elButlletí

A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

73

July 2014

The first of the visits by external review panels for the accreditation of Bachelor and Master's degree programmes at Catalan universities took place on Friday, May 16. The purpose of the accreditation process, which has been designed by AQU Catalunya, is:

• To assure the quality of study programmes that are being offered, in accordance with established qualification levels and criteria laid down in the current regulations,
• To ensure valid and reliable information is available for decision making by users of the university system, and
• To facilitate internal quality assurance for programmes and services developed by Catalan universities.

The first external review panel, which was made up of José Luis Bonal (chair), Professor of the Faculty of Documentation and Communication Sciences at the University of Extremadura; Betlem Martinez (in a professional capacity as an expert), head of online processes and governance at the Catalan government's Ministry of Enterprise and Employment; Clara Illa (student), who is currently taking a Bachelor's degree course in Information and Documentation at the University of Barcelona; and Eva Benito (secretary), a QA specialist with AQU Catalunya, visited the School of Archives and Documents Management at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) to review the Master's programme in Archives and Documents Management.

During the site visit the external review team conducted hearings with the faculty's management team, teachers, students, former students and employers.