Master of Science in Social Policy

Master of Science in

Social Policy Analysis

(IMPALLA)

www.impalla.ceps.lu

Self-evaluation report

APPENDICESDecember 2014

International MSc in Social Policy Analysis by Luxembourg, Leuven

and Associate Institutes Tilburg University, Université de Lorraine and University of Luxembourg

Appendices

to the

IMPALLA Self-evaluation report

SER - MSc Social Policy Analysis@KU Leuven - Appendices │ 1

Contents

0. Introduction appendices 2

Appendix 0-1. Administrative details sheet 3

Appendix 0-2. Creation of the IMPALLA SER – persons involved* 4

Appendix 0-3. Organization chart of the competent administrative bodies 5

Appendix 0-4. Comparison with similar programs abroad* 6

Appendix 0-5. Number of IMPALLA students by country (2002-2014)* 7

1. GQS1 appendices 8

Appendix 1-1. Comparative summary of OLR related to the validated DLR 9


Appendix 2-1. Schematic overview of the curriculum 2014-2015 with ECTS 13

Appendix 2-2. ECTS sheets 14

Appendix 2-3. Curriculum map 15

Appendix 2-4. Teaching and learning methods used in IMPALLA* 16

Appendix 2-5. Number of teaching staff deployed (without extra-curricular teaching) 17

Appendix 2-6. Selected education-relevant publications of the teachers team (prof.)* 18

Appendix 2-7. Overview of tasks and responsibilities of Assistant Professors and of the

IMPALLA secretariat* 22

Appendix 2-8. Overview of activities regarding internationalization 24


Appendix 3-1. Teaching and examination regulations 2013-2014 26

Appendix 3-2. Examination types and formats used in IMPALLA* 27

Appendix 3-3. Master’s Thesis evaluation criteria* 28

Appendix 3-4. List of titles of 30 recent exemplary master theses (last 3 years) 30

4. DHO report on Higher Education 33

5. List of recently implemented improvement measures, including follow-up of

improvements suggested by the previous assessment panel 51


0. Introductionappendices


Appendix 0-1. Administrative details sheet

Opleiding Social Policy Analysis

Afstudeerrichtingen /

Onderwijstaal English

Graad/kwalificatie

Graad/specificatie graad

Master of Science in Social Policy Analysis

Niveau o Vlaamse Kwalificatiestructuur : MA, niveau 7

o Structuurdecreet: MA

o Europese Hoger Onderwijs Ruimte (Dublin): 2de cyclus

o Europees Kwalificatiekader voor een Leven Lang leren: 7

Opleidingstraject voor

werkstudenten

/

Instelling: naam + adres KULeuven

Ouder Markt 13

3000 Leuven

Participerende instellingen /

Participerende internationale

instellingen

CEPS, G.D.Luxembourg

Tilburg University, the Netherlands

Université de Lorraine, France

Université de Luxembourg, G.D.Luxembourg

Bijkomende

opleidingslocaties

Esch-sur-Alzette (Belval)

Studieomvang 60

Recentste accreditatie

termijn (eind)

30/09/2016 (“Einde academiejaar 2015-2016”)

Academiejaar 2013

Studiegebieden Vlaanderen Politieke en sociale wetenschappen

Studiegebieden ISCED Social sciences, Business and Law, Social and behavioural science

Domeinspecifieke

leerresultaten

The following domain specific learning outcomes are at the core of the IMPALLA

master-after-master program:

1. Students recognize and reflect upon actual policy questions from

multidisciplinary frames of thought and of reference that are relevant

for the social policy domain.

2. Students recognize and reflect upon social change in society.

3. Students have knowledge and a clear understanding of the process of

policy making and ensuing policy impact.

4. Students master the empirical social science research process.

5. Students have comparative knowledge and skills in advanced

statistical and methodological concepts and techniques.

6. Students can integrate theoretical, statistical and methodological

knowledge and skills into policy relevant research of their own.

7. Students know how to conduct advanced policy evaluation research.

8. Students consciously and with a sense of societal responsibility

formulate social policy reform measures.

The international character of IMPALLA makes it crucial to add to the above the

following domain specific learning outcomes which are in fact, in Flanders, defined

on master level:

9. Students can report and present research related information, orally

and in written form.

10. Students work constructively together in teams.

11. Students behave in an autonomous and responsible way.


Appendix 0-2. Creation of the IMPALLA SER *

IMPALLA gathers feedback from its students through regular formal and informal meetings with student

representatives, from course and exam evaluations by all students after every exam (“course evaluation

survey” – CES and “exam evaluation survey” - EES), from the Annual Staff Meeting, and from the annual

online survey about all aspects of the program (“online student survey” – OSS). IMPALLA thus generates

from the students feedback on both course and program level.

Most of the regular communication with alumni is conveyed through Facebook. At the occasion of the “10

years anniversary IMPALLA conference” in 2013, the program took the opportunity to conduct an alumni

career survey. A second, online, career and program survey took place in August 2014 (“online alumni

survey” – OAS).

In addition, the focus group1 that was organised specifically in view of the IMPALLA evaluation process, also

allowed useful feedback from both students and alumni, as well as from external experts and

representatives of the vocational field.

Meetings of the Steering Committee, of the Educational Committee, and of the Annual Staff Meeting were

used for formal exchange of information among staff about the (interim results in the) evaluation process.

In addition to this, Program Director, AP and administrative staff meet informally on a regular basis (about

every two or three weeks). Because of the international composition of staff, email is also used to a large

extent.

The creation of this report also included regular meetings with POC subcommittee SER Sociology2, and

with members of KULeuven Educational Policy and Quality unit.

The following persons were involved in the creation of the IMPALLA self-evaluation report to a high extent:

o IMPALLA program director; prof. J. Berghman († October 2014) – prof. W. van Oorschot (acting

Program Director)

o Members of the IMPALLA Steering Committee;

o Chair: prof. J. Berghman († October 2014) – prof. W. van Oorschot (acting Program

Director)

o members: prof. J. Hagenaars (Tilburg University, the Netherlands), prof. J.C. Ray (Université

de Lorraine, France), prof. J.-P. Lehners (Uni.lu, G.D.Luxembourg), H. Schneider (CEPS,

G.D.Luxembourg)

o IMPALLA Assistant Professors; dr. C. Lomos and dr. M. Vandamme

o IMPALLA program manager; E. Zana-Nau

o Student representatives of the 2013-2014 cohort; S. Girardi and A. Carroll

o Student representatives of the 2014-2015 cohort; L. Castelein and P. Balasubramanian

o Faculty evaluation support team; K. Hutsebaut and M. Vaningelghem

o A. Verhagen from the KU Leuven Educational Policy and Quality unit

The international officer for IMPALLA at KU Leuven, E. Brungs, has coordinated all activities related to the

report.

1 Focus group on March 11, 2014 in Brussels, with students, alumni, representatives of the vocational field and

national and international experts with the support of VLIR. 2 The « Subcommissie ZER sociologie » resides under the « permanente onderwijscommissie (POC) sociologie » and is

described in the SER Master in Sociology.


Appendix 0-3. Organization chart of the competent administrative bodies

Appendix 0-4. Comparison with similar programs abroad*

Programs were considered in this benchmark if they are:

• offered at (advanced) master level

• focusing on social policy (issues and/or research methodology and/or evaluation of social policy)

• leading to similar career paths as IMPALLA does

IMP

ALL

A

Ba

th

Ca

mb

rid

ge

Lon

do

n

So

c. P

ol

Lon

do

n

So

c. P

ol.

Re

s.

Lon

do

n

Po

l.

