Salta al contenuto principale

Quality Assurance and Organisation at DiSAT

Quality Assurance in Teaching
disat quality

The Quality Assurance system adopted, in line with the AVA framework, is based on the definition of the responsibilities and functions of the actors involved, the processes in which they interact, and the related information flows. Quality in education requires that the degree programme:

  • specifies learning objectives that are meaningful
  • enables students to achieve them within the expected timeframe
  • certifies that the learning objectives have been achieved
  • has a credible organisational structure
Actors and Tools of Teaching Quality Assurance

The QA actors specific to the area of Teaching are listed below. The central role of the Department Council is described in the section “The Organisation of the Department: Institutional Bodies, Committees and Individual Appointments”.

The systematic documentation of the main processes of the design, management, review and improvement of degree programmes is an integral part of the Quality Assurance system. The key documents for the assessment of the Degree Programme Quality Requirement (R3 – Quality of Degree Programmes) are:

  • Single Annual Degree Programme Record (Scheda Unica Annuale del Corso di Studio – SUA-CdS)
  • Annual Monitoring Report (Scheda di Monitoraggio Annuale – SMA)
  • Cyclical Review Report (Rapporto di Riesame ciclico – RRC)
  • Report of the Joint Committee of Lecturers and Students

It is the Committee established at Department level, composed of an equal number of lecturers and students representing the degree programmes managed by the teaching structure. It serves as a permanent internal observatory within the Department on teaching activities, focusing mainly on monitoring the extent to which teaching objectives are achieved, also on the basis of constructive dialogue with students, both in order to gather their views and to promote a culture of quality. The Annual Report of the Joint Committee of Lecturers and Students provides a summary of the analytical work carried out during the year and contains proposals for improvement addressed to the degree programmes.

Lecturers

Gloria Tabacchi – Chair
Paolo Espa
Oliver Fabio Piattella
Riccardo Re
Elisabetta Zanardini

Students

Miriam Bianchi
Lorenzo Mauriello
Leonardo Mazza
Leonardo Miraglia
Chantal Sala

Students take part in the life and governance of the University and, in particular, of their own teaching structure through their representatives on the Degree Programme Board, the Department Council, and the Department’s Quality Assurance Committees.

The duties of the representatives are as follows:

  • to listen to and consult the student community they represent
  • to bring the issues collected to the relevant collegiate body
  • to report periodically to the student community on the decisions taken by the bodies
  • to convene the student community they represent on a regular basis
  • to maintain contact with representatives both within the Department’s bodies and committees and within the University’s governing bodies
  • to propose improvement actions to the competent bodies

In particular, student representatives on the Joint Committee of Lecturers and Students (JCLS) and on the AiQua Committees are responsible for reporting observations, critical issues and proposals for improvement regarding the educational pathway and teaching support services, and for verifying that transparency, easy access to information and information-sharing are ensured, within the different roles of the Quality Assurance Committees.

The student representatives on the Department Council of Science and High Technology (DiSAT) are:

Alessandro Bottin
Edoardo Maria Filippo Baltrocchi
Irene Crimi
Matteo Orozco Onate
Anna Giulia Pittarello
Alessandro Poli
Anna Proti
Chantal Sala

For representatives on the various Degree Programme Boards, please refer to the dedicated pages under “Organisation of the Programme”:

For representatives on the DiSAT JCLS and on the AiQua Committees of the related degree programmes, please refer to the dedicated sections.

For representatives on the General Student Council (CGS), please refer to the dedicated page.

For each Degree Programme (CdS), responsibility for the educational provision (design, including consultation with the world of work, management and the continuous improvement of the programme) lies with the Degree Programme Coordinator, who is also the Chair of the AiQua Committee. In the self-assessment and review activities relating to the Degree Programme for which they are responsible, the Coordinator is supported by the other members of the AiQua Committee.

The Degree Programme Board — composed of the lecturers responsible for the teaching activities listed in the Degree Programme Regulations and of an elected student representation from the Degree Programme managed by the Board, amounting to at least 15 per cent of the professors and researchers — is the collegiate body that ensures the teaching and organisational coordination of the programme’s activities. Both the Degree Programme Coordinator and the AiQua Committee report to it.

For the names of the DiSAT Degree Programme Coordinators, please consult the paragraph relating to the AiQua Committees.

The AiQua Committee of the Degree Programme, referred to in the SUA-CdS as the “Quality Assurance Management Group”, is the main body involved in the programme’s self-assessment and review process, playing a fundamental role in managing the processes for the internal quality assurance of each Degree Programme (CdS) through activities of design, implementation, monitoring and control.

Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry and Master’s Degree in Chemistry
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Physics
Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering for Workplace and Environmental Safety
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mathematics
Master’s Degree in Environmental Sciences

The Teaching Quality Assurance Manager (MDQ) is a professional role identified at University level and present in every teaching structure. This role supports activities connected with the management of teaching and acts as a process facilitator within the Quality Assurance system. For this reason, an MDQ is also included among the members of the Quality Assurance Management Group (AiQua Committee) of each Degree Programme.

