Organisation and responsibility for Course QA
The Quality Assurance of Degree Courses (CdS) is a constituent element of the management, monitoring and measurement of the dynamics governing teaching, knowledge and know-how.
The degree courses, in particular, are at the heart of the educational mission of higher education institutions. They are designed through the identification of the ideal kind(s) of graduate profile in terms of scientific, cultural and/or professional characteristics and, consistently, of the training paths leading to the acquisition of the specific knowledge and skills associated with such profiles.
Course design must involve students and external stakeholders most appropriate to the character and objectives of the course. The external stakeholders of the degree course include all the actors, organisations and institutions potentially interested in the cultural and professional profile of its graduates (organisations representing the production of goods and services, the professions and/or - if relevant - scientific societies, research centres, academic and cultural institutions of national or international relevance, etc.). Depending on the proposed project, stakeholders may be represented by a Steering Committee, comprising a representation of the Department's faculty and representatives from the world of work, culture and research representing the stakeholders of one or more degree courses.
Degree courses should be constantly updated, reflecting the most advanced knowledge in the disciplines, also with a view to the continuation of studies in subsequent cycles, ensuring interchange with the world of research and the world of work.
Degree Course - Review Group - Quality Assurance Manager
For the purposes of Quality Assurance, each degree course is required to:
- apply, within its own remit, the policies and general guidelines for Quality established by the governing bodies;
- carry out self-assessment and reviews of its course curriculum and management based on the analyses reported in the annual report of the (CPDS) and the data provided by ANVUR, the Evaluation Committee and the Management Control division, also comparing itself with similar degree courses with a view to benchmarking;
- promote continuous improvement and assess its effectiveness;
- implement the evaluation of teaching in accordance with the provisions of the University.
The Course Council, through its President, is also responsible for the information reported in the ANVUR documents (SUA-CdS, Annual Monitoring Form, Cyclical Review Report).
To this end, each course sets up a Review Group (GdR) made up of figures from within the course itself, able to contribute to the evaluation of the course from different points of view (teaching staff, technical-administrative staff, students). The Review Group is normally composed of the Course President, the Quality Assurance Manager (RAQ), a Student Representative and an Education Manager from the course department. The Review Group has the task of guiding the course towards the goals of continually improving its results. The GdR manages the process of self-evaluation, i.e. the process by which the degree course monitors its own performance and assesses its own results, also in accordance with the guidelines established by ANVUR.
In the course of the self-assessment process, the GdR examines everything that can contribute to the analysis of the results of the degree course, and in particular:
- the annual report provided by the relevant Joint Teacher-Student Committee;
- the report of the Evaluation Committee;
- the progress of students' careers;
- the availability of contextual services (tutoring, internationalisation, guidance, internships, etc.);
- consultation with the relevant socio-economic system of reference (including the Steering Committee, sector studies, specific meetings with social partners);
- availability of resources (human and infrastructural);
- students' opinions on teaching, on the organisation of the course and on the curriculum;
- any other information provided by the RAQ, the Education Manager and the Quality Assurance Office Coordinator/Manager.
The work of the Review Group takes the form of the compilation of an Annual Monitoring Form and the drafting of the Cyclical Review Report, which is discussed within the relevant Course Council and forwarded to the University Quality Assurance Body (PQA) and the University Evaluation Committee.
Finally, the Quality Assurance Manager (RAQ) has the function of monitoring and verifying the correct implementation of the improvement actions approved by the Course Council. The RAQ is selected from among the teaching staff of the degree course.
A detailed description of the organisation and responsibility for quality assurance of the degree course can be found in the document (attached) 'Quality Assurance Management System of the Degree Courses of the Department of Engineering and Architecture' approved by the Departmental Council on 26 February 2018. In particular, the management, review and improvement processes are described and organised under the headings:
- Process 1: Defining the demand for training: planning and updating
- Process 2: Definition of Learning Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes: design and updating
- Process 3: Design/updating and management of the training process
- Process 4: Delivery of the training process
- Process 5: Annual monitoring and cyclical review
Each Process is divided into several specific points defined in terms of purpose, primary and secondary responsibility, procedures for carrying out the activity, and time frame.
