In 1985, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) was granted devolved powers over universities. The period from 1986 to 1992 can be regarded as the time when the Catalan university map was defined, with the creation of new universities, new buildings and new campuses. Once the university map was in place, the Catalan Government felt that accountability mechanisms needed to be established in order to make the relationship between the administration and the universities more transparent, and to ensure that their services met the required standards of quality, in the context of the new challenges facing the Catalan university system.
For this reason, in a second phase, from 1993 to 1998, the Government began to introduce new instruments for academic and financial planning and for improving the information available. On the one hand, it drew up programme contracts, which were intended to bring the principles of objectivity and transparency into the system; on the other, it created the inter-university database, which would make it possible to analyse the system rigorously and support decision-making. This database would later become the UNEIX information system.
The Catalan Government felt that accountability mechanisms needed to be established in order to make the relationship between the administration and the universities more transparent, and to ensure that their services met the required standards of quality
At the same time, the European Union had launched a pilot project for the evaluation of quality in higher education, in which Spain took part through the Telecommunications Engineering programmes at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and the Library and Information Science programmes at the Universidad de Granada and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The methodology was participatory and required an internal diagnostic report to be drawn up, gathering the views of teaching staff, students, administrative and service staff and academic office-holders, with a statistical annex on the situation of the programme concerned. This report was then assessed by a committee from outside the university, which in turn produced a final report and proposals for improvement.
The wish to extend this assessment process to the Catalan universities, while at the same time avoiding a conflict of competences with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, which wanted to lead it for all Spanish universities, led us to propose the creation of the Agency. It would be the first of its kind in Spain, in line with those that already existed in other countries, but with one distinctive feature: it was to be participatory and serve as an instrument for reflection and dialogue between the Administration, the universities and society. Its fundamental objectives were the internal improvement of teaching, research and management activities, transparency and accountability to society, and the exchange of experience between universities, both within Catalonia and internationally. The proposal was well received, and to this end the decree establishing the Agency was approved on 20 February 1996. A Board of Directors was set up, made up of the rectors and the chairs of the Boards of Trustees of the public universities and the directors-general for Universities and for Research; in other words, with a clear majority of university members. The private universities would join later.
The wish to extend this assessment process to the Catalan universities, while at the same time avoiding a conflict of competences with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, which wanted to lead it for all Spanish universities, led us to propose the creation of the Agency
This process was made possible by a wide range of people, among whom we feel it is important to single out President Pujol, who from the very beginning supported the creation of an agency that would share in the efforts to improve the quality of universities. He made the announcement himself at the opening of the 1995–96 academic year at the UPC, and took it to the general policy debate in the Parliament of Catalonia that year. Mention must also be made of Dr Serra Ramoneda, who was president of the Board of Directors from the Agency’s creation and who brought about the necessary cooperation and consensus; Dr Josep Grifoll, general manager of the Commission for Universities and Research; and Ms Roser Martí, head of the Legal Advisory Service, who drew on their management experience to provide advice and give legal form to the objectives being pursued. We should also mention Dr Sebastian Rodríguez, who brought methodological rigour to the assessment processes, and Dr David Serrat and Dr Gemma Rauret, the Agency’s first directors, who drove forward the achievement of the objectives that had been set.
Looking back today, it is gratifying to see that the original principles of participation, methodological rigour, data reliability, international cooperation and transparency have been maintained, strengthened and enriched by the collective work carried out over these 30 years.
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