Goals for VID's systematic quality work
The systematic quality work aims to safeguard and develop a high international standard of quality in its study programmes and contribute to a good learning environment by
- Safeguarding and developing high-quality study programmes in line with national recommendations, laws and regulations
- Supporting VID’s strategy aimed at clarifying its value profile – offering sought-after study programmes and contributing to valuable research – focussing on forward-looking professional practices – strengthening VID’s position as a viable and preferred educational and research institution in local, regional, national and global arenas
- Ensuring that students develop knowledge, skills and general competence that is relevant, in interaction with the sectors that we provide study programmes for and that we specialize in
- Being rooted in the leadership and including staff and students, clarifying and defining roles and responsibility for the quality work
- Safeguarding and further developing the quality work and culture at VID
- Ensuring that quality non-conformance is identified and that improvement measures are implemented based on quality analyses and documentation
- Ensuring that VID protects its academic mandate by establishing new study programmes and revising existing programmes
- Defining work processes and routines/procedures in the quality work that provide a predictable framework for its operations, and ensuring that these are followed up
NOKUT (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) oversees universities’ and university colleges’ systematic quality assurance work.
What affects the academic quality for students?
Quality work at VID is divided into eight areas. This involves systematic reviews and controls of aspects that impact on academic quality and reflects the students’ learning pathway (as launched by NOKUT). This covers the student’s course of study from admission, through the learning processes, right up to graduation. The quality of the admissions process, programme design, teaching, educational adaptation, framework conditions, the learning environment, teachers’ competence, interaction with society, et cetera all impact on the student.
The following areas therefore represent the focus of VID’s systematic quality work:
- Knowledge base – the knowledge base for VID’s core areas: research, teaching and dissemination
- Programme quality – the quality of curricula/study plans, learning outcomes
- Starting competence – marketing, information, guidance, admission, induction of new students, integration in the learning environment, new students’ existing knowledge
- Quality of teaching – pedagogical quality of teaching, practice as a learning arena, student mobility
- Learning environment – the surrounding framework, aspects impacting on the learning environment, satisfaction and learning, student well-being, student involvement, equipment and premises
- Quality of results – learning outcomes in relation to goals, exam results
- Society and working life – learning outcomes of relevance to society and working life
- Quality of governance – VID’s ability to assure and develop the quality of its operations, including the governance and leadership structure, establishing, revising and discontinuing study programmes, evaluation system, quality report, quality improvement and non-conformance system, quality manual (to be released in spring 2018) and the Education Award
The systematic work is described through an annual planning cycle for quality work.
Who is responsible for the quality work at VID?
The quality work is rooted in the leadership. The board of VID and the Rector have overall responsibility. In order to maintain control of the academic quality and ensure its continued development, we are dependent on the involvement of everyone at VID. This applies to students, student representatives, staff in the Department of Academic Support and Department of Administrative Support, lecturers, course leaders, heads of studies, faculty and centre heads and committees. The education committee has a special responsibility for academic quality in education. The research committee has a special responsibility for academic quality in PhD studies. The learning environment committee has a special responsibility for the learning environment.
How do we know that the education is of a high quality?
VID learns about the quality of its study programmes through student evaluations (admission and induction of new students, subject and programme evaluations, learning environment surveys), candidate surveys, the study barometer, feedback from society and workplaces, in addition to retrieving data from the Database for Statistics on Higher Education et cetera. Knowledge about quality non-conformance is also obtained from the quality improvement and non-conformance system.
In order for this work to be systematic and to enable quality to be compared from year to year, indicators have been created for each quality area. The knowledge acquired is analysed, evaluated and documented in evaluation reports.
The results are discussed with students and staff through the student democracy, or in committees. Improvement needs are clarified and proposals for action plans/measures are presented. Measures are implemented at the lowest possible level at VID. Those responsible for the various quality areas follow up the proposed measures. A quality report is produced every year, which is reviewed by the board of VID, and overarching goals, improvement measures and responsibility for follow-up are agreed for the next year. The follow-up of proposed measures, analysis, assessment and documentation of the academic quality is repeated in an annual cycle.
VID aims to ensure a good quality culture
Continuous quality development is dependent on a good quality culture in the organization. This is particularly important at VID as it is a relatively new university college and has merged with another institution on January 1, 2018. The large geographical spread of study locations represents a major challenge in the development of a common quality culture.
Information, training and involvement are important elements of the work. VID’s systematic work with the quality of education must be visible and easily accessible to students and staff. An electronic quality manual that assembles guides, guidelines and procedures is currently being devised and will be available in early spring 2018 (around February/March). A quality portal where data and results will be easily accessible is also being planned. VID’s quality improvement and non-conformance system handles failings in academic quality and HSE. The aim is to facilitate the reporting of quality deficiencies so that that they are dealt with as quickly as possible.
Do you have any questions?
Contact the adviser of educational quality, Ave Sazko.