Many different functions and committees are involved in the quality assurance of our degree programmes. Below follows an introduction to our quality assurance organisation and the various roles and responsibilities involved.
Read more about the various roles in the quality assurance organisation below.
See a complete overview of roles here.
The dean’s responsibilities are described in Aarhus University's by-laws.
The dean is responsible for:
The dean is ultimately responsible for the financing of the degree programmes and establishing the faculty’s strategy and policies for education.
In performing his leadership role, the dean takes advice from the faculty leadership team, the boards of studies, departments, the academic council, employer panels and the advisory board.
The vice-dean for education assists the dean in the field of education.
Technical Sciences is organized into departments and centers, which provide teaching for the faculty's programs. Each of these units is led by a department head/center head (here 'department head'), who manages the scientific staff and ensures the coherence between research and education.
The heas of department is responsible for:
The head of the department, together with the program director, the person responsible for the education, and the educational committee, follows up on the evaluation of education and teaching.
The head of the department carries out their tasks in collaboration with education committees, stakeholder panels, as well as the institute forum and cooperation committees.
The head of the department can delegate management tasks within the management chain to, for example, deputy heads of department, section leaders, development managers, and education officers. There are different structures and practices for this at the various institutes.
The dean has appointed directors of studies on the recommendation of the boards of studies.
The directors of studies are responsible for the day-to-day practical organisation and development of the degree programmes within their respective areas, including:
The director of studies reports to the vice-dean for education in degree programme-related matters.
The responsibilities of the directors of studies are described in University Act.
Each department has one or more heads of degree programme who:
See the description of the role and responsibilities of the heads of degree programme (on the way)
The vice-dean for education appoints the heads of degree programme based on recommendations from the head of department.
Lecturers are responsible for developing and teaching the individual courses and for contributing to the quality assurance and development of degree programmes in dialogue with the head of the degree programme, the education committee, the head of department etc.
Both tenured academic staff, tenure-track assistant professors and assistant professors who have passed a teacher-training course for assistant professors can fulfil the roles of course coordinator and principal supervisor.
Where several lecturers are involved in teaching a course, the head of department appoints a course coordinator from among them to be responsible for the coordination of the academic content. Sometimes, semester coordinators may also be appointed. In addition, at least one international coordinator is appointed from among the lecturers at each department/centre.
The students participate in classes and other learning activities. The students are organised into degree programme councils and other academic associations. The students contribute to the strategic and practical degree programme quality assurance efforts via their representatives on the education committees, boards of studies, in the occupational health and safety organisation and on the academic council.
The students at Technical Sciences, together with the students at Natural Sciences, have set up ‘SciTech-Tinget’, an umbrella organisation for all the degree programme councils at the faculty.
The student representatives on the Academic Council meet regularly with the dean. The vice-chairs of the faculties’ boards of studies meet regularly with the vice-dean for education.
The responsibilities of the board of studies are described in the University Act.
At Technical Sciences, the dean has established one board of studies for engineering programmes and environmental, livestock and agricultural programmes: Board of studies of Technical Sciences
The board of studies is responsible for
The board of studies is responsible for
The faculty leadership team meets approximately every three weeks. The vice-dean for education liaises with the faculty leadership team and partners in the field of education. The faculty leadership team regularly discusses current matters in the field of education and considers the faculty’s annual degree programme report.
The faculty leadership team is advised by the Tech Forum for Education and four other committees covering the faculty’s areas of activity: the Research Commitee, the Public Sector Consultancy Committee, Business and Innovation Committee og PhD Committee.
The Tech Forum for Education meets approximately once a month, with the aim of
The faculty’s directors of studies meet regularly with the heads of degree programme to coordinate and share experiences.
Education committees
The education committee advises the head of department and director of studies and also performs a coordinator role. The vice-dean for education appoints the education committee, the chair and members on the recommendation of the head of department.
See the terms of reference for the education committees.
The employer panels advise on the quality and relevance of the degree programmes and are involved in the development of new and existing programmes as well as in the development of new teaching formats and methods of evaluation/forms of examination.
The responsibilities of the employer panel are described in the University Act.
See the Terms of reference and website for employer panels.
Employer panels are appointed by the rector on the recommendation of the dean. The dean’s recommendation is based on the wishes of the education committees. Employer panels are appointed for three years at a time and meet one to two times a year with the education committee.
The head of degree programme is responsible for the dialogue with the employer panels and involves the members of the education committees as required.
Co-examiners contribute to the quality assurance of external exams and their associated courses.
As part of the quality assurance of the degree programmes’ examination system, the chairs of external co-examiners must, among other things, submit an annual report and hold contact meetings between the universities (including the employer panels) and co-examiners.
The rules regarding co-examiners can be found in the examination orders here:
Overviews of:
At Technical Sciences, the Nat-Tech Studies Administration, which is part of Administration Centre Nat-Tech, is responsible for the studies administration .
The Studies Administration is responsible for supporting the boards of studies, directors of studies, education committees and heads of degree programme, for example by preparing academic regulations, planning teaching activities and exams, and processing cases in accordance with the guidelines issued by the board of studies.
The studies administration unit in Aarhus University’s central administration is responsible for delivering satisfactory documentation and information systems as well as ensuring satisfactory system support. The unit provides data and documentation and communicates about quality assurance work in collaboration with, among others, the faculty secretariat.
