Quality Assurance

The recognition and enhancement of quality are at the core of the values and principles that guide our actions, in alignment with the AVA (Self-assessment, Evaluation, and Accreditation) system developed by ANVUR.

The dissemination and enhancement of quality also take place through the publication of guidelines and documents on teaching, research, and the third mission/social impact, providing valuable resources for the academic community.

• Guidelines for quality assurance in public engagement activities (in Italian) [.pdf 575 KB]
• University Policies and Academic Programme Planning 2023–2027 (in Italian) [.pdf 204 KB]

We constantly endeavour to promote ways of listening to student representatives and to give them a prominent QA role, so that they can actively participate in decision-making processes relating to quality-related education policies.

Students can actively contribute to the process of improving the teaching quality through their experience as users of training and support services. In addition, by carrying out internships or theses at organisations, companies and other universities and providing feedback on their experience, they can contribute to improving the teachers’ relations with external stakeholders, and indirectly to improving relations useful in the field of research and the third mission/social impact.

Guidelines for Promoting and Supporting Student Representations (in Italian) [.pdf 803 KB]

The PDCA, or Plan-Do-Check-Act, is the iterative management method we have chosen as the underlying rationale of our quality assurance system, in line with the European standards of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education). 

Its four phases (Plan-Do-Check-Act) take place cyclically and allow continuous control and improvement of processes and results:

• Defining goals, i.e. the results we want to achieve, as an integral part of the formulation of the University’s policies and strategies (Plan),
• Planning and developing ways to achieve set goals through structured policy and strategy implementation processes (Plan),
• Implementing, in a systematic and integrated manner, the ways of achieving goals and related processes (Do),
• Monitoring planning and implementation (Check),
• Promoting improvement actions after analysing monitoring results, to make approaches and processes more effective (Act).

This method is applied at every level of the University’s quality system.

The creation of a quality-driven system is also achieved by disseminating quality values, goals and processes in the three areas that characterise the University’s mission: teaching, research and the third mission/social impact.

In order to promote a culture of quality, we systematically carry out training, information and communication initiatives aimed at all members of the academic community – teaching staff, professional staff and student representatives – with the aim of increasing awareness of and active participation in the quality system by everyone, right across the board.

Assessment of the results achieved, i.e. of the efficiency, effectiveness and relevance of the processes and actions implemented, is carried out both through direct discussion with the stakeholders involved and by drafting summary documents and reports containing reflections on the outcomes of the activities implemented by the Departments, Degree Programmes and the PhD Programmes.

The Quality Committee collects the requests and analyses of stakeholders and, in turn, makes observations that it reports to the University bodies in its annual report. This feeds a circular and shared flow of information, at all levels of the organisation, aimed at spreading knowledge and increasing awareness of processes and their results.

One of the main parties involved in direct discussions is the Evaluation Group, tasked with assessing – as a third party (i.e. external to the university) – the proper functioning of the quality assurance system.

The University Quality Assurance Committee drafts an annual report on the University’s quality assurance system:

• Annual Report on the University Quality Assurance System - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 2478 KB]

• Annual Report on the University Quality Assurance System - Year 2023 (in Italian) [.pdf 2559 KB]

Accreditation is the process whereby a 'third party' formally confirms that an organisation has the competence and means to perform its tasks. In the case of the university system, this task is assigned to ANVUR, the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes.

The University of Bologna’s quality system has been assessed by ANVUR, following a visit by a Committee of Evaluation Experts. The Ministry of Universities and Research has granted the University and its Degree Programmes periodic accreditation by means of Ministerial Decree no. 362 of 11 April 2019.

The full Evaluation Report is available on the ANVUR website.

The Departments’ Quality Assurance system is developed in line with the overall University system, based on the rationale of the 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' cycle.  This model is applied through a set of interrelated elements:

• Defining a multi-year strategic plan outlining the Departments’ strategic lines for teaching, research and the third mission/social impact (Plan);
• Implementing strategic lines, also through the definition of criteria for the distribution of resources (Do);
• Systematically monitoring the planning, processes and results of its missions by analysing problems detected and their causes (Check);
• Developing appropriate improvement actions, the effectiveness of which is in turn verified (Act).

