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The Quality System at the University of StavangerWhat is the Quality System? Who does what? How will you be heard? Where do you decide? The Quality System – structure

Photo: Elisabeth Tønnessen

What is the Quality System?The Quality System is all of those things we do to ensure that the study quality is at a sufficiently high level, through ensuring continuous improvements, documenting the work, and uncovering failing quality.

Together, students, lecturers and institution work towards a high study quality, and there can hardly be anyone who desires a poor study quality. Also, systematic work on the quality system is legally required. To be accredited as a university in Norway, institutions are required to have a quality system approved by NOKUT (The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education); the public agency for quality assurance for these systems.

The law and accompanying regulations demand that the system covers all processes affecting the study quality, from information to potential applicants to the closing of the studies. At the University of Stavanger, we have gone further, and also include processes after completed studies, such as candidate follow-ups and alumni activities.

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Who does what?Employees and students have clear roles and a responsibility for working towards continuous study quality improvements.These are the most important contributors in the work to ensure and further develop the study quality:

StudentAs a student, you can contribute to the development of quality in studies by activelyparticipating in student fora, such as for instance the Faculty Board and Student Parliament;

in the formal organs, such as the University Board, Faculty Board, Department Board, Centre Board, Committee for Learning Environment, Education Committee, Quality Committee etc., and by taking part in evaluations and dialogues and investigations. Additionally, you can use the various reporting systems.

Lecture in chargeThe lecturer in charge is responsible for the study quality within a subject / topic. It is his responsibility to stay up to date in terms of the subject and contribute to a high quality through active participation in evaluation, reporting and follow ups at subject level. The lecturer in charge will take the initiative to meetings with student representatives, and works closely with, and reports to, the Head of the Department.

Head of DepartmentAll our study programmes belong to a department where the Department is responsible for the study quality at the programme level. The Head of Department prepares the annual report for the particular programme, and the collected annual report for work on quality at the department. The Head of Department works closely with the lecturers in charge and reports to the Dean.

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Pro-Dean for TeachingEach faculty has a Pro-Dean for Teaching. The Pro-Dean is fixed leader of the faculty’s quality committee, and has certain tasks associated with the quality work. The Pro-Dean works closely with students and teaching staff, as well as with administrative employees at the faculty. They work together and with the pro-deans at the other two faculties, and with the Vice-Rector and the Central Quality Office.

DeanEach faculty is led by a Dean. The Dean is the top academic and administrative manager for the employees at the faculty. The Dean is responsible for the faculty’s study programmes, and for the quality work at the faculty. The Dean works closely with his pro-deans for research and teaching, the Faculty Director and the leaders for the departments and centres.

Vice-RectorThe Vice-Rector is part of the University’s leadership, and the second in command in the University Management. The Vice-Rector supports the Rector in her work, and is responsible for the quality work. The Vice-Rector is the manager of the Education Committee at the University, which every year prepares annual reports on the Quality System, to pass on to the Board.

RectorThe Rector is part of the leadership. The Rector is the top academic leader at the University of Stavanger, and the leader of the University Board.

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Chief Financial OfficerThe Central Quality Office at the University is under the Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for collecting, reworking and reporting the data which forms the basis for the quality work; for the Academic Quality Centre at the University; and for the service unit for furthering and ensuring quality; and for ensuring that the Quality System works as it should.

DirectorThe Director is the senior manager for the administration at the University, and presents matters to the Board, such as annual reports for the quality work at the University.

How will you be heard?The Quality System at the University of Stavanger is based on dialogue and reflection, and on the thought that although not everything can be that great, everything can get better. The students’ reflections and conversations between students, student representatives and academic staff are central to this. We use different kinds of aids in this work, for instance the Quality Committees of each faculty, Early Dialogues in all topics and Final Evaluations at least every three years.

Some things may however fall outside of these channels. Several solutions have therefore been implemented to report any issues:

Student representatives as well as individual students can contact the Dean or Pro- Dean for Teaching directly, in person, by e-mail or in other ways.

Student representatives as well as individual students can contact the Quality Co- ordinator directly, in person, by e-mail or in other ways. The Quality Co-ordinator can keep the identity of the student confidential if required.

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Where do you decide?

The illustration (fig. 1) shows the quality way through boards and panels. There are student representatives (appointed by StOr (the Student Union)) and the employee representatives on the Faculty Board, Quality Committees and Department Board. (Note that the illustration is not an organisational chart.)

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Faculty Board

Department

Subject

Study programme

Students

Lecturer

Departmental

Quality Committee

Programme Committee

Dean

Manager Board

The following boards and committees are the most central as far as developing the study quality at the University of Stavanger goes.

Students (appointed by StOr) and employees are represented in all formal organs.

Programme CommitteeThe programme committees are no longer part of the formal structure for boards and committees. Where a study programme crosses two or more departments, it is still possible to use a programme committee. Authority in the quality work is then decided by the individual programme committees.

Departmental councils/centre councilsThe departmental councils should take part in the examination of, and give advice on, the quality work, as well as during early dialogues and final evaluations. At centres that are not under departments, and where there isn’t already any centre council, such a council should be established, with a function similar to that of the departmental councils.

Quality committeesThe quality committees secure and develop study quality in line with the Quality System, developing implementation plans for quality and preparing annual quality reports which will be sent to the Education Committee.

Faculty BoardThe Faculty Board is there to advise the dean about matters relating to the quality work at the faculty, the annual report regarding the quality work and the quality measures fro the next period.