Ev

alu

ati

on

Ox

ford

Sh

eff

ield

S.-

Ha

mp

ton

Yo

rk

Am

ste

rda

m

Utr

ech

t

De

nm

ark

Osl

o

Lin

z

Years 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 terms 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2

ECTS 60 90 180 90 90 90 ? 180 60 60 60 60 120 90

Theory √

(17ECTS)

no √ √ √ no √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

(45ECTS)

Research methods √ √ Hardly √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ (15ECTS)

Quantitative √

(21ECTS)

√ √ √ √ √ less √ √ (5ECTS)

Qualitative No √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ (5ECTS)

Evaluative No √

Policy analysis/

evaluation

√

(3ECTS)

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Mandatory ECTS/

Optional ECTS

57/

3

3courses/

rest

3courses/

rest

All/

1

105/

15

equal 20/

40

equal All/

0

Most/

some

100/

20

75/

15

Internship incl. 3month

Abroad incl. √ (at

partner)

1sem √ (at

partner)

Thesis ECTS 16 60 √ 23 6month √ 50 10

comparative √ √ √ √ √ √

European √ √ √ √ √

international √ √ √ √

local √ √ √ √

Req. Diploma 4yBA/MA 3yBA 3yBA 3yBA 3yBA 3yBA BA/MA 3yBA 3yBA 3yBA BA BA BA BA BA/MA/

DIPLOMA

Req. Eng IELTS 7 7 6.5 6.5 7 7 7.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6 6.5

Niche Econo-

metrics

Health

focus

Joint

Distance-

learning

Appendix 0-5. Number of IMPALLA students by country (2002-2014)*


1. GQS1appendices


Appendix 1-1. Comparative summary of OLR related to the validated DLR

First cluster in the IMPALLA graduate profile : the policy expert

DLR 1. Students recognize and reflect upon actual policy questions from multidisciplinary frames

of thought and of reference that are relevant for the social policy domain.

OLR 1.1. The graduate has general knowledge about substantive theories regarding social policy

and social security, as well as good and comparative knowledge of the social security

systems/regimes in the European Union.

OLR 1.2. The graduate can autonomously compare and assess the relevant concepts and

reasonings of various theoretical approaches in different social policy domains.

OLR 1.3. The graduate can assess the significance of concepts and reasonings of various

theoretical approaches for complex social policy questions.

DLR 2. Students recognize and reflect upon social change in society.

OLR 2.1. The graduate can identify, describe, contextualize and reformulate social changes most

relevant for the social policy domain, in different societies.

OLR 2.2. The graduate can integrate different theoretical insights to assess social change,

developments and transformations and their impact on social policy.

DLR 3. Students have knowledge and a clear understanding of the process of policy making and

ensuing policy impact.

OLR 3.1. The graduate has the skills to recognize the influence of policy agents and the

interdependence of governance levels in the elaboration of social policy.

OLR 3.2. The graduate has advanced theoretical knowledge of changes in all aspects of the

policy cycle; from the frame of reference for society reform through policy, over

decision making, to policy outcomes and, ultimately again, their effects on societies.

OLR 3.3. The graduate can apply theoretical insights in the policy cycle in order to critically

reflect upon the role of policy making in the mutual influence of social transitions and

social policy measures.

OLR 3.4. The graduate can apply critical reflections on the role of policy making to the European

level, and use them as a steppingstone towards their application to other international

contexts.

Second cluster in the IMPALLA graduate profile : the researcher

DLR 4. Students master the empirical social science research process

OLR 4.1. The graduate has advanced and specialized knowledge about the different steps in the

empirical social science research process.

OLR 4.2. The graduate can argue on the social scientific relevance of complex problems in the

“real world” and their disentanglement in researchable sub-problems.

OLR 4.3. The graduate can discuss the quality of concrete research questions and answers.

OLR 4.4. The graduate can critically evaluate the reliability and relevance of data and

bibliographical resources.

OLR 4.5. The graduate can identify and evaluate meaningful, nontrivial research from its

contribution to finding solutions to concrete present-day problems in different

unpredictable, complex or specialized settings.


DLR 5. Students have comparative knowledge and skills in advanced statistical and

methodological concepts and techniques.

OLR 5.1. The graduate can explain basic as well as advanced statistical and analytical concepts.

OLR 5.2. The graduate is able to identify the potentialities and limits of datasets for particular

analyses, especially regarding cross-national comparability.

OLR 5.3. The graduate has specialized insight in the strong and weak points of different

statistical analysis software packages.

DLR 6. Students can integrate theoretical, statistical and methodological knowledge and skills

into policy relevant research of their own.

OLR 6.1. The graduate can operationalize complex social problems into policy related research

questions.

OLR 6.2. The graduate can handle existing databases in terms of extracting the right kinds of

data that are relevant for his/her research.

OLR 6.3. The graduate can substantially decide upon the most adequate statistical method in

critical reflection on the research questions to be answered and in relation to the

nature of certain kinds of data.

OLR 6.4. The graduate can handle the statistical software packages in a well-reasoned way to

carry out the needed statistical analyses.

Third cluster in the IMPALLA graduate profile : the policy analyst

DLR 7. Students know how to conduct advanced policy evaluation research.

OLR 7.1. The graduate has advanced knowledge of the methods, techniques and stages in policy

evaluation.

OLR 7.2. The graduate can use his/her knowledge regarding policy evaluation to compare and

critically reflect upon the strong and weak points of policy evaluations.

OLR 7.3. The graduate can integrate theoretical insights about policy evaluation with critical

reflections on actual policy evaluations into a thorough policy analysis of their own.

OLR 7.4. The graduate can seize the opportunities to exceed discipline and domain specific

boundaries in order to improve his/her own research.

EA 7.5. The graduate develops an enthusiastic research attitude.

DLR 8. Students consciously and with a sense of societal responsibility formulate social policy

reform measures.

OLR 8.1. The graduate takes own initiative in gathering, contextualizing, and synthesizing

information about recent trends in social policy reform.

OLR 8.2. The graduate can actively follow and critically assess academic as well as societal

debates on policy reform.

OLR 8.3. The graduate can contribute in a creative and original way to interpreting research

outcomes and explaining data patterns as well as the factors behind them

OLR 8.4. The graduate can use his/her knowledge about recent social policy reform in order to

formulate advices for policy improvement to social actors in the “real world”, including

paying attention to the conditions for their implementation.


Fourth cluster in the IMPALLA graduate profile : the communicator

DLR 9. Students can report and present research related information, orally and in written form.

EA* 9.1. The graduate can reason in the abstract.

OLR 9.2. The graduate can formulate critical questions, arguments and own ideas.

OLR 9.3. The graduate can participate actively in discussions and debates.

OLR 9.4. The graduate can report and present complex research results in a structured way and

adapted to the level of the audience.

DLR 10. Students constructively work together in teams.

EA* 10.1. The graduate can collaborate in international and interdisciplinary teams in order to

achieve a well-structured collective output.

EA* 10.2. The graduate has an open research attitude and takes initiative in giving and asking for

critically formulated feedback.

EA* 10.3. The graduate is able to incorporate feedback from others in own and/or collective

work.

DLR 11. Students behave in an autonomous and responsible way.

OLR 11.1. The graduate can reformulate assignments and expectations to personal priorities,

and conscientiously organize and elaborate his/her activities around them.

EA* 11.2. The graduate can pro-actively deal with activity schedules in view of efficiency and

effectivity.

OLR 11.3. The graduate respects rules of academic integrity and intellectual property.

EA* 11.4. The graduate has an attitude of lifelong learning.

* EA = Expressive aims. EA describe the objectives pursued in the field of students’ personal development

and according to which learning opportunities are offered. They are evaluated, but take into account the

personal interpretation within each student.


