A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

63

November 2012

Just over a year ago, in August 2011, AQU Catalunya began to receive the first proposals for the validation and modification of recognised degrees to be introduced in the 2012-2013 academic year. The big development in relation to the previous year was the validation of doctoral programmes following the entry into force of new legislation (Royal Decree 99/2011). Table 1 shows the number of applications received for the validation and modification of degrees to be introduced in the 2012-2013 academic year. A total of 292 were submitted, 73% of which were for validation and 27% modification.

This represented a 68% increase in the number of applications compared to the previous year, with an increase in the total from 173 to 292. There was also a significant change in the distribution of applications between validation and modification. In the previous year around 60% of all applications were for degree modification, this second year they only accounted for 27% of the total. There are two reasons for this: the start of doctoral degree validation and the revalidation of many Master's degrees that had been introduced prior to the entry into force of Royal Decree 1393/2007.

Application type

With regard to validation: out of the 213 applications evaluated, 126 were for degree revalidation (60%), 74 were for new degrees (35%) and 13 were for the merging of two or more existing programmes (5%). Table 2 shows the number of applications received for validation, classified according to type.

 
92% of the applications dealing with existing degrees were favourably evaluated. In the case of new degrees the figure was similar (90%), whereas for the merging of degrees the success rate was lower (85%).

With regard to modification: the 79 applications for the modification of bachelor and master's degrees covered a total number of 334 changes (in each application there were on average 4 changes of different aspects of degrees). Table 3 shows these changes according to type.

As can be seen from the table, the majority of changes that were applied for – approximately one in five – involved the modification of regulations concerning admission, continuance, credit transfer and recognition, or staff policy. The main reason for these changes was fundamentally adaptation to the amended wording of Royal Decree 1393/2007, on the academic governance of recognised programmes and awards, and Royal Decree 1892/2008, on the entry requirements to recognised bachelor degrees and the admission procedures to Spanish public universities. These changes concern a university's internal regulations and apply to all of its programmes of study.

 
The review panels and the experts

The Guidelines for the validation, monitoring, modification and accreditation of recognised degrees (referred to as VSMA, the Catalan language acronym), which were endorsed by the AQU Board of Management on 2 December 2010, establishes a review structure based on five special review panels, one for each subject area (branch of knowledge). According to the guidelines, these review panels may become subdivided as progress is made with the VSMA framework, until there is a maximum of fourteen (14) sub-panels, thereby allowing for a more accurate discipline-based review process. These review panels were to be responsible for reviewing the four processes that make up the VSMA framework (validation, monitoring, modification and accreditation). Due to budgetary reasons, it has not been possible to fully roll out the framework and during the first two years of its application work has focused on six special review panels, one for each of the five main subject areas and one for doctoral programmes.

The members of all of the review panels have to comply with the following profile:

• The chairperson, who is appointed by the chair of the CAQ (AQU's quality assurance standing committee), is chosen on the basis of recognised academic merit.
• At least one academic panel member for each of the subjects that make up the subject area.
• One person of recognised professional merit that is appointed by the chair of the CAQ standing committee.
• One student from the review panel's subject area.
• One secretary who has an advisory role and is appointed by the technical staff of AQU Catalunya.

The six panels are made up of a total of fifty-eight (58) members. Two out of three academic members are from outside the higher education system in Catalonia. Fifty (50) academic experts (98% from outside the higher education system in Catalonia) have also collaborated with the review panels.

The results

Validation

AQU Catalunya has issued twelve (12) final validation reports on bachelor degrees and 138 master's (out of the 146 proposals submitted by universities, eight [8] desisted following the initial preliminary report). All (100%) bachelor degree proposals and 89% of master's degree proposals have been validated.

With regard to doctoral programmes, AQU Catalunya received fifty-five (55) applications, 12 of which desisted following the initial preliminary report. Forty-one (41) final reports have been issued, with a success rate of 93%. Two final reports are still pending.

Modification

Out of seventy-nine (79) applications for the modification of recognised degrees, AQU Catalunya has issued seventy-six (76) definitive reports (3 applications desisted). 97% of all modifications referred to bachelor degrees, and 93% of all master degree proposals were favourably evaluated.

Deadlines for the submission and ruling on applications

Pursuant to Royal Decree 1393/2007, the deadline for the issue of a final report, once an application has been received by the Spanish Universities Council (Consejo de Universidades), is six months in the case of validation and three months in the case of modification. In both cases, these deadlines may be suspended for up to a maximum of three months, pursuant to Law 30/1992, 26 November, on the legal procedural system for public administration and common administrative procedure (article 42.5 c)). The maximum period permitted for a ruling is therefore nine months in the case of validation and six months for modification.

Although the filing of applications by the universities was better than the previous year, the majority of proposals were still submitted late. 87% of all proposals for validation and 80% for modification were submitted between December and April or, in other words, after the deadline set by AQU Catalunya.

In 2011, rulings on applications for modification took an average of 69 days and those for validation took 127 days. In 2012 these deadlines were extended due to a 68% increase in the number of applications. With regard to modification, the average time taken for a ruling was 75 days, whereas for validation it was 181 days, only just within the legal limit for reports to be issued.

In order to resolve the irregularities in the deadlines for submission of applications, a timetable has been agreed by the Catalan universities, the Directorate General for Universities and AQU Catalunya. The aim of this, on the one hand, is for all recognised degree programmes to be in possession of the corresponding evaluation report prior to the start of the university admissions pre-registration process (preinscripció) and, on the other, to streamline the Agency's work of review and evaluation.