QM successfully further developed through Verbund initiative

On December 2, 2016, the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau hosted the final workshop of the collaborative project “Quality management at Saxony’s Universities of Applied Sciences” (QM5), which was funded by the SMWK through its initiative budget. On that day, project staff from the five Saxon universities of applied sciences (HAW) met to complete the final work package and prepare the final report. At the same time and in the same location, a meeting of the Prorectors for education from Saxony’s universities of applied sciences took place. The Prorectors—who also served as project leaders—and the project team members came together for a final session and gave a positive assessment of the project. And there’s more: They agreed to continue the networking efforts informally starting next year, even without the established project funding.

The project participants looked back on a project duration of just over two years, during which valuable contacts were established between the quality management stakeholders at the participating Universities, joint position papers were developed, and experiences on various topics (such as course evaluation, IT-supported process documentation, and the complaints/improvement system) were exchanged. All of this is currently being incorporated into the drafting of the final project report.

At Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the project resulted in the documentation and internal publication of a series of key processes in the areas of academic programs and University Administration. These include, for example, degree program management processes, as well as recruitment and evaluation processes. Furthermore, the intranet was redesigned, and the former administrative manual was replaced by the HIP (University Information Portal), which offers employees additional information and functionalities beyond the content of the administrative manual. During the project period, the content of QM documents and tools was further developed, and QM tasks were permanently integrated into the structure of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences in the form of the Quality management Office.

One of the main tasks of the Quality management Office in the coming years is to prepare our University for institutional accreditation. System accreditation is a goal in the SMWK’s draft agreement on objectives for the period 2017 to 2020, which is scheduled to be signed by the Rectors in December 2016. Incidentally, our University is in good company: the HTWK Leipzig and Mittweida University of Applied Sciences are also striving for system accreditation; the HTW Dresden is already undergoing the system accreditation process. Of course, the Quality management Office, together with those responsible for and involved in the processes, will continue to further develop internal university workflows and procedures. As Thomas Alva Edison once said: “If there’s a way to do something better, find it.”

Further information on the project can be found on the joint project page and here via the Quality management office at the HSZG.