2. GQS2appendices


Appendix 2-1. Schematic overview of the curriculum 2014-2015 with ECTS

Semester term ECTS

Integrative Group

Integrative Statistics I 3

Integrative Social Sciences I 7

TA - Basic Economics (1,8)

TA - New Social Developments and Theories (1,6)

TA - Concepts of Social Policy (1,8)

TA - Labour Market Policy (1,8)

Socio-Economic Policy group

Social Problems and Reforms - Seminar 8

TA - Seminar 1: Preparing Analysis II (4)

TA - Seminar 2: Analyses and Scales III (4)

Social Policy II 3

Welfare Regimes and Inequality: Comparative Stratification and Cohort Sustainability

in Europe

III 4

Policy Evaluation group

The Policy Cycle II 3

Evaluation Techniques and Tools III 3

Statistics & Research group

Statistics & Research Methods -Part I II 5

Statistics & Research Methods -Part II II 5

Master Thesis

Master's Thesis IV 16

Optional Courses

Performance Audit in Social Policy III 3

Applied Methodology: How To Do Relevant Research III 3

Course on social geography* III 3

* up till 2013-2014, the MSc of Geography at KULeuven offered “The Political Economy of Urban Development” as a

compulsory course in its speciality “Space and society”. In IMPALLA, this course was integrated in the optional track.

Following the changes to the 2014-2015 MSc of Geography program, this course is no longer offered there. IMPALLA

could not find an alternative second semester course with comparable content in the MSc in Geography. By

consequence, the IMPALLA Steering Committee had to decide that an optional course on social geography could not

be offered in 2014-2015, and that a new course would be developed by 2015-2016.


Appendix 2-2. ECTS sheets

Students are informed about content and structure of the curriculum through the ECTS-sheets available in

the online KULeuven program guide and in the printed student handbook. Additionally, in Belval as well as

in Leuven (through a VPN connection), students have access to the SCHOOL-drive on the CEPS server for

access to course material such as literature and slides from the professors, to about 30 different

international and comparative databases, to an exchange folder, and to general academic information. Also

the KULeuven Toledo system, a course-centred digital learning platform, is frequently used to communicate

about course goals, expectations and assignment deadlines and to provide students with literature and

slides.

http://onderwijsaanbod.kuleuven.be/2014/opleidingen/e/CQ_50268878.htm

Appendix 2-3. Curriculum map

Appendix 2-4. Teaching and learning methods used in IMPALLA*

2014-2015

teaching

method learning methods

graduate

profile

focus

course interactive

lecture excursion

peer

instruction

exercises or

assignments

in class

group

work

oral

presentations discussion

computer

sessions

exp

ert

OLR

1-2

-3

B-KUL-SOC26a*

Integrative social sciences - New Social

Developments and Theories

lecture x x

B-KUL-SOC27a*

Integrative social sciences - Concepts of Social

Policy

lecture x x

x

B-KUL-SOC50a*

Integrative social sciences - Labour Market Policy lecture x

x

B-KUL-S0A04A*

Social Policy lecture x

x

x x

B-KUL-S0A08A*

The Policy Cycle lecture x x x x

an

aly

st O

LR 7

-8

B-KUL-SOC25a*

Integrative social sciences - Basic Economics lecture x x x

B-KUL-S0A09B*

Evaluation Techniques and Tools lecture

x x

B-KUL-S0A10A*

Performance Audit in Social Policy lecture x x x

rese

arc

he

r O

LR 4

-5-6

B-KUL-S0A00B*

Integrative Statistics practical x x x x x x

B-KUL-S0A06A*

Statistics & Research Methods - Part I practical x

x

x x x

B-KUL-S0A07A*

Statistics & Research Methods - Part II practical

x

x x

B-KUL-S0G04A*

Welfare Regimes and Inequality lecture x

x x

B-KUL-S0E71A*

Applied Methodology assignment

x x x

B-KUL-S0A03a*

Workshop 1: Understanding the research process practical

x

x

B-KUL-S0A03a*

Workshop 2: Preparing datasets for empirical

analysis

practical

x

x

B-KUL-S0A03a*

Workshop 3: Regression analysis practical

x

x

B-KUL-S0F76a*

Workshop 4: Measuring individual well-being practical

x x x x x

B-KUL-S0F76a*

Workshop 5: Thinking about different levels of

analysis in social policy research

practical x x x

ALL B-KUL-S0A11A*Master's Thesis master thesis x x


Appendix 2-5. Number of teaching staff deployed (without extra-curricular teaching)

Status Last Name First Name University/Department FTE in

Leuven

ECTS in

IMPALLA

Gewoon

hoogleraar

Bouckaert Geert KULeuven/Public Governance Institute 1 3

Brans Marleen KULeuven/Public Governance Institute 1 3

van Oorschot Wilhelmus KULeuven/CeSO 1 3

Hoogleraar Pulignano Valeria KULeuven/CeSO 1 0,9

Docent Meuleman Bart KULeuven/CeSO 1 3

Guest

professor

Chauvel Louis University of Luxembourg 0,05 4

D'Ambrosio Conchita University of Luxembourg 0,05 3

Emons Wilco Tilburg University 0,05 1,5

Gazier Bernard Sorbonne 0,05 0,9

Gelissen Jean Tilburg University 0,05 2,5

Hagenaars Jacques Tilburg University 0,05 7

Moors Guy Tilburg University 0,05 2,5

Ray Jean-Claude Université de Lorraine 0,05 0,67

Reinstadler Anne CEPS 0,05 1,34

Vermunt Jeroen Tilburg University 0,05 2,5

Williams Donald Kent State University 0,05 1,8

Other SAS Berghman Jozef KULeuven/CeSO 0 1,8

Lammertyn Frans KULeuven/CeSO 0 1,6

Support and

guidance

staff

Lomos Catalina CEPS 0,1 8,67

Valentova Marie CEPS 0,05 0,67

van Damme Maike CEPS 0,1 8,67

Verschraegen Gert University of Antwerp 0 1

Gender Age category

M V 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-65 >65 TOTAL

SAS and guest professors 14 4 2 7 4 2 3 18

Support and guidance staff 1 3 3 1

4

TOTAL 15 7 5 8 4 2 3 22

Notes:

• FTE = fulltime equivalent

• SAS = Senior Academic Staff (“ZAP”)

• The staff of the optional course on social geography is not included in the calculations here, as it

could not be offered in 2014-2015 (see appendix 2-1)


Appendix 2-6. Selected education-relevant publications of the teachers team (prof.)*

Jos Berghman • Berghman J., Debels A. & Van Hoyweghen I. (2013). “Prevention: the cases of

social security and healthcare”. In B. Greve (Ed.) The Routledge handbook of the

Welfare State. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 47-58.

• Peeters H., Debels A., Verschraegen G. & Berghman J. (2008). Flexicurity in

Bismarckian Countries. Old-age protection for nonstandard workers in Belgium.

Journal of Social Policy, 37(1), pp. 125-143.

• Berghman J. (July 2007). Social protection revisited in Lisbon. In Perspectives on

employment and social policy coordination in the European Union (pp. 103-114).

Guimaraes: Ministério do trabalho e da solidariedade social.

• Berghman J., e.a. (2005). Social protection globalised. Leuven: Universitaire

Pers Leuven [Sociologie Vandaag / Sociology Today, vol. 9].

• Sakellaropoulos T. & Berghman J. (Eds.) (2004). Connecting welfare diversity

within the European social model. Antwerpen/Oxford/New York: Intersentia.

[Social Europe Series, vol. 9].

Marleen Brans • Bogason P. & Brans M. (2008). "Making Public Administration teaching and

theory relevant". European political science, (7),1.

• Brans M., de Visscher C. & Vancoppenolle D. (2006). "Administrative Reform in

Belgium: Maintenance or Modernization?" West European Politics, (29), 5, pp.

979-998.

• Brans M., De Winter L. & Swenden W. (Eds. 2006). "The Politics of Belgium".

West European Politics. Special issue, 29(5), pp. 863-1092.

• Brans M., Pelgrims C. & Hoet D. (2006). "Comparative observations on tensions

between professional policy advice and political control in the Low Countries".