For contact details, please refer to:

Teaching Quality Assurance Managers’ Listening Service – DiSAT

Representatives of the world of work collaborate in the design of the Degree Programmes (CdS) of the Department of Science and High Technology – DiSAT, providing useful information for the definition and updating of the professional profile; they also perform a consultative role in the design of placements and contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the educational pathway.

The main objective of this activity is to maintain a constant dialogue between the demand for and supply of education, by sharing the educational project of the Degree Programme and fostering effective collaboration with scientific and professional organisations, and with representatives of the cultural and productive sectors, including at international level, not only at the stage of establishing the Degree Programme.

At DiSAT, consultations with the world of work are organised differently depending on the Degree Programme.

Bachelor’s Degrees in Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry and Master’s Degree in Chemistry
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Physics
Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering for Workplace and Environmental Safety
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mathematics
Master’s Degree in Environmental Sciences

Student Reports

Undergraduate students have a number of channels available to them for requesting information and submitting feedback and suggestions for improvement.

In addition to undergraduate students, PhD students, Master’s students and those enrolled in specialist schools may also contact the Head of Department, who is responsible for handling student feedback, regarding unresolved issues or complaints:

For a detailed description of the procedures available to DiSAT undergraduate students, please consult the relevant pages:

Contacts and reports from students – Degree Programmes
Student reports – PhD and Master’s programmes
Quality Assurance in Research and Third Mission
disat quality

The Quality Assurance system adopted, in line with the AVA framework, is based on the definition of the responsibilities and functions of the actors involved, the processes in which they interact, and the related information flows.

Quality in the areas of research and Third Mission requires that the Department:

  • defines objectives that are meaningful
  • makes it possible to achieve them within the expected timeframe
  • certifies the results achieved
  • has an appropriate organisational structure
Actors and Tools of Quality Assurance in Research and Third Mission

At Department level, the main Quality Assurance actor specifically responsible for Research and Third Mission is the AiQuaR Committee, described below. The central role of the Department Council is set out in the section “The Organisation of the Department: Institutional Bodies, Committees and Individual Appointments”.

The systematic documentation of the main processes of the design, management, review and improvement of the Department’s research and Third Mission activities is an integral part of the Quality Assurance system. The key documents for the assessment of the Quality Requirement for Departmental Research and Third Mission (R4.B – Quality of Research and Third Mission) are:

  • Department Planning Document
  • SUA-RD

The AiQuaR Committee plays a fundamental role in managing the processes relating to the quality of research and Third Mission activities, as it is the main body responsible for the Department’s self-assessment and review activities. It reports to the Department Council, the collegiate body responsible for the management of the Department as a whole and for adopting the decisions it considers appropriate.

DiSAT AiQuaR Committee
The Organisation of the Department: Institutional Bodies, Committees and Individual Appointments

Alongside the institutional bodies provided for by the Statute at the level of the teaching and research structure, the Department has established its own specific organisational framework in order to oversee those areas of activity considered strategic, through a system of delegated responsibilities and the creation of dedicated Departmental Committees.

The Director represents the Department and, as the person responsible for the management of the structure, for defining its strategic directions and for evaluating its results, promotes and coordinates all Department activities.
The Director of DiSAT is Professor Michela Prest.

The Department Council is the collegiate body responsible for planning the Department’s activities and for the use of the resources allocated to it. In particular, within the Department’s Quality Assurance system, the Council adopts the decisions connected with Quality Assurance activities, also taking into account analyses carried out both within and outside the Department, as well as proposals for corrective or improvement measures put forward by the Quality Assurance Committees.

The Committee is responsible for drafting the Department’s three-year Strategic Plan, in accordance with the operational guidelines provided by the Rector’s Delegate for the Strategic Plan.

The Committee is composed of the members of the AiQuaR Committee, the members of the Department Executive Board, the coordinators of the PhD in Chemical and Environmental Sciences and of the PhD in Physics and Astrophysics, the Department’s delegates on the Guidance and Placement Committee, and the Teaching Quality Assurance Manager (MDQ):

The Department has appointed Erasmus Coordinators, who work in coordination with the University Committee for International Relations:

 

The Scientific Degree Plan offers activities for upper secondary school students, for their teachers, and for students in the early years of university study, characterised by active participation and co-design. The areas of Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics take part in national projects with actions dedicated to laboratories for students and for the teaching of the basic sciences, teacher training, the reduction of dropout rates, and the training of tutors.

The Department’s project coordinators are:

Chemistry Area – Professor Gianluigi Broggini
Physics Area – Professor Alberto Parola
Mathematics Area – Professor Marco Donatelli
Environmental Area – Professor Andrea Pozzi

The knowledge assessment test takes place after enrolment and is not selective. It covers basic mathematics knowledge.
The coordinator appointed by the Department for the organisation and management of the test is Professor Gianluigi Broggini.