In connection with the institutional accreditation of Aarhus University, it has been decided that all the university’s degree programmes should be subjected to quality control once every five years, as well as being reviewed each year both in general and with regard to certain specific themes. At the Faculty of Arts these themes will be identified each year by the Committee on Education. This year’s themes are: drop-out rates, completion times, and employment.

Hard facts

The point of departure for the annual review is a range of data packages about each degree programme, which will be discussed by the degree programme committees and then by the boards of studies. The music and digital design programmes have been involved in pilot evaluations already, and reactions to the new approach have been positive:

“Even though it would be useful to have data about individual courses, it’s great to have access to some hard facts about our degree programmes. It makes the challenges facing us more tangible, and gives us something to base our plans on. The process itself has been fine – it’s good to feel that your expertise is being respected,” says Pia Rasmussen, who is Head of the Department of Musicology and Dramaturgy.

Putting the spotlight on quality

The idea is that discussions in the degree programme committees and boards of studies in the spring semester should result in an annual cycle involving heads of department, members of degree programme committees, directors of studies, students and the vice-dean for education. Each autumn they will be discussing the best ways of ensuring and developing quality within the three overall themes.

“The advantage of this set-up is that it is easy to handle and that it will enable us to spot the challenges on an ongoing basis. We mustn’t forget that quality is mostly about what we have and what we do – but it’s also important to identify our quality practices. The annual status report on our quality work is also a good way to identify and share best practice,” says vice-dean Marianne Ping Huang.

Facts

All the heads of department at the faculty will receive data packages on their own degree programmes by 26 April. Invitations to take part in the theme days will be sent out in June.

• Read more about institutional accreditation at AU
• View the composition of the Arts Committee on Education
• Read the “Quality assurance practice in the area of education, Arts” (only in Danish)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the studies administration:

Aarhus:
Lykke Kjerrumgaard Jensen
T: +45 87151884
E: lykke.kjerrumgaard.jensen@au.dk

Emdrup:
Mette Saks Nielsen
T: +45 87151732
E: msni@au.dk