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Butlletí

A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya

92

January 2019

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EDITORIAL

Taking stock of 2018 and the challenges for 2019

Given that AQU Catalunya's activities are organised according to the calendar year instead of the academic year, at the beginning of each year the Agency looks back and takes stock of the previous year and outlines the challenges envisaged for the coming year.

Looking back at 2018, the Agency reviewed 565 programmes under the VSMA Framework for the ex-ante accreditation, monitoring, modification and ex-post accreditation of recognised degree programmes at Catalan universities. This was 10% more than the number of programmes reviewed in 2017, and twice the number of programmes reviewed in 2011.

In addition, 3,042 applications for teaching staff assessment were processed and completed during 2018. This was 16% more than in 2017 and twice the number in 2011.

In short, the Agency doubled the number of its programme and teaching staff reviews and evaluations in seven years. This was unfortunately not accompanied by a comparable proportional increase in resources, meaning that the staff and experts working with AQU Catalunya were directly impacted by the increase in the corresponding level of responsibility and burden, without any additional compensation.

Together with its quality assurance activities, the Agency's knowledge generation activities also increased. 2018 saw the consolidation of the surveys coordinated by AQU Catalunya, with the presentation of the results and findings of the survey of the employment outcomes of Master's graduates and the first report on the results and findings of the satisfaction survey of recent graduates.



AQU NEWS

ARTICLES

  • The introduction of the gender perspective in quality assurance procedures
    The approval of the General Framework for incorporating the gender perspective in higher education teaching by AQU Catalunya's Institutional and Programme Review Committee (CAIP) in December paved the way for compliance with article 28 of Act 17/2015, 21 July, on effective equality between men and women, which requires the gender perspective to be included in the curriculum of all first degree and postgraduate degree programmes, together with studies on the contribution of women throughout history in all fields of knowledge and in both academic and research activities.
    Eva Benito - Management assistant adviser, Quality Assurance Department
  • Gender and equity: some quick facts about gender differences in Catalan universities
    Gender equality is one of the UN's Sustainable Development goals for 2030, and it goes without saying that this also involves higher education institutions in Catalonia. Gender inequalities are the structural outcome of different social roles and forms of more or less explicit violence that raise objective and subjective barriers on the path to equality. A rethinking and diagnosis of these inequalities are key drivers on the path to gender equality, and this has already begun at many observatories, units and entities on numerous levels of the university system.
    Josep Joan Moreso (AQU Catalunya's President) and Daniel Torrents (Senior advisor of Internationalisation and Knowledge Generation Department)
  • Benchmarking and the design of new degree programmes: Economics and Business and Management
    The establishment of the "Framework for the ex-ante accreditation, monitoring, modification and ex-post accreditation of recognised degrees" (or VSMA framework) in 2010 allowed AQU Catalunya to coherently link together the four quality assurance procedures that, pursuant to legislation, are compulsory for all recognised degree courses, the aim being to establish a more closely aligned conceptual coherence between the different internal and external QA procedures and to enhance their efficacy. In the case of ex-ante accreditation (also referred to as programme validation), analysis of the suitability of the educational objectives (learning outcomes) for newly-introduced programmes has always been carried out with the assistance of experts and in accordance with both European guidelines (ESG) and the legal regulations, whereas the use of cross-discipline benchmarks, with the exception of certain courses with pre-defined guidelines, has been insufficiently formalised.
    Carme Edo and Albert Basart - Senior advisors, Quality Assurance Department
 

OPINION

  • University, the main link in the sought-after egalitarian society

    Núria Balada
    President, Institut Català de les Dones

    The principle and fundamental right of equality between women and men is an essential requirement of society. This right, in addition to being recognised by legislation, must be applied effectively in all policies and areas and aspects of life in order for women and men to enjoy the same rights.

    In spite of efforts in many sectors in society and government, persistent political, economic and cultural inequalities are the result of social structures grounded in multiple stereotypes associated with the family, education, culture and civil society, which are an obstacle to progress.

 

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