Study on the Diploma Supplement as seen by its users - naric

I.II Organisation of the different stages of the project
The groups met in total four times during the length of the project.
Preparative stage
The Steering Group decided that approximately thirty recently issued Diploma Supplements
from Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences from around twenty countries of the
European Higher Education Area would constitute a sufficient number of examples for the
project. It was clearly recognised at this stage that the chosen Diploma Supplements would
constitute a basis for reflection. This limitation prevents the project group from generalising
conclusions but not from proposing general recommendations and identifying therefore good
practices and areas of improvement. The project group familiarised themselves with the
instructions laid out by the European Commission as well as the template Diploma
Supplement. The ENIC-NARIC offices of Finland, France and Turkey contacted by e-mail,
using a commonly agreed format, institutions in the countries that had been agreed upon by
the Steering Group. All in all, 26 Diploma Supplements from 22 countries were received and
studied.
Cross Reading
The idea of carrying out a cross reading of the Diploma Supplements that allows to compare
the views of the different actors involved in the project was at the heart of the study. For this
reason, the first step involved designing a reading grid in order to clarify the points that were
crucial in the cross reading of the Diploma Supplements. The preparation of this grid was
also an important step used by the group in its’ understanding of the different expectations of
the participating organisations.
Then, the project group read these 26 Diploma Supplements and went through them,
providing comments, in a joint meeting. In addition, the different actors involved were asked
to provide comments on this cross-reading from the perspective of their organisations.
Case Studies
Three site visits were organised in order to discuss and clarify the procedures and
mechanisms in place at higher education institutions when issuing the Diploma Supplement.
The visited higher education institutions included a University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki,
Finland; a University in Ankara, Turkey; and an engineering school in Paris, France. A
common set of questions, agreed by the Steering Group, was presented during these site
visits. The site visits constituted an occasion to hear higher education institutions
expectations on the Diploma Supplement.
Final stage
The final stage included studying the outcomes of the site visits, analysing the crossreadings
of the Diploma Supplements by the different organisations and identifying good
practices from the examples studied.
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