從機構自主性分析高等教育品質保證機構與政府之關係

Balance between Autonomy and Government Regulation of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education

高等教育品質保證機構需要有專業與運作獨立性，以維持評鑑品質。然而，世界各國高教品保機構有許多是由政府設立，少部分由大學集資成立，高教品保機構與政府關係的緊密與否，關係到政府對高等教育政策的推展方式。本研究目的是從機構自主性分析高教品保機構與政府關係之改變及其影響，本研究將機構自主性區分為機構內部做決定的自主性與外部對機構做決定的限制兩方面，研究對象為近年來評鑑內容與策略有重要改變的四國（美、法、澳、我國）的六個高教品保機構。結果發現，四國高教品保機構的自主性均有改變，美國外部自主性小幅減少，法國是內部自主性大幅增加，澳大利亞是內部自主性減少幅度較大，我國則是內、外部自主性均小幅減少。機構自主性的改變，有其背後意涵，由於政治與文化背景的差異，各國政府的政策目標與手段也不相同，如澳大利亞從國家與機構兩層級同時扭轉，藉以實現新政策，法國受到國際影響，政府希望朝向世界潮流改變，對機構內部自主性鬆綁。雖然各國變化不同，但是四國有漸漸朝向相同的發展趨勢，其中美、澳、和我國的高教品保機構與政府關係拉近，但美、澳政府介入是為了促使評鑑朝向績效責任發展，我國政府的介入則是為了讓評鑑朝向學校改進的方向。

The study explores international comparisons of the extent of autonomy of quality assurance agencies in higher education. It has been suggested by European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education that QA agencies should be independent both on their operations and evaluation conclusions. The autonomy of agencies has implications on the way of policy implication in higher education and the accountability of the agencies. The concept of autonomy in study is defined as the level of decision-making competencies (or internal autonomy), and the exemption of constrains on the actual use of decision-making competencies (or external autonomy). This study investigated the changes of autonomy of six quality agencies in four countries, including the United States, France, Australia, and Taiwan. A two-dimensional map was constructed for analysis. The results reveal that the external autonomy of the quality assurance agency in the States is decreasing, the internal and external autonomy of the agencies both in Australia and Taiwan are decreasing, while those of the agencies in France increased. Governments in three countries (US, Australia, and Taiwan) are getting more involved in the relationship with the agencies by different ways, while the agency in France used to have close relationship with government become more autonomous than before. Analysis showed that the changes are from the pressure of three different levels, including agency itself, national level, and international level. The French government tried to adjusted the agencies in order to make compliance with the international standards of quality assurance, the Australia government adjusted QA agency in order to promote the policy of accountability and to let the students with lower economic status could go to universities, while the government in Taiwan tried to move the quality assurance towards university improvement. Agencies are making balances between government regulations and autonomy in the waves of autonomy changes.