A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

53

March 2011

The Guidebook, which was endorsed by the Quality Assessment Commission, has been designed as an aid, on the one hand, for university academic coordinators to produce proposals for new recognised degree courses and, on the other, the institution itself for the internal review of proposals. It will also serve the Agency to establish the instrument to be used for the independent external review.

The Agency's objectives with this guidebook and review process can be summarised as follows:

1. The quality assurance of the design of proposals for Bachelor and Master's degree programmes through an enhancement-based process.
2. To link the ex-ante assessment process together with monitoring and accreditation in accordance with the AQU's Framework for the ex-ante assessment, monitoring, modification and accreditation of recognised degree courses.
3. To promote the appropriate design of proposals for new degree programmes in terms of content and form for both evaluation purposes and for producing public information on recognised degree programmes.
4. To assess new degree proposals from a European perspective, with the priority on ensuring the correct formulation of teaching approaches in line with EHEA standards and guidelines.
5. To identify proposals with an ex novo approach for the more complete evaluation of the grounds justifying their formulation and the academic resources that will make them viable and sustainable over time.
6. That elements of an administrative nature which refer to the programming of recognised degree courses in Catalonia are considered to be not subject to review by AQU Catalunya.
7. To ensure that, through just one guidebook, the people who draw up proposals for recognised degrees and those who review them use the same terms of reference and benchmarks. The content and structure of the guidebook are intended for use by academic coordinators drawing up new proposals, the university's own internal body that supervises the process, and members of the AQU's review panels.

In parallel with this, and within the context of the Spanish network of university quality assurance agencies (REACU), the review protocol for the ex-ante assessment of recognised university degrees has been produced and approved. Ensuring compliance with the legal requirement whereby QA agencies that issue evaluation reports on recognised degree programmes prior to their ex-ante assessment must reach agreement on a joint protocol (Art. 24.3, RD 1397/2007), the protocol focuses on the minimum standards and guidelines to be complied with by each degree proposal, and it complements the guidebooks developed by each agency to deal with the evaluation process in greater detail. The AQU Guidebook to the drawing up and ex-ante assessment of proposals for Bachelor's and Master's degrees takes into account the protocol's criteria and guidelines.

 Guidebook to the drawing up and ex-ante assessment of proposals for recognised Bachelor and Master's degree programmes [ca]
 Review protocol for the ex-ante assessment of recognised degrees (Bachelor's and Master's degrees) [es]