International Review of Administrative Sciences, 72(1), pp. 57-71.

• Brans M. & Maes R. (2002). "The Low Countries between Divergence and

Convergence. Comparative Observations on two Consensus Democracies". In:

Hendriks F. & Toonen T. (eds.), Polder Politics. Viscous State or Model Polity.

Aldershot: Ashgate.

Louis Chauvel • Chauvel L. (in press). "The Intensity and Shape of Inequality: The ABG Method

of Distributional Analysis". Review of income and wealth.

• Chauvel L. & Smits F. (in press). "The endless baby-boomer generation: Cohort

differences in participation in political discussions in nine European countries in

the period 1976-2008". European Societies.

• Chauvel L. (in press). "Specificity and consistency of cohort effects : the APCD

model applied to generational inequalities, France-United States, 1985-2010".

Revue francaise de sociologie, english version.

• Chauvel L. & Schroeder M. (2014). "Generational Inequalities and Welfare

Regimes". Social Forces, 92(4), pp. 1259-1283.

• Chauvel L. (2014). Le destin des générations; structure sociale et sohortes en

France du XXe siècle aux années 2010. Paris : Presses universitaires de France.

Conchita d'Ambrosio • d'Ambrosio C. & Bossert W. (forthcoming). “Measuring Economic Insecurity”.

International Economic Review.

• d'Ambrosio C., Bossert W. & Chakravarty S.R. (2012). “Poverty and Time”.

Journal of Economic Inequality, 10, pp. 145-162.

• d'Ambrosio C. & Frick J.R. (2012). “Individual Well-Being in a Dynamic

Perspective”. Economica, 79, pp. 284-302.

• d'Ambrosio C. & Chakravarty S.R. (2010). “Polarization Orderings of Income

Distributions”. Review of Income and Wealth, 56, pp. 47-64.

• d'Ambrosio C. & Imanishi Rodrigues R. (2008). “Deprivation in the São Paulo

Districts: Evidence from 2000”. World Development, 36, pp. 1094-1112.

Bernard Gazier • Gazier B. & Gautie J. (2011). The Transitional Labour Markets Approach: Theory,

History and Future Research Agenda. Journal of Social and Economic Policy,


14(1), Article 6.

• Gazier B. (ed) (1999). Employability. Concepts and Policies. Berlin: Institute for

Applied Socio-Economics.

• Schmid G. & Gazier B. (eds) (2002). The dynamics of Full Employment. Social

Integration through Transitional Labour Markets. Edward Elgar.

• Gazier B. (2005). Vers un nouveau modèle social. Paris: Flammarion.

Jacques Hagenaars • Bergsma W., Croon M. & Hagenaars J. A. (2009). Marginal Models for

dependent, clustered, and longitudinal categorical data. New York: Springer

Verlag.

• Arts W., Hagenaars J. & Halman L. (Eds.) (2003) The Cultural Diversity of

European Unity. Leiden: Brill, Pp. 492 (ISBN 9004122990).

• Hagenaars J.A. & Allan L. McCutcheon (Eds.) (2002). Applied Latent Class

Analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 476 (ISBN 0-521-

59451-0).

Frans Lammertyn • Hustinx L. & Lammertyn F. (2004). The cultural bases of volunteering:

understanding and predicting attitudinal differences between Flemish Red

Cross volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(4):548-584.

• Hermans K., Declercq A., Seynaeve T. & Lammertyn F. (2004). A la lisière de

l'état social actif, une étude sociobiographiques sur les jeunes et l'aide des

CPAS. Revue belge de Sécurité Sociale, 46(2), 295-3334.

• Hustinx L. & Lammertyn F. (2003). Collective and reflexive styles of

volunteering: A sociological modernization perspective. Voluntas: International

Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 14(2): 167-187.

Bart Meuleman • Davidov E., Duelmer H., Schlueter E., Schmidt P. & Meuleman B. (2013). Using a

Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Explain Cross-Cultural

Measurement Noninvariance. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.

• Missinne S., Meuleman B. & Bracke P. (2013). The popular legitimacy of

European health care systems: a multilevel analysis of 24 countries. Journal of

European Social Policy.

• Schlueter E., Meuleman B. & Davidov E. (2013). Immigrant Integration Policies

and Perceived Group Threat: A Multilevel Study of 27 Western and Eastern

European Countries. Social Science Research.

• Callens M., Valentová M. & Meuleman B. (2013). Do attitudes towards the

integration of immigrants change over time? A comparative study of natives,

second-generation immigrants and foreign-born residents in Luxembourg.

Journal of International Migration and Integration.

• van Oorschot W. & Meuleman B. (2012). Welfarism and the

multidimensionality of welfare state legitimacy: evidence from The

Netherlands, 2006. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(1), pp. 79-93.

Valeria Pulignano • Arrowsmith J. & Pulignano V. (2013). The Transformation of Employment

Relations in Europe: Institutions and Outcomes in the Age of Globalisation,

London: Routledge.

• Pulignano V., Martinez Lucio M. & Walker S. (2013). Globalization,

Restructuring and Unions: Transnational Co-ordination and Varieties of Labor

Engagement. In: Industrial Relations, 68(2), pp. 261-289.

• Pulignano V. & Stewart P. (2013) “Understanding union responses to the

management of change in Europe”. In: Work, Employment and Society, 27 (5),

pp. 842-859.

• Pulignano V. & Doerflinger, N. (2013). “A head with two tales? Trade unions'

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• Pulignano V. & Keune M. “Institutional Variation and the Governance of the

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Accountability in Democratic Government, Edward Elgar, pp. 75-94.

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Claude

Ray • Bourreau-Dubois C., Doriat-Duban M. & Ray J-C (2012). Child support order:

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European Journal of Law and Economics, Nov. 2012.

• Reinstadler A. & Ray J-C. (2010). Macro determinants of individual income

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Appendix 2-7. Overview of tasks and responsibilities of Assistant Professors and of the IMPALLA

secretariat*

Responsibilities of the IMPALLA Assistant Professors (Dr. C. Lomos & Dr. M. van Damme)

1. Admission procedure

• Correction of self-test in statistics and research methods

2. Program administration

• Participation in meetings of the Educational Committee and of the Annual Staff Meeting

3. Teaching and assistance in teaching

• Teaching in summer course in Statistics, software and data introduction sessions, sessions on

academic writing, oral presentation and plagiarism, ad hoc sessions during the thesis period

• Organization and coordination of Seminar Workshop 1

• Assistance to statistics courses and seminar workshops

4. Daily support to students and graduates

• Coordination with CEPS IT department about software availability to students

• Ombuds and monitoring exams

• Assistance to students for all questions related to IMPALLA courses (“monitoraat”)

• Assistance to graduates in their doctoral projects and proposals

5. Promotional activities

• Revision and updating of promotional material

• Participation in student fairs and at other promotional occasions

• Organization and participation in special events such as the IMPALLA conferences

6. Consultation and co-supervision of theses, including review of the starting reports

7. Personal research activities, publication of articles and contribution to the portfolio of scientific research

of CEPS/INSTEAD

Joint responsibilities of the Program Manager in Belval (Ms. Esther Zana-Nau) and the International

Officer in Leuven (Ms. Elke Brungs)


• Preparation of candidates’ profile, and discussion in IMPALLA Selection Committee


• Organization of and participation in the Annual Staff Meeting

• Participation in meetings of the Steering Committee and of the Educational Committee

• Arranging course and examination schedules

• Administration regarding exam results and communication to students

3. Student administration

• Ombuds: at the disposal of everyday students’ academic, administrative and personal needs,

including exam issues

• Archiving student examinations

• Contacts with alumni and developing the alumni network


• Revision and updating of promotional material

• Participation in student fairs and at other promotional occasions

• Organization of special events such as the IMPALLA conferences

5. Other

• Organization of accommodation for students and professors

• Organization of dinners, social and cultural activities and academic trips


Additional responsibilities of the International Officer in Leuven (Ms. Elke Brungs)

