ShareAQU Catalunya's consultation process on the proposal for new criteria for the accreditation of teaching staff receives 174 contributions
Individual professors and researchers made 82% of these contributions, while the remaining 18% came from groups.
The public consultation that AQU Catalunya organised on the proposal for new accreditation criteria for associate and full professors has obtained a total of 174 contributions . Of these, 142 (82%) correspond to professors and people engaged in research who have responded to the consultation personally. On the other hand, the remaining 32 contributions (18%) come from groups, such as universities through their vice-rectors for teaching and research or quality staff, university faculties and schools, research centres, deans' associations, teacher groups and trade unions, among others.
When broken down by type of institution, 89% of these 174 contributions come from individuals or groups linked to Catalan universities, 4% come from institutions and groups in the Catalan research system and the remaining 7% come from individuals and groups from Spanish, European and other institutions and groups. The most important of the total contributions from Catalan universities are those of the Technical University of Catalonia, which represent 26% of the total. It is followed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Lleida, with 14% each.
The consultation exercise, which provided the opportunity to comment on both general and specific criteria, received virtually the same comments in both sections. Specifically, 46% referred to the general and 45% referred to the specific. The remaining 9% were comments made in the "Others" section.
More research-focused suggestions
In the general criteria section for the accreditation of associate professors and full professors, 60% of the people who answered the survey proposed changes and improvements to the research assessment criteria, while 38% proposed changes and improvements to the teaching criteria. In addition, half of the participants make suggestions about the weight that each of these two dimensions should have in the final decision on whether or not they obtain accreditation. One of the most important contributions to the consultation was that 98% of the participants expressed suggestions for improvement on the criteria applied to the accreditation of associate professors in the specific criteria section, and 77% of the participants for full professors.
Finally, the fields that receive the most comments are Social Sciences (27%), Engineering and Architecture (24%) and Humanities (16%). The area that receives the fewest comments is that of Life Sciences, with 8% of the total.
Closer to the Catalan Higher Education System
AQU Catalunya carried out this consultation, which was open for two weeks, with a view to collecting comments from teaching staff, and the groups to which they belong in order to ensure that the new accreditation criteria for associate professors and full professors are best suited to the particular needs of the Catalan Higher Education System, and at the same time are a good fit with the diverse reality of each field of knowledge. The 174 contributions obtained during the participatory process will be used to finalise the review of the proposed new criteria with a view to their taking effect in 2025.
Una plural proposal
AQU Catalunya has had to update the new accreditation criteria for associate professors and full professors, following the entry into force of Organic Law 2/2023 of the University System (LOSU). The Agency has used its 20 years of experience in the field of assessment and its knowledge of the scientific and academic reality of university teaching to draw up the proposal for new criteria, together with the observations gathered in the course of some ad hoc consultations in this process. Specifically, the Research Assessment Commission received contributions from the University Teaching Policy Committee of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, from the Academic Staff Committee of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, from the trade union organisations represented on the AQU Catalunya Governing Board (CCOO and UGT) and from the AQU Catalunya Governing Board.
Top new features
The proposal for new criteria submitted for public consultation by AQU Catalunya includes the assessment of teaching activity and the professional activity of teaching staff as new features. In addition, the criteria and the contributions evaluated, and their typology are expanded, made more plural, and contextualised in relation to each field of knowledge. It also introduces elements of qualitative assessment for teaching skills, and where appropriate, of knowledge transfer. Finally, the Research Assessment explicitly recognises local relevance, linguistic pluralism, open access to data and scientific publications, and interdisciplinarity.