Organisation and responsibility for Course QA
Quality Assurance of Degree Courses is a constituent element of the management, monitoring and measurement of the dynamics governing teaching, knowledge and know-how. The design of Degree Course must involve students and external stakeholders, which include all actors and organizations and institutions potentially interested in the cultural and professional profile of graduates. Degree Course should be constantly updated, reflecting the most advanced knowledge in the disciplines, also with a view to the continuation of studies in subsequent cycles, ensuring interchange with the world of research and the world of work.
For the purposes of Quality Assurance, each Degree Course is required to:
- apply, as far as it is competent, the policies and general guidelines for Quality established by the Governing Bodies;
- carry out self-assessment and review activities of its own training pathway and of the management of the Degree Course on the basis of the analyses reported in the annual report of the CPDS and of the data provided by ANVUR, the Evaluation Committee and the Organizational Unit (O.U.) Management Control, also comparing itself with similar Degree Course with a view to benchmarking;
- promoting continuous improvement and evaluating its effectiveness;
- implementing the evaluation of teaching according to what has been set up at the University level.
The Degree Course, through its President, is also responsible for the information reported in the ANVUR documents (SUA-CdS, Annual Monitoring Form, Cyclic Review Report).
To this end, each school establishes a Review Group (RG) composed of figures from within the school itself who are able to contribute to the evaluation of the course from various points of view (professors, technical-administrative staff, students). The RG normally consists of the Course President , the Course Quality Assurance Manager (QAM), a student representative and an Education Manager from the Course. The RG has the task of guiding the Degree Course towards the goal of continuous improvement of its results. The RG manages the process of self-evaluation, i.e. the process by which the Degree Course monitors its own performance and assesses its own results, also in accordance with the guidelines established by ANVUR. The work of the RG takes the form of the compilation of an Annual Monitoring Form and the drafting of the Cyclical Review Report, which is discussed within the Council of the relevant Degree Course and forwarded to the PQA and the University Evaluation Committee.
Finally, the Quality Assurance Manager (QAM) has the function of monitoring and verifying the correct implementation of the improvement actions approved by the Degree Course. The QAM is identified from among the Professors of the Degree Course.
DEPARTMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE
The Director and the Department Council are the governing bodies of the Department responsible for defining Quality Assurance Policies for Department Research and Teaching. A Department Quality Assurance Committee (PQD) is set up within each department, an operational and liaison body between the department and the University Quality Quality Assurance Committee.
The PQD:
- spreads the culture of Quality;
- applies, as far as it is concerned, the policies and general guidelines for Quality established by the Governing Bodies of the University;
- assists the Course President in the drafting of documents for the QA of the Degree Course (SUA-CdS, Cyclic Review Report, Annual Monitoring Form);
- assists the Director in the drafting of research QA documents (SUA-RD, any programme documents of the Department);
- supports the Director and the Department Council in the definition of policies and objectives for Quality and QA of research and of the third mission;
- promotes continuous improvement in Research and Teaching through self-evaluation activities and evaluates the effectiveness of the actions undertaken.
In addition, the PQD, through the Department Delegate for Teaching, liaises with the Department Teaching Committee, a commission with the function of supporting the Director in carrying out his responsibilities in teaching matters, while, through the Department Delegate for Research Quality and Third Mission, it verifies the regular execution of the procedures for the drafting of the SUA-RD.
DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR
According to the articles of association, the Director has the function of promoting, guiding and coordinating scientific activities. It supervises research and third mission activities and oversees their evaluation. The Director is assisted by the Departmental Research Quality and Third Mission Delegate who is entrusted with the following tasks:
- support in the definition of the Department's research quality and third mission policies, with the identification of indicators that take into account the teaching commitment, but also the quality of research and technology transfer activities;
- definition of the Department's research quality and third mission assurance procedures;
- annual monitoring of research products (as defined by ANVUR in the VQR call and in the SUA-RD), both in quantitative and qualitative terms;
- structured management of the Department's public engagement activities.
The Director is responsible for the information reported in the QA documents (SUA-RD and any other policy documents of the Department).
JOINT TEACHERS-STUDENTS COMMITTEE
Pursuant to the articles of association and in accordance with the University Regulations and the Framework Regulations for the Functioning of Departments, the Joint Teachers-Student Committees (CPDS) of Departments consisting of one faculty member and one student from each CoS related to the Department are established. The CPDS, if deemed necessary, may be subdivided into subcommittees. It is chaired by one of the tenured professors and represents a permanent observatory on teaching activities.
The CPDS:
- monitors the range of course catalogue and the quality of teaching, as well as the service activities provided to students by professors and researchers within the Department;
- expresses an opinion on the consistency between the ECTS credits allocated to educational activities and the specific educational objectives set;
- dentifies and monitors indicators for the evaluation of results;
- formulates opinions on the activation and suppression of degree programmes;
- analyses data and information on the range of course catalogue and on the quality of teaching;
- submits proposals to the Evaluation Committee for improving the quality and effectiveness of teaching structures;
- monitors the indicators that measure the degree of achievement of teaching objectives at the level of each structures.
By 31 December of each year, the CPDS draws up a report in accordance with the quality assurance regulations and forwards it to the Course Presidents pertaining to the Department, to the Department Director, to the Coordinator of the University QualityAssurance Committee and to the Coordinator of the University Assessment Committee.
