The accreditation of teaching staff prior to their appointment as a university lecturer was one of the most prominent measures of both the 2003 Catalan Universities Law (LUC) and the 2001 Organic Law on Universities. Consequently, in a period spanning more than twenty years, AQU Catalunya and the Research Assessment Commission (CAR) have conducted more than 20,000 successful accreditations for the different tenure-eligible lecturer positions, as well as accreditations of research and advanced research. As the name suggests, in these accreditations, the emphasis has been placed, especially in Catalonia, on research, which partially explains the growth in the Catalan Higher Education System's research capacity.
Very briefly, I should point out that accreditation is a simple process: based on the review, the paper, and the candidate's CV, an external agent with no vested interest in the recruitment, such as the Agency, accredits that that candidate meets the minimum requirements to be able to subsequently apply for a position. Since its implementation, this model has been a topic of debate because, for example, in other contexts, the universities themselves are responsible for hiring new teaching staff, without the intervention of an external agent such as an accreditation agency.
When the Ministry of Universities announced in 2021 that it was preparing new university regulations, it foresaw the possibility of eliminating the requirement for prior accreditation when hiring new teaching staff and moving closer to models in which the responsibility for recruitment lies exclusively with the universities. However, the reality is that the Organic Law on the University System (LOSU) maintains the requirement for prior accreditation, both for the civil service teaching pathway and for the new category of lecturer with an indefinite-term contract (PPL), which replaces the previous contractual positions.
Nevertheless, these years of activity have seen significant transformations and debates on how best to assess research, and initiatives such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), the Leiden Manifesto, and the Agreement on the Reform of Research Assessment, which the Agency and the CAR have signed up to, have been inspiring elements of the LOSU. Therefore, although the pre-accreditation processes have been maintained, they must now incorporate some substantial changes.
In these accreditations, the emphasis has been placed, especially in Catalonia, on research, which partially explains the growth in the Catalan Higher Education System's research capacity
Thus, in addition to assessing a lecturer's research activity, other areas of their previous activities and experience, such as knowledge transfer, professional expertise and, particularly, teaching skills, must be assessed.
What, then, are the most prominent changes brought about by the new regulations on teaching staff accreditation?
Firstly, the LOSU emphasises the importance of the generational transition and stabilisation of university teaching staff and maintains the requirements for prior accreditation, both for the teaching corps —civil service teaching and research staff (PDI)— and for their non-civil service contracted counterparts. However, the need for an initial accreditation has been removed. Universities can recruit young PhD holders themselves. For this reason, in 2024, AQU Catalunya will no longer issue prior reports on tenure-eligible lecturers.
Secondly, the former position of contracted professor/doctor —PCD, which in Catalonia was defined as associate professor and full professor— has been replaced by the role of PPL. This role may be equivalent to the civil service position of PDI —professor (PTU), and full professor (CU). In Catalonia, these positions continue to be called associate professor and full professor.
Thirdly, the pre-accreditation procedure has been noticeably modified. It establishes that the procedure for accrediting both civil service PDI and contracted lecturers (Art. 69.2) must guarantee both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of teaching and research merits, in addition to knowledge transfer, supported by a wide range of scientific relevance and social impact indicators. Moreover, the same article points out that an assessment based on the specific area or field of knowledge is required, taking into account, among other criteria, professional experience, local relevance, linguistic pluralism and open access to data and scientific publications.
On the subject of linguistic pluralism, I should also mention the work that the Agency has been conducting since 2002 in the context of the Plan to Bolster the Catalan Language in Catalonia’s University and Research System, which is promoted by the Government of Catalonia and has resulted in several contributions that highlight the importance of accepting and properly valuing all quality research, regardless of the language in which it is published.
Finally, it’s also important to bear in mind that the PPL accreditation criteria must respond, among other things, to the adjustments in the merits required during of the initial stage of the academic career. In other words, it is an explicit requirement that a person who has just completed their PhD and is embarking on their career in an assistant role can be in a position to achieve PPL accreditation after six years.
As has been shown, the LOSU has substantially modified the approaches set out more than twenty years ago in the LUC, ushering in a change of era as regards the activity of the Research Assessment Committee. However, the principles that have guided the Commission's work, both in terms of its commitment to the quality of the research, taking into account the context and specificities of the candidate's field of knowledge, as well as the participation of experts in the assessment tasks, will remain a constant in this new phase.
And, lastly, a question —albeit somewhat utopian— that I often ask myself: will the day ever come when prior teaching accreditations are no longer needed because we have reached a stage of heightened maturity in the management of human resources?
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