What is Bologna Process ?
The Bologna Process is named after the Bologna Declaration, which was signed in the Italian city of Bologna on 19 June 1999 by ministers in charge of higher education from 29 European countries. Today, the Process unites 47 countries - all party to the European Cultural Convention and committed to the goals of the European Higher Education Area. An important characteristic of the Bologna Process - and key to its success - is that it also involves European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO-CEPES, as well as representatives of higher education institutions, students, staff, employers and quality assurance agencies.
The overarching aim of the Bologna Process is to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international cooperation and academic exchange that is attractive to European students and staff as well as to students and staff from other parts of the world.
The envisaged European Higher Education Area will
• facilitate mobility of students, graduates and higher education staff;
• prepare students for their future careers and for life as active citizens in democratic societies, and support their personal development;
• offer broad access to high-quality higher education, based on democratic principles and academic freedom

Bologna is a reform process which aims at creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) until the year 2010. It is an unusual process which unites 47 countries . Therefore; the membership to the process is not based on state /governmental agreements. The papers published within the Bologna Process don’t have legally binding .It is a formation process which is completely free will of each participate country and the participants have the right not to accept the envisaged objectives.
Since Bologna Process aims to create a European Higher Education Area within the citizens of the participate countries, students can go on their higher education or work in Europe easily. Europe, in terms of both higher education and employment opportunities, will be preferred by people from other parts of the world at the end of the process.
The most undesirable thing in European Higher Education Area is to make the member countries' educational systems become the only type of higher education system. The main target of the area is to establish a balance between diversity and unity. The goal is to make higher education systems comparable with each other while maintaining their unique differences and consist of harmonization. In this way, the transition from one country to another or a higher education system is going to be easier and thus both the mobility of students or teaching staff and the employment are planned to increase.

The Initials Goals of the Participant Countries in Bologna Process:
Bologna Process aims at ;
- the implementation of the easily understandable and comparable degree system ,
- the implementation of three cycle system including undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees,
- the creation of a common credit system ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) between universities,
- the removal of obstacles to the mobility of students and academic staff between universities,
- the provision of student participation in higher education,
- encouraging higher education institutions to provide joint diploma,
- the creation of the European dimension in quality assurance,
- gaining them the European dimension in higher education.

Nigde University and Bologna Process
In the frame of 'Bologna Process', it is aimed to increase the quality of education in accordance with the expectations of business and civil society , and to share the experiences of the cooperation and to ensure the validity of qualifications gained. In this respect, Nigde University began the student mobility in 2005 and continued by maintaining a growing momentum. Today, 54 bilateral agreements with 17 countries, which are the members of the European Union, have been signed. The academic staff and student mobility are the priority subject among the goals of internationalization of Nigde University.
Nigde University has completed its work on European Credit Transfer System and Diploma Supplement with a great effort and determination and has just applied for the Diploma Supplement Label . The joint-degree programs were also among the priority issues in Nigde University and all necessary works have just been completed and the students have started doing their joint-degree in Nigde University.
Bologna Coordination Commission, created in the University , has monitored Bologna Process more closely during the operating process. In the framework of university self-evaluation and strategic planning , “quality management” activities are implemented by examining the interaction and participation of all academic units in detail in order to ensure academic assessment and quality improvement activities among the units implemented correctly in the development process.