Education CommitteeThe Education Committee works with quality on behalf of, and at the request of, the Board. The Education Committee should among other things carry out central parts of the quality reporting, and stands for the aggregation of received quality reports, as well as preparing an annual quality report and action plan for the Board. The Education Committee should collaborate on a plan to promote quality control and quality furtherance across the faculty, programme, and academic milieu, follow up the institution’s own evaluation of the

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Quality System itself, and under this, maintenance of the Quality System. The Education Committee takes part in the planning and co-ordination of NOKUT’s evaluations of institutions.

Committee for Learning EnvironmentThe Committee for Learning Environment should make sure that the learning environment at the University follows what is laid down in the law regarding universities and university colleges. The committee takes part in the planning of measures within the scope and also documents, considers and reports on the quality of the physical and psycho-social learning environment at the University, as well as their own function and performance.

The University BoardThe Board is the top organ at the University, and is legally responsible for the academic work, including ensuring that education is of a high standard. The Board determines the organisation of the work at every level, but needs to ensure an organisation that allows students and employees to be heard. Among other things, the Board should approve the Quality System, approve changes to the Quality System and suggest changes as required. It should accept from the institution the annual report on quality work, assess and approve annual action plans and initiate plans as required. The Board should further determine how quality work is a part of the strategic work at the institution, and determine the organisation and roles with regard to applicable legislation, regulations, rules and resolutions.

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The Quality System – structureThe system is in place to secure and improve the quality of the processes. That is why the Quality System is structured around a process model, like this:

Within the different subjects, programmes and other part processes, we have quality circles. The illustration on page 11 shows such a circle, the way it is used in the quality work.

Topic and programme development, transfer of research to teachingDevelopmental processes

Implementation processes

Student relations

Supporting processes

Student recruitment

admissions study start

subject subject subject

study programme

Implementing programmes and subjects

student environment

joint services, administration, quality

study closure

candidate follow-up

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The circle shows these main phases: Identify, define and revise the quality criteria for the study processes, and goals for the

quality work.

Gather information about the execution of the study processes and the quality work (observe).

Assess, analyse, aggregate and report on the quality, the goals and the work on the study quality.

Plan and carry out safety and developmental measures to make sure the study quality fulfils applicable demands and criteria, and is developed in line with the applicable goals for quality in the study processes. Report on the state of the quality, planned and executed measures and achieved results.

The quality circle

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Repo

rting

cond

ition

,

Defining and

wor

k an

d

resu

lts

revising goals and

criteria

analysing,

cons

ider

ing

measurin

g,

Observ

ing,

Planning and

implementing

measures

Illustration: The quality circle drawn as an annual cycle.

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AUG

UST

SEPT

EMBE

R

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBR

UA

RY

MAR

CH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

The quality circle

Subject start with election of student representative(s) for the subject.Early dialogue with joint report.Choice of subject for end evaluation in the autumn term.The subjects from the previous academic year are reported in the Annual Quality Report from the departments, with measures.The faculties have finished discussing and forwarded suggestions for new study programmes for the following academic year. The deadline for submitting the new study programmes is the 20th of August.

Early dialogue report with measures from the departments.Adaptation of questionnaires for final evaluations.

The education committee’s deadline for approval of the new study planes is the 31st of October.The study programmes and the subjects from the previous academic year should be included in the communal annual report.for the quality work from the departments, with measures.

The final evaluations for the autumn term start.The University Board has set the deadline for the establishment of new study programmes for the next academic years to the 20th of NovemberThe Education Committee investigates the quality reportThe Board investigates the Quality Report

The final evaluation for the autumn term is finished. The student representatives and lecturers compile joint reports with measures.Final evaluation report with measures from the Department.The scheme for the early dialogue for spring is prepared at the departments.

Subject start with election of student representatives for the subject.Early dialogue with measures.Choice of topic for final evaluation in the spring semester.

Early dialogue report with measures from the Department.Adaptation of the questionnaires for the final evaluations.

Deadline for the subject and programme revision of established studies for the next academic year is March 1.

Final evaluations for the spring semester. The student representatives and lecturers with measures.

The final evaluation report with measures from the Department. The scheme for the early dialogue for autumn is prepared at the departments.

Where can you find the Quality System?You’ll find the Quality System at the student web (http://student.uis.no/english/) in the main menu under the tab ’The Quality System’

Contact information:

The University of Stavanger4036 StavangerTelephone: +47 51 83 10 00Fax: +47 51 83 10 50

Admissions officeArne Rettedals husTelephone: +47 51 83 10 52E-mail: opptak@uis.no

StOr – The Student UnionArne Rettedals husTelephone: +47 51 83 24 24Fax: +47 51 83 24 50E-mail: stor@uis.nowww.stavangerstudent.no

SiS – The student’s welfare organisationKitty Kiellands husTelephone: +47 51 83 33 00Fax: +47 51 83 33 50E-mail: sis@sis.uis.no

Faculty of Arts and EducationFaculty AdministrationHagbard Line-huset, 2nd floor (1st floor for Brits)Telephone: +47 51 83 34 00Fax: +47 51 83 34 50

Faculty of Social SciencesFaculty AdministrationKjølv Egelands hus, C-335Telephone: +47 51 83 15 00Fax: +47 51 83 15 50

Faculty of Science and TechnologyFaculty AdministrationKjølv Egelands hus, D-320Telephone: +47 51 83 17 00Fax: +47 51 83 17 50