Quality Management System at MENDELU


 

The quality management system is gradually being introduced at Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU) from 2016. Its purpose is to create, on the basis of defined quality requirements, conditions for the fulfilment of the quality objectives and to ensure continuous improvement in all areas of activity. In addition to external regulations, such as the Higher Education Act[1] and the Government Regulation on standards for accreditation[2], its functioning is regulated by the University's internal regulations. The key document securing this entire system is the Rules of the management system concerning the management of educational, creative and related activities and the internal evaluation of the educational, creative and related activities. Furthermore, there are documents such as the Quality Policy or the Rules of Procedure of the Internal Evaluation Board of Mendel University in Brno, which are published at the public notice board of MENDELU. The system documentation is complemented by the basic process map and process cards, standards and procedures for internal evaluation of quality and other individual methodologies and instructions, the current versions of which are published at the website of the Department of Quality and Risk kvalita.mendelu.cz/en/.

The managing structure of the MENDELU quality management system is designed to allow management from the university-wide level and, at the same time, implementation at the individual parts. The highest managing body is the Internal Evaluation Board of Mendel University in Brno, whose purpose is to approve rules for assurance and internal evaluation of quality, to manage the process of internal evaluation of quality, to monitor the fulfilment of quality and to carry out other activities prescribed by the Statute of the University. In terms of operation, the system activity is secured by the Department of Quality and Risk. Supporting documents for the Internal Evaluation Board are prepared and the Board's approved decisions are implemented by the Quality Manager who is controlled in terms of methodology by the Vice-Rector for Quality Management and Human Resources, and by the Quality Officers who carry out this activity at the individual faculties, the University institute and the rectorate and University-wide workplaces.

Chart No. 1 Managing structure of the MENDELU quality management system

A key part of the quality management system are quality requirements, both external requirements given by statutory and subordinate rules, internal requirements defined by a set of standards and procedures for internal evaluation, and customers' requirements, i.e. feedback processes. The University's key customers are its students, graduates, employees and graduates' employers. Other interested parties are, from the point of view of the quality management system, applicants for study, professional chambers, professional associations, practitioners, public administration bodies, partner organizations and the public. 

Chart No. 2 Quality requirements covered by the MENDELU quality management system

Internal quality evaluation is carried out at MENDELU every year since 2017.  In 2017, a pilot run was launched on the basis of the newly created internal evaluation system; in 2018, evaluation was carried out for the second time, this time already with the software support of the University information system. The internal quality evaluation system is based on the participation of all employees in the evaluation, in predefined roles divided into four levels: the University, faculty / University institute, institute/workplace and guarantors of branches of study, workers and guarantors of subjects. Quality criteria were set for the individual roles and divided into five areas of the University's activities, educational activities, creative activities, the area of the accomplishment of a third role, the area of management and the area of operational and supporting activities. The fulfilment of quality criteria is evaluated on the basis of individual sub-indicators and set standards for the level of values they can acquire. The indicators have both quantitative and qualitative nature. The use of indicators for internal quality evaluation and the setting of the standards is described in standards and procedures for internal evaluation for the given year, these being prepared separately for the individual parts of the University (faculties and the University institute) so as to reflect their specifics.

Since 2018, certain elements of feedback processes are newly added to the quality management system. These are generally focused on four target groups, namely employees, students, graduates and graduates' employers. Students and employees are given the opportunity to provide, in the form of anonymous questionnaires, evaluation of their satisfaction with services provided by faculty, rectorate and University-wide workplaces, and to express their expectations, observations and experiences which allow to identify suggestions for improvements and to create measures for improvement and/or corrective measures. Questionnaire surveys are used to communicate primarily with graduates, namely with graduates with a different length of time elapsed from the completion of their studies, so that relevant information can be obtained about the level of fulfilment of their expectations, the level of competences obtained and the degree of their identification with the University as such.

Mapping, monitoring and setting of processes form part of every quality management system. MENDELU has a basic process map created which is part of the internal regulations[3] and the individual processes are described within the framework of internal and other regulations which are gradually completed with process cards. The purpose of process cards is to correctly identify the process owner and to describe the process so that each individual process is transparent and comprehensible to all employees involved in the process. Additionally, process cards provide a summary of all related external and internal regulations and, last but not least, ensure identification of the risks of the given process thanks to which preventive measures can be created. 

The correct setup and functionality of each system must be constantly verified. To that end, a system of internal quality audits is developed, which is based on carrying out compliance audits by trained staff. The launch of internal quality audits is expected in the course of 2019.



[1] Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on higher education institutions and on the amendment to some other acts (Higher Education Act), as amended

[2] Government Regulation No. 274/2016 Coll., on standards for accreditation in higher education

[3] Rules of the quality assurance system concerning the quality of educational, creative and related activities and the internal evaluation of the quality of educational, creative and related activities.

 

 

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