1. Admission and registration procedure

• Administration regarding accepted and rejected candidates with KULeuven International Office

• Administration regarding registration of students at KULeuven student registration office


• Submission and follow up of program changes

• Follow up of official information on the program, such as ECTS course profiles

• Maintenance of Toledo website for all IMPALLA courses


• Student information sessions about KULeuven enrolment matters, and about access to library of

Social Sciences in Leuven

• Preparation of academic reference letters

• Plagiarism control of student assignments through Turnitin

• Maintenance of IMPALLA Facebook page for students and alumni (and staff)


• Maintenance of IMPALLA website on CEPS host

5. Evaluation and accreditation

• Handling administration and follow up of protocol

• Writing the Annual Internal Evaluation Report

• Preparing the visits of external evaluation commission members

• Accreditation request

6. Bi-certification KULeuven – Uni Luxembourg; meetings and follow up of protocol

Additional responsibilities of the Program Manager in Belval (Ms. Esther Zana-Nau)


• Follow-up of IMPALLA grants to accepted students

• Preparation of administrative and financial documents before arrival of students


• Preparation of and making available the preliminary readings

• follow-up of bills and payments together with the Accountancy Department

• Preparation and revision of all administrative and academic documents for the starting day

• Maintenance of CEPS server for availability of documents to IMPALLA staff and students

• Organization and follow up of thesis meetings, thesis topics and starting reports

• Coordination with CEPS IT team


• Informing students about ad hoc changes and outcomes of the Educational Committee meetings

• Organization of election of students’ representatives and regular contacts with them


• Developing and archiving the IMPALLA network: participation to conferences, travels to meet

partners, oral presentations at universities or at special events, etc.

5. Evaluation

• Organisation of internal course evaluations by the students and sending the results to respective

teachers and Program Director for follow-up

• IMPALLA annual reports


Appendix 2-8. Overview of activities regarding internationalization

Internationalization is at the core of the IMPALLA program. As was described in this ZER (Introduction, § 8),

it is visible on different levels:

• the program is a consortium embracing Belgium, G.D.Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France;

• the institutes in the consortium have an international focus themselves;

• teaching staff is internationally recruited;

• students take courses partly in G.D.Luxembourg and partly in Belgium;

• student population is very international, all continents are represented;

• IMPALLA facilitates international networking of students, alumni, professors and research staff in

the consortium through Facebook, conferences, etc.

Occasionally, PhD students from other universities are accepted to take some of the IMPALLA courses.

As such, student and teaching staff mobility is intrinsic in the program.


3. GQS3appendices


Appendix 3-1. Teaching and examination regulations 2013-2014

http://www.kuleuven.be/education/regulations/index.php?acjaar=2013&faculteit=50000243

Appendix 3-2. Examination types and formats used in IMPALLA*

course type written oral paper take-home presentation Participation process evaluation

B-KUL-S0A00B Integrative Statistics continuous + exam x x

B-KUL-S0A01E Integrative Social Sciences continuous + exam

Integrative Social Sciences - Basic Economics x x

Integrative Social Sciences - New Social Developments and

Theories x

Integrative Social Sciences - Concepts of Social Policy x

Integrative Social Sciences - Labour Market Policy x

B-KUL-S0A04A Social Policy continuous x

B-KUL-S0G04A Welfare Regimes and Inequality continuous x x x

B-KUL-S0A03D Social Problems and Reforms - Seminar continuous + exam

Workshop 1: Understanding the research process x

Workshop 2: Preparing datasets for empirical analysis x

Workshop 3: Regression analysis x

Workshop 4: Measuring individual well-being x x

Workshop 5: Thinking about different levels of analysis in social

policy research x

B-KUL-S0A08A The Policy Cycle continuous x x

B-KUL-S0A09B Evaluation Techniques and Tools continuous + exam x x x

B-KUL-S0A06A Statistics & Research Methods - Part I exam x

B-KUL-S0A07A Statistics & Research Methods - Part II exam x

B-KUL-S0A11A Master's Thesis continuous x x x

B-KUL-S0A10A Performance Audit in Social Policy continuous x x

B-KUL-S0E71A Applied Methodology continuous x x


Appendix 3-3. Master’s Thesis evaluation criteria*

1. Theory and hypotheses (1/5 of the final grade)

• Research question

Very clear & specific Clear & specific Clear Lacking clarity & focus

• Review of previous work

Meticulous & critical

evaluation of explicitly

related work

Comprehensive reading &

evaluation of clearly

related work

Wide and satisfactory

reading on a topic,

satisfactory evaluation

Poor synthesis or/and use

of irrelevant work

2. Methodology and empirical analysis (2/5 of the final grade)

• Appropriateness (and justification) of the method chosen:

• Excellent & insightful Comprehensive & persuasive Adequate Inadequate

• Data Management

Excellent and largely

independent preparation of

data

Good and systematic

preparation of the data

Acceptable: Procedure with

some errors regarding

missing data, recoding of

variables, and others

Poor: No reference to data

management steps, such as

missing data or recoding

• Analysis

Excellent data analysis:

thorough, accurate, with

best available technique;

independently achieved

Strong and systematic:

largely thorough, accurate

with valid analytical

technique achieved with

feedback from supervisors/

APs

Acceptable: Generally

methodical analysis with

acceptable technique,

largely impacted by

supervisors/APs

Poor: Unsatisfactory and

unsystematic analysis &

inappropriate choice of

techniques; or heavy

feedback by

supervisors/APs

• Presentation and interpretation of results

Excellent: thorough,

accurate, clear and concise

Strong and systematic:

largely thorough, accurate,

clear and concise

Acceptable: Minor errors in

reporting and interpreting

the results and lack of

concision

Poor: Unsatisfactory and

unsystematic

interpretation of results

and lack of concision

3. Originality (1/10 of the final grade)

• Contribution to the field/theory

Substantial exploration &

far reaching contribution

(potential) derived through

independent thinking

Thorough exploration, and

significant contribution

Appropriate exploration,

moderate to limited

contribution

Insufficient exploration, no

evident contribution or

contribution mostly derived

though guidance by

supervisor/Aps


4. Relevance: conclusions and recommendations for policy (1/10 of the final grade)

• Conclusions and recommendations

Significant, strongly

justified recommendations

derived through

independent critical

thinking

Some significant, well

justified recommendations

Relevant, relatively justified

recommendations

Mostly irrelevant, or lack of

independently derived

recommendations

5. Presentation style and structure

• Structure of material, logical coherence, language use (1/10)

Outstanding logical flow

and cohesion, highly

effective presentation of

findings

Good logical flow and

cohesion, effective

presentation of findings

Most sections have logical

flow and cohesion, findings

presentation needs some

improvement

Weak logical flow and

cohesion, findings are

poorly presented)

Exceptionally clear and

appropriate language,

successful visual

presentation, consistent &

complete reference list

Clear and appropriate

language with minor

errors, successful visual

presentation, generally

consistent & complete

reference list

Rather clear language, with

some errors, acceptable

visual presentation, some

inconsistencies or

omissions in reference list

Poor language command

with significant errors,

Weak presentation,

incomplete or inconsistent

reference list

6. Quality of oral presentations and Capacity of independent work

TO BE GRADED BY APs (1/10)

• Quality of the presentation

Exceptionally clear, focused

& well-presented. Student

demonstrated an

impressive ability of critical

reflection in dealing with

questions and comments

Clear, focused & well-

presented. Student

demonstrated an ability of

critical reflection in dealing

with most of questions and

comments

Relatively clear, focused &

well-presented. Student

demonstrated some ability

of critical reflection in

dealing with questions and

comments

Rather unclear, lacking

focus & poorly-presented.

