II cycle (AVA3)

ANVUR, in accordance to ENQA (“European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education”) and EQAR (“European Quality Assurance Register”) recommendations, and in compliance with Ministerial Decree no. 289/2021 (General guidelines of the three-year programme of the University system for the three-year period 2021-2023) and with the Ministerial Decree no. 1154/2021 (Self-assessment, external assessment, initial and periodic accreditation of universities and study programmes) promoted and established an institutional working group made up of representatives from MUR, CUN, CRUI, CODAU, CNSU, CONVUI and CONPAQ, in charge of the definition of the new Model of Periodic Accreditation of University and their study programmes (AVA 3).

The draft requirements:

• have been validated through a series of fruitful targeted meetings with representatives from the main stakeholders (Ministry, CUN, CRUI, CODAU, CNSU, CONVUI, CONPAQ) and with a group of team leaders, coordinators, student evaluators involved in the Evaluation Experts Panels (CEV) with a significant experience of evaluating Universities and study programmes with AVA 1 and AVA 2 models.

• have been subject to a consultation phase with the academic community through the Universities and the stakeholders (MUR, CUN, CRUI, CODAU, CNSU, CONVUI, CONPAQ, CPPCLMM&C, AIE, etc.), carried out in June 2022.

A significant part of the contributions received from stakeholders and/or Universities during the June public consultation (Model of periodic accreditation of university universities and courses of study (AVA 3) – version approved by the Governing Board in the meeting of 26 May 2022 .pdf) were taken into account in drawing up the version of the requirements and indicators used for their verification during the three pilot visits (Model of periodic accreditation of University and Study programmes (AVA 3) approved by the Governing Board in the meeting of 8 September 2022 .pdf).

The Requirements approved by the ANVUR Governing Board on 8 September 2022 were tested in three pilot visits carried out between November 2022 and January 2023, in universities of different sizes, geographical location and type of study offer (both in presence and full or partial distance teaching and learning).

The contributions received were used to update the final version of the AVA 3 Model, including reading notes, and the new Guidelines for the Quality Assurance System of universities and their study programmes and for their evaluation in view of periodic accreditation.

New AVA 3 requirements, aligned with the evaluation domains set out in Annex C of Ministerial Decree N. 1154/2021, have been revised compared to the previous version of the model (AVA 2). The main changes can be summarised as follows:

• University quality requirements have been revised paying more attention to:
  • comprehensive vision of the quality of teaching, research, third mission/social impact and other institutional and management activities.
  • attention to context, stakeholders and specificities of the university.
  • systemic integration of policies, strategies and strategic and operational objectives.
  • organization of the university’s governance and QA system.
  • monitoring of policies, strategies, processes and results.
  • review of the university’s governance and QA system, to ensure continuous alignment with the university’s policies and strategies.

• requirements regarding human, economic-financial, structural, infrastructural, and informative resources have been revised in with a view to greater alignement of planning and management with strategic planning.

• quality requirements of teaching, research and the third mission/social impact at university level have been revised, ensuring greater consistency with the requirements of study programmes, PhD programmes and Departments, paying also more attention to:
  • planning and management of the university’s study offer.

• management and monitoring of strategic planning of the Departments, with reference to teaching, research and third mission/social impact.

• quality requirements of teaching for study programmes have been revised with a view to greater integration of the study programme design requirements.

• quality requirements for PhD programmes have been defined, according to Ministerial Decree no. 226/2021, in line with the ENQA requirements during the first ANVUR Periodic Accreditation visit.

The Points of Attention and the Aspects to be Considered have also been clarified with reading notes for all the Requirements. A new formulation without question points has been proposed, so as to underline that these should be read as good practice indications to be implemented within the university QA system, even before being used by Panels.

The update of the standards of the AVA Model required an adjustment of internal procedures and working tools.

It was therefore considered appropriate to set up a web page in Italian and English entirely devoted to the publication of Guidelines and support tools for the application of AVA 3 requirements and for the implementation/evaluation of Quality Assurance Systems in universities.

For more information: ava@anvur.it