The University of Namur is keen to provide its students with quality teaching, and this is achieved through numerous in-house projects, but also through external evaluations carried out by the AEQES.
In-house
Internally, student evaluations of teaching (SEE) enable continuous improvement of learning activities and teaching methods. Similar processes are carried out at program level to ensure that programs are aligned with the expectations of the job market.
Assessment of teaching quality
Since the Bologna reform in 2005, all higher education institutes based in Europe must meet the European Standard Guidelines (ESG).
What are the ESG?
They provide a common foundation for the appropriation of Quality Assurance by the players in national higher education systems. These guidelines were reviewed in May 2015 by the Ministers of Higher Education of the signatory states, at the Yerevan conference. These GSS define objectives to be achieved and guidelines for the evaluation of curricula, as well as for the operation of the quality system within the Institution.
To ensure that these guidelines are put into practice, Belgium has set up an agency "the AEQES": the Agency for the Evaluation of Quality in Higher Education, whose role is to guarantee the implementation of a Quality Management System in all higher education institutions in FWB.
UNamur, like other Higher Education Institutions, is regularly assessed by AEQES.
What is AEQES?
AEQES stands for Agence pour l'Evaluation de la Qualité de l'Enseignement Supérieur. This agency is responsible for the formative evaluation of programs organized in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (all sectors combined), on the one hand, and the institutional organization underpinning these programs, on the other.
The evaluations, organized on a cyclical basis, follow a calendar predefined by the Agency and proceed according to the same modus operandi: drafting of a self-evaluation dossier, visit by a committee of experts, report by the experts and finally implementation, by the institution, of an action plan.
What does EQTA do?
- EQAA proposes a formative & cross-disciplinary, program-based approach.
- EQAA does not establish rankings, nor does it award accreditation or grades.
- EQAA requires the involvement of higher education institutions in the Agency's management committee.
- EQAA has an executive cell responsible for managing the Agency.
- EQAA is itself evaluated.
In the context of programmatic evaluations, criteria have been defined to help each institution self-assess its curricula in order to identify avenues for improvement: governance and quality policies, program relevance, internal program coherence, efficiency and equity and, finally, reflexivity and continuous improvement.