Student failed to answer

questions or critically

reflect on comments

• Independent work throughout the entire thesis process

The student worked

independently, had

initiative and proposals,

required minimal feedback

which he was able to

integrate successfully

The student worked

relatively independent, had


but required relatively

more feedback and was

able to integrate

successfully

The student required more

supervision, had little


required extensive

feedback which he was

able to integrate

successfully

The student required

extensive supervision, had

little initiative and

proposals, required

extensive feedback which

he was able to integrate

poorly

Final comments:

Appendix 3-4. List of titles of 30 recent exemplary master theses (last 3 years)

2013-2014

Name thesis title supervisor co-supervisor (s) 2nd reader mark

Alex Carroll Language skills and the earnings of natives on the Belgian labor market. An analysis by

region. Prof. I. Nicaise Dr. A. Alieva

prof. J.

Berghman 13

Yanling Geng Do pension crowd in or crowd out intergenerational financial transfer in Chinese family Prof. W. van

Oorschot Dr. C. Lomos

prof. J.

Berghman 16

Silvia Girardi The effect of activation on the exit of Minimum income beneficiaries in Luxembourg Prof. V.

Pulignano Dr. M. Bia

prof. J.

Berghman 18

Eleni Kanavitsa Subjective economic insecurity in Greece before and during the economic crisis. A cross-

sectional analysis.

Prof. W. van

Oorschot Dr. C. Lomos

prof. J.

Berghman 13

Paul Lanners Joint or individual taxation in Luxembourg? Effects on female welfare. prof. J.

Berghman

Prof. L. Flood

Dr. N. Islam prof. J. Billiet 8

Emily Porter Institutional impacts on the resilience of youth labour market outcomes in response to

the crisis Prof. L. Chauvel

Dr. A. Hartung

Dr. A. Leist prof. J. Billiet 15

Wei Qiao Pattern and dynamics of the relationship between life satisfaction and age. Evidence from

a 12-year panel.

Prof. C.

d'Ambrosio Dr. J. Olivera Angulo prof. J. Billiet 14

Rik Wisselink A multi-level analysis on the determinants of child poverty within the EU. Prof. C.

d'Ambrosio Dr. J. Olivera Angulo prof. J. Billiet 14

Nan Zhao Income Inequality and the Age-Period-Cohort Effect in China Prof. L. Chauvel Dr A. Leist prof. J.

Berghman 14


2012-2013

Name Thesis title Supervisors 2nd reader mark

Jia Chen Life Satisfaction of Immigrants in Germany and Luxembourg Prof. D. Williams Prof. J.-C. Ray 13

Diego Collado Socioeconomic Classroom Composition Effects on Citizenship Outcomes in Chile Prof. I. Nicaise Prof. J.-C. Ray 18

Josep Espasa Reig Effect of class on attitudes towards unemployment benefits: how cognitive mobilization

and social translators affect the relation Prof. W. van Oorschot Prof. J.-C. Ray 14

Greta Mackonyte Is the Unemployment Problem a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? Multilevel Analysis of Public

Attitudes towards Welfare State Responsibilities for Unemployed in Europe Prof. W. van Oorschot Prof. J.-C. Ray 18

Teresa Maradiaga School determinants of inequalities in student achievement Prof. I. Nicaise Prof. J.-C. Ray 15

Leonardo

Narvarte Olivares

The effect of the Senegalese immigrant networks on labor market outcomes in France,

Italy, Ivory Coast and Mauritania Dr. I. Salagean Prof. J. Berghman 15

Ayush Pokhrel Assessing the relationship between competition and innovation patterns Dr. I. Salagean Prof. J. Berghman 10

Merve Uzunalioğlu Living conditions of young Europeans: the risk of material deprivation on the way to

adulthood E. Marlier Prof. J. Berghman 11

Julie Vinck In-work poverty in Luxembourg. A profile of the working poor Prof. J.-C. Ray Prof. J.-C. Ray 15

Seunghee Yu Wage differentials between natives, immigrants and cross-border workers in Luxembourg Dr. P. van Kerm Prof. J. Berghman 15


2011-2012

name Thesis title Supervisor 2nd reader mark

Fabricio Archanjo Longer unemployment duration for more education? A comparison of human

capital reward between migrants and natives using the BHPS

Dr. D. Pavlopoulos

Anne Hartung Prof. J.-C. Ray 16

Pavol Babos Career step or trap? Transitions from fixed-term contracts in Central Eastern

Europe Dr. D. Pavlopoulos Prof. J.-C. Ray 15

Nadezhda Dakova Financial Difficulties for Participants in Formal Adult Education in Central and

Eastern Europe Prof. I. Nicaise Prof. J. Berghman 14

Michel Samy Diatta The effect of socioeconomic factors on student attainment in developing

countries: Evidence from Burkina Faso and Senegal Dr. C. Lomos Prof. J. Berghman 12

Alexandra Florea The effect of personal and contextual unemployment on support for gender

equality- A multilevel analysis on 24 countries

Dr. I Salagean

Malina Voicu Prof. J. Berghman 14

Suzanne Marije Heijndijk The Effect of the Transition from a Temporary to a Permanent Contract on the

Labour Supply of the Partner

Dr. D. Pavlopoulos

Dr. A. Hartung Prof. J.-C. Ray 16

Adrianus Antonius Oostven Analyzing the determinants of workers' transitions from unemployment to

employment Prof. D. Williams Prof. J.-C. Ray 16

Nathalie Schuerman Individual attitudes towards welfare state responsibilities for elderly and

unemployed- A multilevel analysis Prof. W. van Oorschot Prof. J. Berghman 14

Enrique Eduardo

Valencia Lopez

The Effect of Language on the Occupational Attainment of Immigrants: The Case of

Spain

Dr. D. Pavlopoulos

Dr. A. Hartung Prof. J.-C. Ray 12

Fassil Sisay Yehuala Subjective Wellbeing and the Welfare State: A Multilevel Analysis across European

Countries Prof. W. van Oorschot Prof. J. Berghman 15

Wouter Zwysen Can your parents help? The effect of parental unemployment on their

effectiveness as informal contacts in job search for their unemployed children Prof. D. Williams Prof. J.C. Ray 18

4. DHOreportonHigherEducation







Prof iel opleiding Social Policy Analysis MNM - I nst elling: K.U.Leuven

St udierendement

Def init ies- Studierendement= aantal verworven studiepunten / aantal opgenomen studiepunten volgens de instelling. Dit is dezelfde berekening als degene die gebruikt wordt voor de berekening van de financiering. - Opgenomen studiepunten volgens de instelling = in het financieringsdecreet staat dat studenten studiepunten kunnen terugkrijgen als ze zich uitschrijven tot een bepaalde datum die in het onderwijs en examenreglement van de instelling moet staan. Als de student zich tijdig uitschrijft krijgt de student zijn studiepunten dus terug maar de instelling krijgt er geen subsidies voor. Nadat er een evaluatie zich heeft voorgedaan of als de student zich te laat heeft uitgeschreven blijven de studiepunten opgenomen en kan hij/zij ze niet terugkrijgen. De studiepunten die wij hier gebruiken voor het aantal opgenomen studiepunten zijn dus de studiepunten die de instelling rapporteert als opgenomen (dus zonder degene die hun studiepunten hebben teruggekregen).

In deze gegevens zitten ook de uitgeschreven studenten. Als we enkel de actieve inschrijvingen zouden nemen zouden we een te positief beeld krijgen. Mensen die bv na een slecht examen uit de studie weggaan zouden dan niet meetellen.

