Share28/01/2021
AQU Catalunya Activity Plan for 2021 now available
The Activity Plan for 2021, approved by the Governing Board of AQU Catalunya, which establishes the actions to be carried out this year by the Agency has been published.
According to the Plan [file in Catalan], university degree accreditation has increased (43% in the organisation of external institutional visits and programmes compared to 2020), and remains high in the other strategic areas. This Activity Plan is balanced with respect to the economic and human resources included in the budget.
The main activities that are expected to be carried out in the strategic areas into which AQU Catalunya activities are divided are as follows:
- INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY: In 2021, it is planned to promote institutional accreditation as opposed to programme accreditation for future years, thus 20 centres will be assessed: 19 for certification of the Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS) and 1 for assessment of cross-cutting elements of IQAS, and the institutional accreditation of all applications that meet the requirements. In regard to university degree assessment, it is planned to verify 65 new degrees, modify 200 degrees, monitor 44 degrees and carry out 118 external visits to accredit a further 300 degrees. The Agency will continue the process of ex ante accreditation of short-term programmes and AQU Catalunya accreditation in accordance with the standards of the World Federation for Medical Education.
- TEACHING STAFF QUALITY: In teaching staff assessment prior to university selection processes, it is planned to assess 1,750 applications among all the calls and to continue supporting the Serra Húnter Programme. In the case of assessment of research merits, it is expected that 650 applications from non-civil servant teaching staff will be assessed. As a new feature in 2021, criteria for the assessment of the knowledge transfer and innovation merits of university teachers will be defined and approved and a call will be opened.
- KNOWLEDGE GENERATION AND TRANSFER: In regard to surveys, in 2021 exploitation of the 7th edition of the survey on university graduate access to the labour market will be completed, the Catalan Talent Observatory will be presented, there will be a satisfaction survey of recent undergraduate and master's degree students, and AQU Catalunya will take over Technical Management in the third edition of the Via Universitària survey. It will also foster the drawing up of reports and studies and the organisation of conferences.
- INTERNATIONALISATION: Participation in initiated international projects will continue and monitoring will be carried out at foreign centres that teach degrees in Catalonia and those accredited internationally with AQU Catalunya if resources are available.
- STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: During 2021, the Strategic Plan 2019-2022 will continue to be deployed, the process of external evaluation of AQU Catalunya's compliance with the Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area will begin and actions will be carried out to commemorate the 25th anniversary of AQU Catalunya.
- INTERNAL ORGANISATION: In the area of accountability, transparency and modernisation, the Agency will maintain its commitment to the transparency of the activities it carries out and, in addition, will initiate a process to improve management processes in institutional and programme assessment.