaration imagined they were setting in motion a reform movement that would have such dramatic impact and lead to a higher education area by 2010 " , says Winckler. " Yet this is now within our grasp. " Earlier this year, the University of Melbourne launched the Melbourne Model, a sweeping range of changes to course and degree structures at the university. The Melbourne Model incorporates the 'three plus two plus three' degree structure outlined by the Bologna process along with elements of the American model of so called 'liberal education' in an effort to provide 'both breadth and depth' to undergraduate degrees. Under the model, students will have a choice of six three-year Professional degrees, including teaching, law and medicine, will become graduate degrees. To introduce greater breadth into undergraduate degrees, at least one quarter of courses taken must be from outside the student's core program, similar to American …