A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya
AQU Catalunya and the Catalan Higher Education System will have to address the pending tasks arising from the entry into force of the Organic Law on the University System (LOSU) and the Law on Science.
The academic year 2023-2024 has come to an end, and we have much work ahead of us for the next one, especially at a time of a certain social and political impasse that is increasing the uncertainty inherent to processes of change.
In Catalonia, when the Organic Law on the University System (LOSU) and the Law on Science came into effect last year, it promised an intense academic year which has been, rather, a year of tense preparation and waiting in terms of the necessary adaptations that both laws entail and which we spoke about extensively in previous newsletters.
Globally - but with direct local implications - the Tirana Communiqué issued by the Ministers of Higher Education of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the outcome of the Ministerial Conference of the European Higher Education Area held on 29-30 May in Tirana (Albania), is a good summary of the current challenges facing higher education and, in particular, quality assurance in higher education. The agreements and commitments adopted include those that affect quality assurance in the Catalan Higher Education System and, therefore, also affect AQU Catalunya:
More agreements are in place covering all areas of university policy (in this newsletter you will find an article by Josep Manel Torres which deals with them in more detail), but the ones mentioned are those which involve quality assurance measures and are sufficient to show where the EHEA is heading. These include preparation for a more extensive globalisation of higher education, which makes it necessary to extend the idea of European harmonisation throughout the world; greater flexibility in teaching and learning, both in degree structure and training methodologies, as well as diversity of providers. The challenges for quality agencies are here and the need for global harmonisation will give prominence to peer coordination structures. As far as quality assurance agencies are concerned, the only global institution that should assume responsibility is INQAAHE, the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education, which has its headquarters and secretariat at AQU Catalunya.
In this demanding global framework, AQU Catalunya and the Catalan Higher Education System will also have to deal with the pending tasks arising from the entry into force of the laws mentioned above. The necessary changes in the criteria for accreditation of teaching staff for permanent contract teaching staff in Catalonia: associate and full professor, will have to be activated immediately. Right now, the AQU Catalunya commission defined by law as competent, the Accreditation of research Commission, and its specific commissions are working on the adaptation of the criteria that will make compatible what is established by the LOSU and the Law of universities in Catalonia, also in force. We hope that the results of this work will become effective from the first of January next year.
Furthermore, the document governing the Framework for the validation, monitoring, modification and accreditation of recognised degrees (MVSMA) for all official university degrees (bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees) is being revised. Within this overall framework, this review is particularly timely and will also serve to reinforce the process of institutional accreditation, an indispensable mechanism to increase and internalise the culture of quality assurance in institutions and, at the same time, to simplify the accreditation process.
Lastly, this academic year has not advanced as much as expected with regard to one of the main implications of the Science Act: establishing a stable mechanism for evaluating research activity in university departments and similar units. A clear and explicit definition of its function and scope is still needed, which should ideally take place within the Board of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia. This should be a system-wide agreement between universities and government, which would give it a vision of the future, of change and improvement of the system, as called for by the Science Law itself and the National Agreement for the Knowledge Society. However, the work has not been interrupted and we hope that next year the scheduled pilot test can be implemented and that should involve, at the very least, a department or a unit from each of the Catalan universities.
Congratulations to the entire higher education system for completing a very demanding year with good results and indicators of effectiveness and efficiency. Best wishes for the next year, which, as we have seen, will be even more demanding.