While respecting the organisational and administrative autonomy of the Departments, the approach to quality requires the Department to implement its strategies in line with the University Strategic Plan [.pdf 20180 KB], with the help of a 'governance system' and an organisation that is functional to the achievement of its teaching, research and third mission/social impact goals. As regards the implementation of operational goals linked to the Department’s administrative activities, this forms an integral part of the annual self-assessment and relates to strategic planning. The operational planning of Departments flows into the University’s Integrated Activity and Organisation Plan (PIAO)(in Italian).

The Department Strategic Plan presents, to all internal and external stakeholders, the Department's vision, mission, guidelines and strategic goals for the three-year period from 2025 to 2027. The Department Strategic Plan is defined in accordance with the areas and goals of the 2022-2027 University Strategic Plan and with the specific cultural project that characterises the Department. It also explains the main contextual elements that has guided the Department along the process and a description of the Department’s management system.

The University Quality Committee draws up and updates guidelines and templates, available to the Departments, to support the process: 

• Guidelines for Department Strategic Planning 2025-2027 (in Italian) [.pdf 591 KB]
• Department Strategic Plan Model 2025-2027 (in Italian) [.docx 109 KB]

The Departments' annual self-assessment process aims to monitor the performance of the indicators defined in their Strategic Plan in order to identify strengths and weaknesses, and therefore plan improvement actions for the following year with the involvement of the teaching and professional staff and of the student community.

This self-assessment aims to facilitate the circulation of information and knowledge management between the Departments and the relevant Degree and PhD Programmes, also with a view to increasing transparency in the decision-making and implementation processes. To this end, it uses the self-assessment documents of the Degree and PhD Programmes and the reports of the Faculty-Student Joint Committee as elements of analysis.

The Quality Committee draws up and updates guidelines and templates, available to the Departments:  

• Guidelines for the Annual Self-Assessment of Departments, Degree Programmes and PhD Programmes - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 561 KB]
• Annual Departmental Review Model - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.docx 4194 KB]

The Department’s quality assurance system requires that processes and the ways they are developed to achieve set goals are first monitored and, subsequently, assessed for their effectiveness.

Starting from their own multi-year strategic plans and the specific goals set in accordance with the University Strategic Plan, the Departments carry out an annual self-assessment, identifying strengths and areas for improvement with respect to the three missions (teaching, research and third mission/social impact). Consequently, they define short- and medium-term improvement actions to positively affect the achievement of their goals. Completed actions are self-assessed with respect to their effectiveness.

The University holds hearings to establish a dialogue between the individual Departments and the Board of Governors, the Quality Committee and the Evaluation Group. These hearings provide an opportunity for a collegial review of the Departments’ annual self-assessment process, from which the Departments’ improvement actions for the following year are derived.

The Degree Programmes’ Quality Assurance system is developed in line with the overall University system, based on the rationale of the 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' cycle. The model is developed through a set of interrelated elements:

• Formalising the planning and redesigning processes through constant dialogue with stakeholders (public and private bodies and companies, economic and business organisations, professional organisations, former graduates) in order to learn more about the motivation and potential for developing and updating the training project (Plan),
• Providing training activities for students and all supporting services (Do),
• Defining a system for monitoring processes and results, also by detecting and analysing the opinions of the student community (Check)
• Using monitoring results to identify, plan and implement improvement processes also useful for redesigning Degree Programmes (Act).

The design and implementation of Degree Programmes is a process based on the principle of student centrality in education and learning. It takes into account the cultural and professional needs expressed by society, the sustainability and effectiveness of the services offered, the availability of facilities, and the qualifications of the teaching staff.

Every year, the University guides Departments in the planning and redesigning of the educational offering, verifying its economic, financial, structural and teaching sustainability in order to achieve the best allocation of resources.

The Departments plan their educational offering on the basis of their strategic plan, the findings of the Degree Programme self-assessment process, and the demand for training that emerges from discussions with external 'stakeholders' and sustainability assessments, thereby proposing to the Academic Bodies:

• the establishment, activation or deactivation of Degree Programmes;
• any changes to the educational systems and regulations of the Degree Programmes offered.

All processes are supported by special Guidelines published on the University Intranet.

The annual self-assessment process aims to monitor the performance of the Degree Programme in order to identify strengths and weaknesses, and therefore plan improvement actions for the following year with the involvement of the teaching and professional staff and of the student community.

