Lemmens The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education Bernd Wächter (ed.) Aca papers on International Cooperation in Education The V irtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education

Stakeholder needs and purposes
Given these differences in virtual education and their likely impact on judge-
ments of what counts as quality, it is important to assess the needs and pur-
poses of quality assurance for three particular groups of stakeholders: stu-
dents, faculty, and partnerships between institutions or between institutions
and companies.
Students are seeking assurance in relation to the reputation and reliability of
providers as well as guarantees that their awards will be recognised by
governments, professional associations and employers. They are also seek-
ing curricular choice, flexibility, relevance and stimulation, all of which have
103

---

implications for the quality and variety of curriculum design. They also seek
accessibility in their choice of education to match their own levels of resource
and skills. They are likely to need on-demand technical and academic sup-
port and providers and their agents will need to take full account of the spe-
cial needs of particular groups of students.
The faculty has different concerns in relation to quality. They are aware of the
costs (and investment) needed for virtual education in terms of time for
development and renewal of programmes, and online support for students.
Virtual education also requires new skills and roles for staff, possibly linked
to new contracts and reward systems. Staff have a requirement for on-going
technical support and will also have concerns about ownership and copyright
of materials used within virtual education programmes.
The quality assurance concerns of institutions and companies are also
important as they choose partners and create joint ventures for the design,
development and delivery of virtual education. Partners will have an interest
in brand and reputation and the quality of programme content. Companies
will want to be assured of the creativity of universities in creating customised
content. They will also be interested in the university’s ability to work globally
and enter new markets and the quality of service offered in terms of cus-
tomer focus, flexibility and responsiveness. Being able to offer and quality
assure a variety of delivery modes, being able to create and deliver pro-
grammes quickly, and being competitive in terms of price are further quality
issues for strategic partnerships.