Boards of studies help improve degree programmes
Board of studies representatives and directors of studies at Aarhus University met for a board of studies conference to share their experiences with promoting degree programme quality. Applications for exemptions and the coming institutional accreditation were some of the topics that attracted most attention at this event.
Aarhus University wants to further improve the assurance of quality in education. With this in mind, Pro-rector Berit Eika had invited the boards of studies to a day of knowledge sharing. The aim of the conference was to gain a common understanding of the role of the boards of studies in the quality assurance of AU’s degree programmes leading up to and in continuation of the university’s impending institutional accreditation.
Pro-rector Berit Eika kicked off the day by thanking the boards of studies for their important contribution to raising the local and course-centred quality of the university’s degree programmes:
“The boards of studies are key players in our efforts to further improve the quality of education – for example when it comes to their work on new types of examinations or changes to subjects, their assessment of applications for exemptions and their follow-up on students’ teaching evaluations. The boards of studies therefore play a very important role in our quality work,” she said. She also announced that an accreditation panel will be visiting Aarhus University on 1-2 June 2016 to assess the university quality system.
“In that context, it is important to bear in mind that it is not the quality of our degree programmes that is being assessed, but the underlying quality assurance system,” she explained.
Exemptions create a level playing field
The conference focused, in particular, on the boards of studies’ work with and processing of the applications for exemptions from students. Louise Hauptmann, AU Student Administration and Services, explained that this work is an important element in achieving quality in education, because in this way the boards of studies help create a level playing field for all students.
“The boards of studies have the power to assess and decide whether a student should be granted an exemption – for example whether he or she should be allowed more time to complete a particular exam or be allowed to use special tools or aids at an exam. This power cannot be assigned to others, and the board of studies’ decision is final,” Louise Hauptmann explained.
Boards of studies work on quality
However, the boards of studies not only consider applications for exemptions. To learn more about the work on quality in practice, representatives from the boards of studies were asked to provide examples of steps which they have taken to promote the quality assurance of their degree programmes.
The Board of Studies for the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences explained that its work on quality assurance is based on 10 commandments, among other things. They ask students to describe “10 things I would like to have known about studying psychology before I started”. These 10 commandments are then communicated to upper secondary school students who are considering studying psychology. This is a way of helping prepare future students for what they can expect from the degree programme.
Another example of the quality assurance work of the boards of studies came from the Board of Studies for Medicine. Here, the course manager for each subject chooses 1-2 focus points where there is room for improvement. So, even if teaching evaluations are satisfactory, the quality of the degree programme is still continuously being developed.
The Board of Studies for Public Health works on quality assurance when assessing the students’ teaching evaluations, revising academic regulations or discussing how elective courses fit into the qualification profiles of the various degree programmes. Learn more in this video (in Danish) with Chairman of the Board of Studies Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen, who is director of studies at the Department of Public Health.
Further information
Read more about the work of the various boards of studies here:
Read about the granting of exemptions by the boards of studies:
- Rules and procedures in studies administration (in Danish)
- Website with information on decisions on applications for exemptions
- Website with statement from the Danish Ombudsman regarding proportionality (in Danish)
Read more about AU’s upcoming institutional accreditation at www.ia.au.dk
The role of the boards of studies – from a student’s perspectiveAs a student and vice-chair of the Board of Studies for Public Health, Cecilie Rud Budtz knows the important influence and voice that the boards of studies have in the everyday lives of students:
The boards of studies allow students direct influence on all aspects of AU’s quality assurance in education – from recruitment and the commencement of studies, during the actual degree programme, and until the completion of your studies,” she says, explaining that the work on the study progress reform and its consequences takes up a lot of the boards of studies’ time.
“One of the most important things for me as a student is the work going into the evaluation of courses and lecturers. Unfortunately, we are experiencing difficulties with these evaluations, as many students choose not to complete the questionnaires, and many course organisers do not give priority to them. We have devoted some time to discussing how the evaluations may be optimised and how to ensure that the students feel that they are listened to when raising points of criticism. This is, of course, a crucial element in the quality assurance of our degree programmes,” says Cecilie Rud Budtz. |