This self-assessment facilitates the circulation of information and knowledge management, also with a view to increasing transparency in the decision-making and implementation processes.

The activities carried out must have documentable and measurable effects, therefore documents are functional to discussing the improvement actions of the Degree Programmes with the Faculty-Student Joint Committees and the relevant Departments’ governance systems.

Degree Programmes analyse and monitor their performance on the basis of the results of the student community opinion survey and the indicators defined by ANVUR and the Quality Committee.

The Quality Committee draws up and annually updates guidelines and templates, available to the Degree Programme Board and the Department's Faculty-Student Joint Committee: 

• Guidelines for the Annual Self-Assessment of Departments, Degree Programmes and PhD Programmes - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 561 KB]
• Annual Degree Programme Review Model - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 668 KB]
• Annual Joint Committee Report Model - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 567 KB]
• Guidelines for the Analysis and Monitoring of Teaching Programmes (in Italian) [.pdf 697 KB]
• Guidelines for Analysing and Discussing the Results of Student Opinion Survey  Results (in Italian) [.pdf 804 KB]

Surveys of the students’ opinions on teaching activities in Degree Programmes

The University regularly collects anonymous opinions of attending students on teaching activities via an online questionnaire administered in the classroom.

The data is analysed as part of the teaching self-assessment process and made available to individual teachers and stakeholders, including student representatives. Data aggregated per Degree Programme is available on the Student Opinion website.

The University’s Evaluation Group produces an annual report on the opinions of attending students.

Students who were not able to participate in the classroom survey can answer a short online questionnaire, offered at the time of registering for the exam via the online Almaesami application. Again, the answers to the questionnaire are collected anonymously.

End-of-Programme survey and employment status survey

The University and AlmaLaurea offer all those completing a Degree Programme the opportunity to fill out an online questionnaire, with the aim of:

• collecting assessments and judgements regarding the university experience that is about to end, in order to monitor study and training pathways and analyse the characteristics and performance of those who have graduated, thereby improving the training offering;
• acquiring the student's curriculum vitae in order to facilitate his or her entry into the world of work: with this in mind, the data of students wishing to take advantage of this opportunity will be made available to organisations and companies that request it.

The University and AlmaLaurea offer all graduates the opportunity to fill out an online questionnaire on their employment status, one, three and five years after graduation, with the aim of:

• putting together a broad and detailed snapshot of the type of work carried out, the profession, the remuneration of employees and their satisfaction with their work, the branch and sector in which they work, the use at the workplace of the skills acquired at university;
• comparing results by subject area, gender and territorial area.

You can see the search results on the AlmaLaurea website: 'Graduate Profile' and 'Employment Status'.

The Degree Programme’s quality system requires that processes and the methods of developing them to achieve set goals are first monitored and, subsequently, assessed for their effectiveness.

Through self-assessment activities, Degree Programmes highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and define improvement actions. Completed actions are self-assessed by the Degree Programme with respect to their effectiveness.

The outcomes of the self-assessment are therefore useful for reflecting on possible changes to the Degree Programme's design, with a view to continuously improving the training offering.

The Degree Programme’s assessment process is not confined to the Programme itself, but proceeds by successive, 'ascending' levels leading up to the University bodies, in order to allow for the exchange and implementation of findings between peripheral and central structures.

Stakeholders involved in the intermediate stages of the programme assessment process include:

• the Department Faculty-Student Joint Committee, which monitors the effectiveness of the process of analysing results by the Degree Programmes and their appropriate identification of critical issues, and draws up an annual report which it submits to the Department. Being constituted at the Department level, the Committee can also propose improvement actions across several programmes;
• the Quality Committee, which oversees the implementation of teaching-related quality procedures, monitoring and supporting the Degree Programmes and Joint Committees, based on the guidelines formulated by the Governance System;
• the Evaluation Group, which verifies the maturity of the internal quality system also by analysing at the individual Degree Programme level the results achieved and by identifying possible areas for improvement, also through hearings.

Periodically, the Quality Committee collects and shares with all stakeholders, through training/information meetings, examples of 'serviceable' actions and results achieved to foster the circulation of good practices.

