Massive interest in responding to consultation on education quality policies

The deadline for submitting a consultation response to SDU’s proposal for revised policies for educational quality expired on 10 June. The project group is grateful for the hard work the organisation has put into writing consultation responses and is impressed by both the volume of responses and the thoroughness of the proposals submitted.

A total of 51 responses were submitted on behalf of councils, boards, committees and other groups, and five responses were submitted on the submitters’ own behalf.

Structure and build-up – poetic and appetising

A few people preferred the old structure, where the policies followed the student’s journey through their studies from recruitment to graduation, but overall, there was a very positive reception to the new structure for quality policies – with policies for teaching, programmes and the University as the structure’s overall principle.

The most often repeated words were ‘simplified’, ‘clear’ and ‘logical’. Several people also highlighted the graphic representation of the structure, in which teaching is depicted as an apple core, while the programmes and the University form the surrounding framework. The ‘apple’ structure was thus referred to as both poetic and appetising.

Content, wording and phrasing

As for content, wording and phrasing, the responses naturally became more focused and specific in terms of wishes for adaptation or things that should remain.

At an overall level, there was general satisfaction that policies are more focused on development rather than supervision. 

Some elements of the quality policies recurred in the comments due to requests for clarification of the content. Among other things, it was about:

• Relevance of the programmes
• Requirements for the research and knowledge base of programmes
• Learning environments in education

The responses also included many concrete and useful suggestions for wording and additions that could sharpen the policies.

The responses also showed a general curiosity for the next phase of the revision project, which focuses on the implementation of the quality policies and who will be responsible for what.

Processes

There were also some comments regarding the consultation process and the process going forward. A few respondents emphasised the importance of increased student involvement and would have liked the consultation framework to have included a reading guide with more about the original policies and the process going forward. There were also a few who would have liked a longer consultation period.

Next steps

The project group is currently in the process of adapting the descriptions of the quality policies in light of the many thorough consultation responses, so that an adjusted version can be submitted to the Council for Education and from there to the Executive Board for approval, along with a description of the Central Administration’s responsibility for support. 

This will be followed by involvement processes at each faculty to formulate how the quality policy will be realised in practice in ways that take into account the differences between the faculties, while having a common framework for ideals, processes and division of responsibilities. This work is expected to be finalised in early November.

Would you like to know more?

Read about the Revision Project and find contact details on the project’s webpage on SDUnet.