Quality Assurance

What do we mean by Quality Assurance?

The “Quality Assurance” category includes a range of activities, such as:

• to implement measures specifically aimed at achieving the University’s quality objectives in teaching and research, such as design, implementation, observation (monitoring) and check procedures;
• to carry out a process of continuing improvement of objectives, and tools to be used in order to achieve them, as well as the relevant implementation measures;
• to engage the University’s employees. This will be done in order to achieve the following objectives: to enable employees to perform well; to offer efficient services; to track what is being done in order to monitor and measure the results;
• to improve the confidence of students, the social community and work representatives in the ability of our University to achieve quality objectives.

The University has a Quality Assurance framework, which outlines objectives, roles and procedures in the QA system. Specific quality objectives are set in the University’s strategic plans and guidelines.

The Quality Assurance initiatives, responding to the measures issued by the National Agency for the Assessment of the University System and Research (ANVUR), involve various aspects of the University environment (teaching, research, third mission, administration).

Quality Assurance in Teaching

University members in charge of programme design and implementation are responsible for setting the educational objectives and the contents of each study programme. To this end, they shall draft the Programme’s project plan based on the University’s Quality Guidelines on Teaching, and fill in the Study Programme’s Information Sheet. In addition, they shall verify the results obtained and suggest actions for improvement, through the preparation of a special report (Review Report) also taking into account the students’ views.

Quality Assurance in Research

The purpose of Quality Assurance in research is to monitor the conditions under which the research activities are carried out, i.e. to set the research objectives, to implement what is necessary to achieve them, to ensure that the planned activities are carried out properly, and to evaluate the degree of effective achievement of the objectives. University members in charge of Research in each Department are required to regularly report the above information by completing special monitoring and review sheets.

Third Mission

By Third Mission we mean the set of activities that enable the University to interact with society, thus integrating the traditional missions of teaching and research with new contributions. Today this area, which was added to the Quality Assurance framework quite recently, is investigated through internal surveys to be carried out through special monitoring and review sheets.

Performance

The management and the evaluation of performance of the University's technical and administrative staff are aimed at improving the quality of the services offered, the growth of professional skills, the enhancement of merit and the transparency of the results and resources used to pursue them.
At the University of Verona, the operational reference point for these activities is the Human Resources Planning and Development Area.