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Butlletí

A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

68

September 2013

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EDITORIAL

The start of the new academic year!

I'd like to start out, not just because I should but because I wish to, by expressing my gratitude, first, for the trust placed in me by the president of AQU Catalunya, Dr. Josep Joan Moreso, in proposing me as the new director of the Agency. There is a high level of understanding between us and our belief is that together we make a good team to head the Agency. I would also like to thank the members of the Board of Management of AQU Catalunya for having supported the proposal, together with the Minister for Economy and Knowledge, Dr. Andreu Mas-Colell, for having accepted it.

Notwithstanding the responsibility, I am very enthusiastic about taking over this post and dealing with the issue of the "quality management", which, in one way or another, my entire academic activity has been dedicated to. What motivates me, and this clearly goes beyond any personal desires that one could have, is the possibility that presents itself of playing my small part in improving and enhancing quality in the system of higher education and the universities in Catalonia. I take up the post fully aware, as ex-vice-rector, of some of the current problems in the system, yet at the same time convinced of my capabilities to improve things. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have accepted the post.


AQU NEWS

ARTICLES

  • Quality assurance of higher studies in the arts
    University degree courses in the Arts are offered mainly in faculties of Fine Arts, Communication Studies or Schools of Architecture. These courses include, for example, Bachelor programmes leading to degrees in Design, Preservation and Restoration of the Cultural Heritage, and Performing Arts, as well as Master's and doctorate degrees. At university level, a wide variety of courses in Master's and doctorate degrees are available.
    Núria Comet Señal - Project manager and head of internal quality assurance
  • Analysis of the academic progress of junior lecturers
    When a university offers a young teacher a temporary lecturer's contract, it is envisaged that over the period of five years of the contract they will acquire sufficient merit to apply for research accreditation and become eligible for an indefinite contract and consequently gain access to higher categories of teaching, especially senior lecturer. In general, junior lecturers have to cope with a considerable level of dedication and time to teaching as well as research work. So what is actually taking place in this process of transition?
    Esteve Arboix Codina - Head of Teaching Staff Assessment department
 

OPINION

  • A landmark event for higher studies in the Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage

    Miquel Mirambell Abancó
    Director, Escola Superior de Conservació i Restauració de Béns Culturals de Catalunya

    On 3 July 2013 AQU Catalunya issued the final validation assessment reports for higher studies in Dance, Dramatic Arts, Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Design and Music.

    The path to making this landmark event a reality has been long and complex. In the end, however, it turned out to be a pioneering experience in Catalonia and Spain as a whole, in that an agency responsible for quality assurance in the system of higher education and universities validated higher studies taught outside of the universities. At the Escola Superior de Conservació i Restauració de Béns Culturals de Catalunya (ESCRBCC, School of Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage) we are highly satisfied with the entire process that was carried out, on the one hand, because of its importance and, on the other, because of the collective efforts by everybody in the School, which have placed the institution's mission on a firmer footing, which is none other than to train future curators and restorers of our cultural heritage.

  • Validation: A process with a future

    Josep Galindo Solé
    Director to EÒLIA, Escola Superior d'Art Dramàtic

    Validation has been a particularly positive process for us in that it has coincided with the fact that Eòlia, which was founded in 2000, only recently became an official School of Dramatic Art. This context of change has allowed us to adopt a comprehensive approach to the adaptation of all aspects concerning organisation and planning in the School to the requirements of the framework (the universities and higher education) in which it operates. The thorough process of validation (in this introductory stage) logically led us to reflect upon our project in terms of parameters that we were not totally familiar with. In spite of this, the approach of the Bologna Plan is particularly suited and perhaps more appropriate to studies in the Arts than in other fields of knowledge. Moreover, it has enabled us to adopt a much more consistent approach to teaching, while at the same time being able to stay true to our own philosophy towards the same.

 

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