THE QUALITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES: MANAGEMENT ASPECT

In recent years attention to quality of studies is not decreasing. Lots of different level and ty-pe articles have been written, books and other literature have been published. On the other hand, over the last few years different national, regional and international science conferences and symposiums took place. So, it is obvious, that the concern in the university study quality is really huge. However, the essence of the matter lies somewhere deeper. The main goals, formulated in Bologna declaration, had to be implemented by 2010. However, now it becomes clear, that some of the vitally important things were not realised and there are more and more doubts if they will, on the whole, be carried through. The Bologna process itself is not sought to be analysed. What interests us firstly, is the qu-ality of studies' management question. Various researches reveal that the university study quality in some countries has significantly decreased even measuring according to the most minimal criteria. First of all, this is because most universities are oriented into providing service. It is known, that service University is not capable to ensure the proper quality of the studies and of provided education at the same time. Mass universities meant for mass usage. University education is more and more “Mc.Donaldized” (Lamanauskas, 2011a). Thus, the problem of the quality of studies remains the key problem in nowadays university work. It is understandable, that different countries have different experience in this field both in horizontal and vertical sense. The quality of studies conception despite all efforts remains diverse and has multiple meanings. Paraphrasing a familiar soviet times' statement (“from everyone – according to possibilities, for everyone – according to demands”), one can state, that higher education can't be provided according to demands, and it can't be required from graduates according to their abilities and possibilities. Massification of higher education in a direct way negatively affects the quality of studies (process), as well as higher education quality (result). This is the essential risk in university management.