In 2017, AEQES decided to launch a trial phase to define the terms and conditions for evaluating institutions in terms of their governance. The aim of this initiative is to assess the maturity level of higher education institutions through the quality processes they have put in place and ultimately enable institutions to manage external program evaluations themselves in the near future.
The AEQES wishes to develop its evaluation methodology towards a mixed approach, combining a revised programmatic component with an institutional component. For the institutional component, the AEQES has launched a pilot evaluation phase to find the most appropriate methodology and, to this end, has issued a call for applications to higher education institutions wishing to participate. This pilot phase will run from 2019 to 2023 and will enable a decision to be made on the methodology to be applied for institutional evaluations.
Seventeen institutions have been selected to participate in this pilot phase. Together, they form a representative sample, particularly in terms of teaching methods, geographical distribution, and the maturity of the various quality systems. These institutions are now entering a self-evaluation phase based on the first part of the European Standard Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG).
UNamur is one of the institutions selected to participate in the pilot phase of institutional evaluations in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
The aim of this phase is to test different evaluation methodologies, but also to define the scope and purpose of the evaluation. The evaluation will seek to assess the processes that the institution has put in place to function properly, as well as its overall management. This is therefore a complex objective.
The stages of the institutional pilot phase of the AEQES
As this is a pilot phase, there is no established process yet. The participating institutions have also decided to draw inspiration from programmatic evaluation stages based on the ESG.
The pilot phase at the University of Namur
UNamur has applied to actively participate in this co-construction process.
Several key dates have therefore been announced to enable our institution to complete the stages of this pilot phase:
- October 15, 2019: submission of the institutional self-assessment report to AEQES as part of the pilot phase
- February 3, 4, and 5, 2020: visit by the committee of experts appointed by AEQES as part of the pilot phase for institutional evaluation. The visit went very well and allowed the experts to discover the functioning and dynamism of our University.
- July 14, 2021: receipt of the experts' final report and recommendations.
The University decided to adopt a collaborative approach, drawing on nine working groups made up of more than 40 members of the institution (academic, scientific, and administrative staff, employees, deans, directors, and vice-rectors).
This technique enabled the University to develop an action plan in response to the recommendations received from the experts following their visit. This plan, published on May 31, 2022, and attached below, is intended to be aligned with the strategic priorities of the Rector's Council and respectful of our values, our missions, our staff, and our capabilities. The next stage of this evaluation will take place in 2025 with the submission of a follow-up report to the AEQES.