Participate in the accreditation process as an internal reviewer
... and make an important contribution to the quality assurance and development of our university's degree programmes.
Together with the external reviewers, you will be supported by the Q³ team. It is up to you to decide whether you would like to volunteer as a Q³UoC expert once or whether you would like to volunteer several times (maximum twice a year). We would be happy to discuss this after your first assignment.
We have compiled some general information about the QM dialogue and the role of the Q³UoC experts for you below.
General information on the QM dialogue process and your tasks
We organize one- to two-day QM dialogues for the initial accreditation or reaccreditation of degree programmes. Several degree programmes from one or more departments are often grouped into a cluster and assessed together. In these cases, the QM dialogue may last one and a half or two days.
Your task as a Q³UoC expert: You will check the relevant degree programmes for compliance with the corresponding quality criteria. To this end, you will review the documents provided to you by Q³. On the day of the QM dialogue, you will exchange ideas with departmental representatives and support them in reflecting on the study conditions.
Steps for preparing the QM dialogue:
Review the documents, in particular the self-report and its attachments (MHB, subject-specific provisions, basic data sheet, evaluation results)
Prepare a written preliminary statement up to seven days before the QM dialogue
Participate in the preliminary meeting between the assessors and Q³ (approx. 1 hour):
Exchange opinions
Allocate questions/topics to discussion rounds
During the QM dialogue:
You can ask the departmental representatives and students your questions during the discussion rounds.
Based on the discussions, you will formulate your assessments and work with the other assessors to develop recommendations and measures for improving or fulfilling the criteria.
After the QM dialogue, we will send you the draft report for approval and ask you for feedback and corrections.
The special role of the Q³UoC experts
As a Q³UoC expert, you’re not just an assessor. You also mediate between external assessors and departmental representatives as a member of the university but from a different department. If necessary, you can provide the external assessors with UoC-related information. You also have an interdisciplinary perspective and can contribute best-practice examples from your discipline. Your role is to observe and support the discussions. Given that you have a different professional perspective, you can both take a critical stance and provide important impetus.
Helpful questions:
Are the external assessors’ proposals realistic? Have other solutions already been found at the UoC?
What else do the external assessors need to know in order to understand the facts of the case (e.g. information on procedures / the UoC approach)?
How are these implemented in your own discipline and what is discussed?
What is the current state of the subject to be assessed?
Is there a best practice or a solution from your own discipline that might be applicable to the assessed degree programme?
Further information on the accreditation process at the UoC
After the report has been prepared, the subject experts are given the opportunity to submit written comments on the report. This statement is submitted to the Accreditation Committee along with the expert’s group report, the self-report and its attachments. The Committee examines whether the documents have a consistent message, and then prepares a decision recommendation. The final decision is made by the Rectorate and is valid for eight years. The subject experts must demonstrate within twelve months that the degree programme meets the conditions.
