Butlletí

A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

75

November 2014

EDITORIAL

New legislation governing AQU Catalunya

On 29 October 2014 the Government of Catalonia's Executive Council (Govern) presented a bill to the Catalan Parliament (Parlament de Catalunya) regulating AQU Catalunya (the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency, or Agència per a la Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya). The issue of the reform of the Agency is a long-standing one. In 2009 and 2012, the respective governments of the Generalitat de Catalunya initiated legislative reform that, due to the parliamentary calendar, could not be concluded. This is the third time therefore that impetus is being to the modification of this body by way of changes to the prevailing legislation.

Before going on to explain why different governments of varying hues, with the support of the successive management teams of AQU Catalunya, have felt it necessary to set in motion the reform of the Agency, an explanation is necessary of the main legislation governing AQU Catalunya, which is the Universities of Catalonia Act (Llei d'universitats de Catalunya, or LUC) passed by the Catalan Parliament in 2003.

AQU NEWS

• The Catalan Parliament gives the green light to the AQU Catalunya Bill30.10.2014
• Resuming of the external site visits for the accreditation of recognised university degrees29.10.2014
• Call for applications for grants for studies on the transition from higher education to employment 28.10.2014
• Meeting of the CeQuInt project working group23.10.2014
• Violeta Demonte, 2014 National Research Award 22.10.2014
• CEMAI committee meeting 17.10.2014
• Special interview with Josep Grifoll, exiting ENQA board member – what is it like to be an ENQA board member?14.10.2014
• Results of the first call made in 2014 for the accreditation of research and advanced research08.10.2014
• AQU cooperates with EAC in the institutional review of ESMUC06.10.2014
• Meeting of the Committee of Vice-rectors for Quality 02.10.2014
• Transparency of European higher education through public quality assurance reports01.10.2014
• Lluís Torner, new chairman of AQU's Research Assessment Commission (CAR)01.10.2014
• AQU Catalunya on Twitter19.09.2014
• Meta-evaluation of degree programme accreditation18.09.2014
• Workshop on Quality, an instrument for the internationalisation of degree programmes at Catalan universities08.09.2014

ARTICLES

• Internationalization of education
  There is no recipe or one set of indicators for an internationalized university. Internationalization is a process of change which is tailored to meet the individual needs and interests of each higher education entity. Consequently, there is no 'one size fits all' model of internationalization. Adopting a set of objectives and strategies which are 'in vogue' and for 'branding' purposes only negates the principle that each program, institution, or country needs to determine its individual approach to internationalization based on its own clearly articulated rationales, goals and expected outcomes. This recognizes that the internationalization process is driven by an assessment of individual needs and priorities and that a 'formulaic' or latest fad approach is not appropriate, beneficial or sustainable.
  Jane Knight - Adjunct Professor, Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education in OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), University of Toronto
• The quality of evidence in accreditation
  The commitment of AQU Catalunya to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of quality assurance takes the form of regular meta-evaluation actions, which act as feedback and deliberative mechanisms for QA development and improvement. In the context of the accreditation of recognised First and Second Cycle (undergraduate and Master’s level) university degree programmes, on 17 September AQU Catalunya organised a meta-evaluation session, based on the experience gained from the nine external site visits carried out so far in relation to programme accreditation between April-July 2014.
  Albert Basart Capmany - Project manager, AQU Catalunya

OPINION

• Appraisal of the activities of AQU's CAR Commission, eleven years on
  

  Joan Rodés Teixidor
  Chairman of AQU Catalunya's CAR Commission from 2003 to 2014

  The activities carried out by the Research Assessment Commission have been highly important for the Agency itself and the system of universities and higher education as a whole in Catalonia as they deal with the quality assurance of people being recruited as teaching and academic staff. All together, there have been twenty-one (21) calls for applications, with a total number of 6,283 applications, of which 77.8% were for the acceditation of research and 22.2% for advanced research. 55% of the applications for the accreditation of research and 59% of those for advanced research received a favourable evaluation.

• Appraisal of the activities of AQU's CLiC Commission, eleven years on
  

  Maria Lluïsa Hernanz Carbó
  Chairwoman of AQU Catalunya's CLiC Commission from 2005 to 2014

  The interdisciplinary nature of the CLiC has constituted a unique opportunity to create an open and pluralistic forum for discussion that encourages the exchange of different points of view, the contrasting of sensitivities that are not always necessarily uniform in the face of problems and, in short, the possibility of sharing good practices and learning from others how to do things better. Meeting discussions have resulted in valuable input as regards the different dimensions – research experience, educational background and teaching activity – that are taken into account and dealt with in quality assurance.

AQU RECOMMENDS

• The Scientific Century: securing our future prosperity
• Mapping Australian higher education 2014-2015