Elders verworven competenties en kwalificaties en gedelibereerde studiepunten worden niet meegeteld als verworven studiepunten. Tot ale evolut ie alle beschikbare academiej aren

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Benchmarkrapport versie 7_te gebruiken Pagina 7 van 18 7-6-2014


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Opleiding Social Policy Analysis MNM - 0719 - I nstell ing K.U.Leuven

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St udierendement

Def init ies- Studierendement= aantal verworven studiepunten / aantal opgenomen studiepunten volgens de instelling. Dit is dezelfde berekening als degene die gebruikt wordt voor de berekening van de financiering. - Opgenomen studiepunten volgens de instelling = in het financieringsdecreet staat dat studenten studiepunten kunnen terugkrijgen als ze zich uitschrijven tot een bepaalde datum die in het onderwijs en examenreglement van de instelling moet staan. Als de student zich tijdig uitschrijft krijgt de student zijn studiepunten dus terug maar de instelling krijgt er geen subsidies voor. Nadat er een evaluatie zich heeft voorgedaan of als de student zich te laat heeft uitgeschreven blijven de studiepunten opgenomen en kan hij/zij ze niet terugkrijgen. De studiepunten die wij hier gebruiken voor het aantal opgenomen studiepunten zijn dus de studiepunten die de instelling rapporteert als opgenomen (dus zonder degene die hun studiepunten hebben teruggekregen).

In deze gegevens zitten ook de uitgeschreven studenten. Als we enkel de actieve inschrijvingen zouden nemen zouden we een te positief beeld krijgen. Mensen die bv na een slecht examen uit de studie weggaan zouden dan niet meetellen.

Elders verworven competenties en kwalificaties en gedelibereerde studiepunten worden niet meegeteld als verworven studiepunten. Tot ale evolut ie al le beschikbare academiej aren

99,17%

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91,32% 90,42%

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Studierendement - Alle instellingen

Verdeling per geslacht



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93,53%100,00% 98,75%

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2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010 2010 - 2011 2011 - 2012 2012 - 2013

Geslacht


Studierendement - Alle instellingen_geslacht

Verdeling per generat iestudent J/ N

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Generat iest udent


Studierendement - Alle instellingen_generatiestudent





5. Listofrecentlyimplementedimprovementmeasures,including

follow-upofimprovementssuggested

bythepreviousassessmentpanel

Many improvement measures were taken over the years, some induced by the previous external

evaluation, and some by the necessities of the program or by the feedback from students and staff. Ad hoc

measures are discussed in the Educational Committee and implemented whenever possible. In cases where

more profound measures are needed, they are brought to the agenda of the Educational

Committee/Steering Committee, and implemented as from the next year after discussion and fine tuning

with the assembled staff at the Annual Meeting.

5.0. Introduction

5.1. GQS1 – targeted outcome level related improvement measures

5.1.1. regarding IMPALLA goals and learning outcomes

The 2007 external evaluation commission assessed the “domain-specific requirements” aspect as excellent.

As described in GQS1, IMPALLA took the opportunity of this evaluation round to streamline OLR and course

objectives around the IMPALLA graduate profile. This exercise serves a more transparent communication

and a better understanding of the integration of courses in the program, of what students can expect to

learn in the program, and of the added value of an IMPALLA diploma for the vocational field.

5.1.2. regarding the relation to the vocational field

The 2007 evaluation commission was very pleased with the input from the intended vocational field in the

program. No comments or suggestions for improvement have been made. Nevertheless, IMPALLA wishes

to strengthen its vocational focus and its contacts with the vocational field. The IMPALLA conferences in

2009 and 2013 have contributed to this goal, as they were a great opportunity for alumni to share their

work experience with students, and they have made IMPALLA more widely known through the many

publications and newspaper reports on the conference. Other initiatives, designed as stepping stones for

IMPALLA graduates towards a successful career, comprise the organization of meetings with CEPS

researchers on how to apply for PhD (grants); the sharing of job opportunities on Facebook; the support to

internship applications, e.g. at OSE (Observatoire Social Européen in Brussels, which is in the vocational

network); and the creation of 3 internship positions at CEPS. The latter enabled two graduates to publish

scientific articles from their thesis and one graduate to design and submit his doctoral proposal to FNR by

means of a Bernard Gailly grant.


5.2. GQS2 - teaching process related improvement measures

5.2.1. Regarding admissions policy

Following the recommendation of the 2007 commission to develop the IMPALLA website further to

include more details on the prerequisites and on the amount of statistics and methods in the first term,

the content of the IMPALLA website has been fully revised, together with the introduction of a new design.

The “admission requirements” webpage mentions explicitly the requirements concerning (1) diploma, (2)

Social Sciences Research Methods and Statistics knowledge and (3) English proficiency. An extensive FAQ-

page providing more details is added to the website. Furthermore, the “program outline” page and the

“program courses” page now specifically mention more details on the focus and the courses of each term,

and the term/courses related workload in credits.

The 2007 commission also recommended to organize an introductory weekend about the program to

communicate those details to the actual students. Now, the IMPALLA introductory program embraces

several initiatives to introduce the program and its environment to the students. The students are

introduced to IMPALLA and its position within CEPS on the first starting day of the program. Besides an

introduction to the goals, procedures and time plan of IMPALLA, and on the Ceps research institute is, the

latter’s departments and researchers are presented. In addition, during the first week of the program

sessions are scheduled to familiarize the students further with marking systems, rules on privacy protection

and plagiarism, assignment and thesis requirements. They are also introduced in the available data bases.

Moreover, the different universities in the IMPALLA network present themselves to the students.

The 2007 commission recommended to considerably shorten the time spent on integrative courses and to

encourage deficient students to follow a summer school before entering IMPALLA. The IMPALLA Steering

Committee has thus discussed the idea of sending the students to a summer school, but has come to the

conclusion that this is difficult to realise because of the lack of an existing one that complies with the

IMPALLA necessities. An obvious option was then to extend the integrative courses and transform them

into a summer school. Further elaboration of this was on the agenda and the IMPALLA Steering Committee

decided in favour of the introduction of a “Summer course on Statistics”; a one week block of levelling up

statistics courses, followed by an exam. Students who fail the exam, are asked to leave the actual program

(which happened for 2 students over the past few years). Meanwhile and in order to safeguard the basic

policy and statistical level of candidates for the program, the committee has also introduced the possibility

for colleagues in other universities to nominate their best students for one of the grants IMPALLA is making

available. This is of course in combination with “free” applications for the remaining positions.

5.2.2. Regarding content, structure and coherence

The IMPALLA staff is alert for the students’ feeling that non-Western European countries are somewhat

neglected. At the same time it cannot cope with all continents, let alone countries. So the program does

not aim at a description of every social system in the world but at learning how to cope efficiently with

research comparing countries and tries to expand attention beyond western Europe and the EU by using

the latter as examples. Students are thus encouraged to apply the knowledge about these examples, in a

comparative way, to any other continent/countries of their choice, esp. their own.


In order to comply with the 2007 recommendation of the VLIR to pay more attention to the meso-level, a

joint seminar between IMPALLA and MISP (MSc International Social Policy - Bath University) was organized

in March 2008. This seminar on ‘EU policy making – EU reality’ was dedicated to give the students real

world examples of how organizations and institutions at the meso-level intervene in the daily policy making

process. Besides some more theoretical lectures by Leuven and Bath professors, representatives of quite

different policy actors, such as permanent representations to the EU, social partners, think tanks and

research centers have testified about their actual role in the policy making process. In later years an

attempt was made to have attention paid to this aspect in the framework of the revised seminar, by

introducing the workshop on “Thinking about different levels of analysis in social policy research” (B-KUL-

S0F76a).

The Steering Committee has also discussed the content of the seminar, since this course is to deepen the

link between social policy and analysis. It has made changes to the content but also to the data that are

used for the students exercises and to the way the seminar is scheduled. The seminar is thus scheduled

after the regression lectures in order to be able to focus on policy, using methods that have been learned

and come to conclusions about it. This is also intended to prepare students for the research cycle they have

to go through in their thesis.

