96

January 2020

EDITORIAL

What lies ahead in 2020?

Josep Joan Moreso - President

B96_EditorialSince I have been president of AQU Catalunya I have seen the Agency's activities grow in all areas year after year, and I have had the pleasure of seeing how the Agency's human resources, led by Dr. Martí Casadesús, have been able to address the challenges that it has had to face, including:

  • The launch of the accreditation procedure for recognised programmes of study, integrated with the monitoring procedure (2014).
  • The approval and implementation of two Strategic Plans, one for 2015-2019 and the current one for 2019-2022, which promote the new development of institutional review.
  • The enactment of Act 15/2015, dealing with AQU Catalunya, which provided the Agency with a more flexible structure and reinforced compliance with European standards (ESG).
  • The carrying out of two graduate employment outcomes survey studies of people who graduated three years previously (2014 and 2017) and the inclusion in the survey of schools delivering Arts higher education programmes.
  • The carrying out of two survey studies of employers in relation to graduate employment outcomes (2015-2018).
  • Impetus given to the satisfaction surveys of the recent graduate population (since 2015).
  • The endorsement of the new Framework for the ex-ante accreditation, modification, monitoring and ex-post accreditation of recognised study programmes (2016), which includes the fast-track ex-ante accreditation (validation) procedure by way of benchmarks and the institutional accreditation of faculties and schools.
  • The implementation of electronic administration in all teaching staff assessment procedures (2019).
  • The increase in quality assurance activities: the organisation of a three-fold increase in site visits compared to 2014 and the handing and processing of a two-fold increase in the number of applications for teaching staff assessment compared to 2011.
  • Hosting of the Secretariat of INQAAHE (since 2013), the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education.

We will be put to the test yet again in 2020 in all of the strategic areas according to which the Agency's activities are structured. What we are anticipating this year is:

  • In the area of institutional quality: We are planning for the ex-ante accreditation of 65 new programmes of study, the modification of 200 programmes, 95 site visits dealing with the accreditation of 210 programmes of study, and the institutional review of 22 faculties and schools. We also have to approve and present the assessment and review methodology for institutional reaccreditation, which faculties and schools have to undergo five years subsequent to obtaining institutional accreditation.
  • In the area of the quality assurance of teaching and teaching staff assessment: the implementation of electronic administration is planned in all procedures and the evaluation and assessment of 2,000 applications for pre-selection reports and accreditation for university teaching positions. In addition, the evaluation and assessment of 730 applications for merits in research and the accreditation of the teaching assessment handbooks used in the public universities in Catalonia.
  • In the area of knowledge generation and transfer: the seventh survey study of graduate employment outcomes is to be carried out, which will include a separate study on gender differences twenty years after graduation; the Catalan Talent Observatory is to be set up, which will identify the trend of skills requirements in the labour market through the real time analysis of online job postings (job data feeds); and the EUC web portal with information on all degree courses at universities in Catalonia is to be updated.
  • In the area of internationalisation: relations will be maintained with all the international bodies that AQU is currently a member of, which includes the hosting of the INQAAHE Secretariat. The Agency's involvement in all international projects already started will continue and it will follow up and monitor institutions offering foreign degrees and programmes of study in Catalonia and those accredited abroad by AQU Catalunya.
  • In the area of strategic management: the Strategic Plan for 2019-2022 will be implemented, continued impetus given to the Agency's Action Plan with regard to the external review of AQU Catalunya in compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, and approval will be sought for the contract programme with the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya). The Appeals Committee will also be increased in size with new members from outside the university system in Catalonia, and production will start on the new AQU Catalunya website.
  • In the area of internal organisation: aspects of social corporate responsibility and goals for sustainable development are to be included in reports and in internal activities; staffing resources will be increased with support staff and the extraordinary calls for applications for public sector job vacancies at AQU Catalunya will be completed. The relocation and transfer of the registered offices of AQU Catalunya will also take place.

     

The Agency will humbly and with enthusiasm and lots of hard work do its very best to deal with each and every one of these challenges. In this, we trust that we will be able to continue to count on the involvement of hundreds of experts who collaborate each year with us, and without whom it would be impossible for the Agency to carry out its activities; the institutions of higher education in Catalonia and the Secretariat for Universities and Research, with whom we have been able to lay the foundations of quality and continuous improvement for programmes of study and institutions; and all of the entities in civil society (professional bodies and associations, foundations, etc.) with which we have established high added-value alliances.

So let's get started!
 

ENQA EQAR ISO

Generalitat de Catalunya

c/. dels Vergós, 36-42. 08017 Barcelona. Tel.: +34 93 268 89 50

© 2020 AQU Catalunya - Legal number B-21.910-2008