The quality system is comprised of four main elements:
- Policy for quality in education
- Principles for quality in education
- Memoranda regarding quality in education
- Implementation notes
Policy for quality in education
SDU's policy for quality in education is a dedicated policy for the work we undertake regarding quality in education. It is structured to reflect the students' educational journey from application and admission, to education and to their career after graduation.
The core of the quality policy is eight sub-policies. They describe the goals for the work concerning quality in education and the actions that must lead to the goals being met. The sub-policies are supplemented by a preamble and an appendix.
Read more about the elements of the quality policy:
The preamble is an introduction to the sub-policies and the appendix. The preamble describes:
- The overall aim of the quality policy
- The structure of the sub-policies
- The delegation of responsibility with respect to quality work
- Data that qualifies follow-up of the quality policy
- Procedure for ensuring that the sub-policies are fulfilled
- The principles that are applied to the revision of the sub-policies
The aim of this sub-policy is to ensure that students have the opportunity to make the right choice of programme. This must be done through initiatives that generally concern:
- SDU’s collaboration with other stakeholders
- Communication and information regarding the university’s programmes
- Ensuring the correct forms of admission
Read the sub-policy for recruitment and admission (PDF)
The purpose of this sub-policy is for the students to have the best possible introduction to the programmes available. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Information for new students
- Organisation of start-up activities to promote the students' social and academic integration
The purpose of this sub-policy is to have an academic, physical, psychological and social study environment that promotes the students' completion of their education. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Measures that create a good study environment
- Collaboration to guarantee and develop a good study environment.
The purpose of this sub-policy is for SDU to have teaching and professional didactic practice that supports the students' learning and the university's research-based teaching. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Development of the university teachers' educational and didactic knowledge and skills
- General support, recognition and visibility of the university's teaching practice and development
Read the sub-policy for university teaching and learning and development of the teaching staff (PDF)
The purpose of this sub-policy is for SDU's programmes to have a high-quality research base and knowledge base. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Bachelor's, postgraduate and Master's programmes research base
- The knowledge base of the professional bachelor and diploma programmes
The purpose of this sub-policy is for the university's education to be organised so that there is a connection between a programme’s admission requirements, content, learning goals and teaching and methods of assessment, that the students can complete the programmes in a timely manner, and that the programmes are continuously developed. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Level of education, competence profile and content
- The programmes’ assessments and examinations
- Requirements for programme regulations
- Requirements for evaluating teaching
Read the sub-policy for planning and development of programmes and teaching (PDF)
The purpose of this sub-policy is for SDU's study administration and study guidance to support the students' completion of their education. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Information for students
- Student counselling
- Transparent, efficient and competent study administration
- Study administration's support for the study management's work on quality assurance and quality development
Read the sub-policy for student administration and student counselling (PDF)
The purpose of this sub-policy is to ensure that students have the opportunities and prerequisites for obtaining a job and a good working life. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Career guidance
- SDU's and students' collaboration with students
Read the sub-policy for transition to employment and career (PDF)
The appendix contains a schematic overview of the relationship between:
- The sub-policies’ quality objectives
- Key figures for programme quality for full-time programmes
- Indicators for programme quality for part-time programmes
- Studies
- Principles for programme quality
Principles for quality in education
SDU's principles for quality in education further develop and complement SDU's policy for quality in education. There are a total of nine principle documents, and they all concern a specific area in relation to the quality assurance work.
Four of the principles deal with different types of evaluations:
These principles describe the framework within which regular evaluations of all SDU's programmes involving external experts must be carried out.
Read SDU's principles for evaluation of entire programmes (PDF)
These principles describe the framework within which evaluation of programme elements must be carried out. The term programme elements cover all elements covered by a curriculum, including:
- Teaching (subjects, courses and modules)
- Guidance-led courses (including Bachelor projects and Masters’ theses)
- Project-oriented courses and commercial courses
- Compulsory study abroad
- Internships and clinical placements
These principles describe the framework within which student evaluations of whole programmes must be carried out.
Read SDU's principles for student evaluation of entire programmes (PDF)
These principles describe the frameworks that graduate surveys, i.e. surveys amongst former students, must be carried out within.
Five of the principles deal with other elements:
The purpose of the principles is to ensure that sustainable and appropriate solutions to challenges in the field of education are created through student participation. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- General facilitation of student participation
- Information, communication, expectation reconciliation and cooperation with regard to student participation on councils, boards and committees
- Recruitment of students to councils, boards and committees
- Student evaluations
Read SDU’s principles for student participation in the work with programme quality (PDF)
These principles are intended to ensure that there is an appropriate framework for all students to receive guidance on their education, i.e. study choices, study commencement, completion, wellbeing and careers. This must be done through initiatives that concern:
- Professional guidance and professionalism
- Cooperation between those involved with providing guidance
- Overall orientation
- Priorities, visibility and availability
- Documentation and evaluation
These principles are intended to ensure that SDU is an international university. They describe which measures will help students and employees get out into the world and that SDU attracts students from abroad. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Internationalisation as a compulsory part of the programme regulations
- Access to relevant courses at relevant study locations abroad
- Guidance and services for Danish and foreign students
- Selection of courses and programmes in English/another foreign language
- Marketing
- Monitoring of relevant issues regarding the internationalisation of the programmes
Read SDU’s principles for internationalisation of education (PDF)
These principles are aimed at ensuring that all new students are integrated in the best possible way into their new studies and social life. They describe which elements must be included in the start of studies at SDU. This must be achieved through initiatives that generally concern:
- Information in connection with study commencement
- Expectation reconciliation in relation to participation and work performance
- Organisation of social and professional activities
These principles are intended to ensure that new programmes at SDU are always relevant to the needs of society and meets international quality standards for programmes. They describe a process for developing new programmes based on the following principles:
- Strategic and social relevance
- Quality assurance
- Anchoring in management
- Systems
Read SDU’s principles for the development of new programmes (PDF)
Memoranda regarding quality in education
Memoranda regarding quality in education presents how we measure and follow up on the quality in education.
Read a detailed description of the key figures regarding full-time programmes
Memorandum on SDU's key figures for quality in education of full-time programmes (pdf).
Read a detailed description of the indicators regarding part-time study programmes
Memorandum on SDU's indicators for the quality in education of part-time study programmes (pdf).
Read a detailed description of SDU's programme report, including purpose, content and process.
Read SDU's principles for student evaluation of entire programmes (pdf).
SDU's policy for quality in education and SDU's principles for quality in education apply to all programmes at SDU. In addition, each faculty and Common Administration each prepare an implementation report. It describes how the individual faculty and Common Administration relate in practice to the quality policy and principles.
The implementation reports translate the quality policy and the principles into the local conditions at a faculty or in Common Administration. They describe the delegation of responsibilities and delegation, and specify specific workflows, timeframes, templates, etc. for the work with quality in education. This means that the implementation reports play an important role if you want to understand how the work quality in education works in practice at the faculties and in Common Administration.
The implementation reports are available on the faculties’ own websites