In response to the students’ comments on the lack of horizontal integration, the 2007 commission

suggested to better situate the course material and to implement the idea of organizing a staff seminar to

discuss the integration of the courses. On November 5, 2007 a staff seminar was organized in Tilburg. The

initiative was followed by another staff seminar in Leuven on November 26. The goal was to structure the

involvement of staff and to check both the extent to which program objectives and practices are in line

with each other and to clarify the horizontal and vertical integration between the methodology courses

and the seminar (November 5) and between the social policy courses and the methodology and seminar

courses (November 26) in three sessions:

• a ‘presentation session’ to focus on the profile of each of the courses

• an ‘integration session’ to tune and discuss the integration of the course profiles

• a revision session to determine desirable changes in IMPALLA and to revise principal goals and

course profiles

These staff seminars have clarified the position of the different courses towards each other, and especially

towards the seminar, Auditing and The Policy Cycle. On the basis of this, the seminar was revised.

Moreover, following these staff seminars and in order to make students understand the coherence of the

program, IMPALLA still organizes a session with the new students on the IMPALLA starting day each year in

which an Assistant Professor clarifies the goal-wise organization of IMPALLA, the logic in the planning of the

courses over the different terms and the links between the courses. Transparency regarding the coherence

in the program is also increased by explicit description in the student handbook, and by sending all ECTS

course profiles to all teachers in the team each year. The IMPALLA Annual Meeting is still used as a staff

seminar to discuss the integration of courses.


Other recently implemented improvement measures include:

• Following the intention of the program to expand the multidisciplinary focus in the Integrative

Social Sciences course, it introduced course activities about “Labour Market Policy” (2007-2008)

and “Analytical Demography” (2009-2010). At the same time, the content of these activities was

made coherent with the rest of the existing program. So when, in 2012-2013, the content of the

course on “Social Policy” was reconsidered thoroughly, the introduction into “Analytical

Demography” became redundant and was skipped from the program (2014-2015);

• Second the Seminar was changed into a two semester formula (2013-2014). This served the

developmental process of each student, and presented better chances for adequate individually

focused support by AP/Professors;

• Following the intention to bring some more flexibility into the program, a group of optional

courses was introduced in 2009-2010, along three tracks. The course unit “Performance Audit in

Social Policy” represents the policy evaluation track, the socio-geographic track is represented by

“Political Economy of Urban Development”, and for the methodology track, the course unit

“Applied Methodology” was introduced. Students choose one optional course (3/60 ECTS). It was a

conscious decision to keep the other 57 credits in the program for mandatory courses.

• The program is open to organizing extra-curricular lectures and training sessions according to the

specific research needs of the student cohort. One of the initiatives in this respect was to teach the

statistical software packages in more detail, and to invest more in STATA. As a consequence, the

students as from 2014-2015 are introduced and taught in SPSS, STATA and SAS.

• Upon student request, IMPALLA also organizes extra-curricular one-day courses on qualitative

topics (e.g., on QCA-Qualitative Comparative Analysis). These sessions were a success and are

repeated since 2013-2014.

5.2.3. Regarding teaching methods

The 2007 commission formulated a comment regarding group dynamics, particularly the tension caused by

having students decide about the composition of the group. In July 2007, at the occasion of the Annual

Meeting, IMPALLA organised a staff workshop on collaborative learning in which an expert member of the

KULeuven office for educational policy shared his expertise regarding design, coaching and assessment of

student group work. Feedback from students and professors confirms that tensions are inevitable but very

small and manageable. In the open questions in the annual student surveys since 2007-2008, only one

student ever commented on group dynamics (“I prefer that professors select the working groups in order

to avoid groups that never mix among them”). Some professors assign student partners randomly, others

ask the students whether they prefer themselves or the professor to decide about the composition of the

group. Professors further deal with group dynamics in a similar way: they balance group work with

individual work (such as individual oral presentation of a section in the group paper) and they monitor the

groups in class while walking around. In the rare cases when tensions occur, professors take it as an

opportunity for communication and negotiation and take ad hoc measures, such as allowing a student to

work alone or assigning the person to another group.

The 2007 commission recommended to spread the variety of work forms more widely over different

courses. Hence, the program continued its policy of enriching interactive lecturing with other activating

work forms (see description of teaching and learning methods in GQS2). From the online survey, students

seem to appreciate the efforts of the program to balance work forms over courses.


5.2.4. Regarding study load

The 2007 commission encouraged IMPALLA to monitor and decrease the study load a little bit. The

commission itself hesitated on how to interpret the remarks by the students about a lack of time for

reflection, since on the other hand, such a time squeeze forces them to develop a working style that is very

efficient. In 2009, student representatives were asked to make an overview of the issues in the program

regarding study load. This was further discussed at the Annual Staff Meeting and all professors were

advised to cut back on the amount of assignments for their course. As a result, double moments of

evaluation were cut down and traditional exams were exchanged by continuous evaluation wherever

appropriate. Study load is systematically monitored in the course evaluation questionnaires. The program is

open for a more formal system of study time measurement, as was recommended by the commission. In

this matter, IMPALLA acts on the advices of KU Leuven Educational Policy and Quality unit. Together with

the unit, IMPALLA has explored workable instruments but was confronted with the lack of consensus

regarding the adequacy of such instruments. Everything well considered, IMPALLA decided to keep the

study load measuring in OSS and CES.

As far as the suggestion is concerned to choose Wednesday instead of Friday as the lecture/seminar-free

day, the program has tried to comply with this wherever feasible. Due to the international character of the

teaching staff, and the scheduling restraints that go along with that, it has however been extremely difficult

to realize this.

5.2.5. Regarding student progression

No specific comments or suggestions were made by the 2007 evaluation commission about this.

5.2.6. Regarding staff

The 2007 evaluation commission recommended to structure the involvement of staff to the point of

structural consultation, and to encourage AP’s to participate in training courses on group processes so that

their facilitating role could be strengthened. Here the program complies by paying more attention when

selecting new APs, making sure that they have teaching experience and experience in working with

students, coordinating groups of students and supervising master theses. Their great facilitating role has

been mentioned numerous times in student evaluations and in yearly evaluations of the program by the

student representatives.

In the student survey 2014, some students raised the issue to have more than 2 AP’s in the program, as

they consider 2 AP’s to be a minimum and compensation is needed in case one AP is unavailable for a

longer period of time. In order to tackle the latter issue, the program has contacted two IMPALLA alumni

who confirmed their availability to assisting the AP’s in their tasks regarding the statistics courses and

exams and also in the co-supervision of Master thesis.

5.2.7. Regarding program specific facilities

No specific comments or suggestions were made by the 2007 evaluation commission about this.


5.3. GQS3 - achieved outcome level related improvement measures

Following the recommendation of the 2007 commission to discuss the structure of an exemplary scientific

article with the students to clarify the program’s expectations regarding writing scientific papers, the

program has experimented with using two last year’s theses in the Reading and Research Seminar for this

purpose. Students discussed structure, logic and content in a meeting, presenting their critical remarks and

overall assessment on these exemplary theses, followed by a discussion with teaching staff. Specifically

with respect to safeguarding the methodological strength of each IMPALLA thesis, students have the

permanent disposition of an Assistant Professor to turn to in case of methodological questions.

Following the recommendation to define explicit target figures, the IMPALLA Steering Committee is well

aware that targets should be set at both a challenging and realistic level; challenging to make the program

progress towards it but at the same time realistic in order not to endanger the quality standards and overall

balance of the program. This leads the Steering Committee to a combined set of targets:

• the selection of candidates should be such that less than 10% of the enrolled students fail their

master year;

• ¾ of students should be engaged two years after graduation in professional activities that are in

line with the skills that are taught in the program: scientific or applied research, social policy

consultancy, auditing, impact assessment;

• ½ of students should be in research two years after graduation.

FACULTY

OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

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tel. + 32 16 32 30 [email protected]

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Master of Science in Social Policy