The PhD Programmes’ Quality Assurance system is developed in line with the overall University system, based on the rationale of the 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' cycle. The approach to quality for PhD programmes includes:

• Formalising the planning and redesigning processes through constant dialogue with stakeholders (public and private bodies and companies, economic and business organisations, professional organisations, scientific companies, research centres, alumni) in order to learn more about the motivation and potential for developing and updating the training and research project (Plan),
• Providing training and research activities for PhD students and all supporting services (Do),
• Defining a system for monitoring processes and results, also by detecting and analysing the opinions of PhD students (Check),
• Using monitoring results to identify, plan and implement improvement processes also useful for redesigning PhD Programmes (Act).

The PhD Programme’s Academic Board is called upon to define a clear and articulated vision of the training and research pathway available to PhD students, first of all by consulting the parties involved in terms of the goals that the PhD Programme sets itself and of possible job opportunities, taking into account the strategic planning of the Departments involved and of the University.

The Quality Committee draws up guidelines and templates, available to the Academic Boards:

• Guidelines for the Design and Organisation of PhD Programmes (in italian)
• Guidelines for Stakeholder Consultation on PhD Programmes (in italian)
• Template Minutes for Stakeholder Consultations on PhD Programmes (in italian)
• Annual PhD Programme Report (SUA-PHD) Template (in italian)
• Template Guidelines for awarding Doctoral Credits [.docx 92 KB]
• PhD Credit Allocation Form (in italian)
• PhD Educational Offer Template (in italian)

The annual self-assessment process aims to monitor the performance of the PhD Programme in order to identify strengths and weaknesses, and therefore plan improvement actions for the following year with the involvement of the teaching and professional staff and of the student community.

This self-assessment facilitates the circulation of information and knowledge management, also with a view to increasing transparency in the decision-making and implementation processes.

The activities carried out must have documentable and measurable effects, therefore documents are functional to discussing the improvement actions of the PhD Programmes with the proposing Department.

PhD Programmes analyse and monitor their performance on the basis of the results of the PhD student opinion survey and the indicators defined by ANVUR and the University’s Quality Committee.

On an annual basis, the Quality Committee draws up and updates guidelines and templates, available to the Programme’s Academic Board: 

• Guidelines for the Annual Self-Assessment of Departments, Degree Programmes, and Doctoral Programmes - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.pdf 561 KB]
• Annual Departmental Review Model - Year 2024 (in Italian) [.docx 4194 KB]

End-of-year opinion survey

Every year, the University conducts an end-of-year survey to gather the opinions of PhD students on the various areas of the research training project and the associated services and opportunities.

The survey involves filling out an anonymous questionnaire, which enables the extensive collection of data useful for the PhD Programme’ self-assessment process.

Questionnaire template and compilation information

End-of-Programme survey and employment status survey

Every year, the University and AlmaLaurea propose two PhD Programme surveys to gather:

• feedback on the programmes from PhD Students who are completing their studies/research work;
• information on their inclusion in the world of work after one, three and five years of gaining their qualification. 

Information on questionnaire completion

You can see the search results on the AlmaLaurea website: 'Profile of PhD Holders' and 'Employment Status of PhD Holders'.

The PhD Programme’s quality system requires that processes and the methods of developing them to achieve set goals are first monitored and, subsequently, assessed for their effectiveness.

Through the self-assessment process, PhD Programmes highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and define improvement actions. Completed actions are self-assessed by the PhD Programme with respect to their effectiveness, also by means of supporting statistical data where available.

The outcomes of the self-assessment are therefore useful for reflecting on possible changes to the design of the training and research pathway, with a view to achieving continuous improvement.

The PhD Programme’s assessment process is not confined to the Programme itself, but proceeds by successive, 'ascending' levels leading up to the University bodies, in order to allow for the exchange and implementation of findings between peripheral and central structures.

Stakeholders involved in the intermediate stages of the programme assessment process include:

• the Department, which monitors the effectiveness of the process of analysing results by the proposed PhD Programmes and their appropriate identification of critical issues;
• the Quality Committee, which oversees the implementation of quality procedures related to the PhD programmes, monitoring and supporting the programmes and the Departments, based on the guidelines formulated by the Governance System;
• the Evaluation Group, which verifies the maturity of the internal quality system also by analysing at the individual PhD Programme level the results achieved and by identifying possible areas for improvement, also through hearings.

 Periodically, the Quality Committee collects and shares with all stakeholders, through training/information meetings, examples of 'serviceable' actions and results achieved to foster the circulation of good practices.