Butlletí

A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

42

May 2009

EDITORIAL

Qualifications, reverse order and competences

2010, the date set by the European ministers responsible for higher education for the complete implementation of the new degree system, is just next year although, as we are frequently reminded, it is more of a starting point than one of arrival. The ministers are busy sharpening their pencils and preparing an extraordinary meeting for next year. With regard to the meeting held last month in Louvain, the ministers insisted on the issues from previous declarations and stressed three in particular: a) the social character of higher education and the objective of providing equal opportunities for access and equal possibilities for all students to complete their studies; b) lifelong learning, which requires flexible learning paths, including part-time studies, as well as work-based routes; c) the development of national qualifications frameworks, with the aim of their complete development by 2012.

AQU NEWS

• AQU Catalunya has published the first guide books with guidelines for the assessment of student learning in accordance with Bologna 30.04.2009
• Approval given to the AQU Catalunya Strategic Plan for 2009-201224.04.2009
• The European Commission highlights the quality of AQU Catalunya24.04.2009
• Changes in the AQU Catalunya Board of Management 21.04.2009
• Second call for applications for the certification of degree programmes in the EHEA-adaptation Pilot Plan 20.04.2009
• Call for applications for the recruitment of quality assurance experts15.04.2009
• First results of the review of affiliated institutions in Catalonia08.04.2009
• Accreditation approval of the teaching assessment handbooks used by public universities in Catalonia06.04.2009
• The Institut Català de les Dones sponsors an AQU Catalunya research project01.04.2009
• 10% discount for applications submitted on-line30.03.2009
• The REACU approves the Recommendations regarding the monitoring of recognised degrees26.03.2009
• ENQA debate in Barcelona on the training of experts who review European quality assurance agencies23.03.2009
• Employment and labour market outcomes of Catalan graduates at the Estudia Education Fair17.03.2009
• Results of the second call of 2008 for applications for the issuance of research and advanced research accreditations16.03.2009
• ENQA issues its position paper for the Leuven meeting of ministers (Lovaina 28 and 29 April 2009) 06.03.2009

ARTICLES

• The institutional review of affiliated institutions in Catalonia
  There are forty-seven (47) affiliated institutions in Catalonia at the present time. Most of these institutions either currently offer recognised university degrees or will offer them from the next academic year onwards. Given the circumstances of the university system in Catalonia being brought into line with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the Directorate General for Universities (DGU) is seeking to ensure that all affiliated institutions comply with certain minimum quality criteria. The Board of Planning of the Inter-university Council of Catalonia has established that affiliated institutions wishing to introduce new degrees are now subject to a process of institutional review.
  Josep Manel Torres Solà - Coordinator of Quality Assessment department of AQU Catalunya
• Results of the survey on the satisfaction with the 2008 academic staff assessment
  A formal survey of the applicants' satisfaction with the assessment process has been carried out for the first time since the academic staff assessment programme was set up in 2003. A questionnaire was sent to all those applying for pre-selection tenure-track lecturer reports and the accreditation of research (assistant professors) and advanced research (full professors), in the first call for applications made in 2008. The initiative is a result of the programme to enhance the assessment processes and the satisfaction of users of the services provided by AQU Catalunya.
  Esteve Arboix Codina - Head of Teaching Staff Assessment department of AQU Catalunya

OPINION

• The review of affiliated institutions: A path for the enhancement of higher education institutions
  

  Olga Ortega Solsona
  Director of the Escola Universitària d'Infermeria del Mar / Del Mar University College of Nursing and Chairwoman of a Self-evaluation Committee

  The programme for the quality assurance of institutions affiliated to public universities in Catalonia, developed by AQU Catalunya together with the Directorate General for Universities and the Catalan universities, promotes enhancement of the contextual conditions for the four basic mainstays of an institution: learning, management, human resources and physical resources. The approach to and delivery of undergraduate (Bachelor) and postgraduate degree programmes within the framework of the European Higher Education Area in a context of quality assurance is perhaps the main aim of this programme.

AQU RECOMMENDS

• Guidelines for the assessment of student learning
• Current Trends in European Quality Assurance