Quality policy

VMMA framework

The verification, the monitoring of the implementation of the degree, the introduction of possible modifications and the accreditation are part of the evaluation processes that configure the life cycle of a degree.

EHEA degrees, in order to have official validity, must be submitted to an evaluation process by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia (AQU Catalunya), namely the verification process. These degree proposals must be developed following the regulatory framework of the UPC and the AQU Catalunya guidelines. Once the degree has been verified, the Government of Catalonia must first authorize it to be implemented, in accordance with its programming criteria and financing availability. Finally, the Spanish Council of Ministers establishes the official nature of university degrees and orders their inclusion in the Register of Universities, Centers and Titles (RUCT).

The qualifications must follow an annual process of analysis and reflection on the adequacy of the start-up and its evolution in accordance with the objectives and indicators described in the approved report. This process should include the design of improvement actions that allow modulation of deviations, if applicable. This annual process is called "Tracking the degree", which culminates, at the end of each cycle, in the Accreditation process.

The SAT application aims to facilitate the analysis, reflection, generation of proposals for improvement and the elaboration of the Follow-up Reports that are subsequently delivered to AQU Catalunya.

Changes in official titles can only be the result of the monitoring process and, therefore, are the natural and expected result of this process. For this reason, each degree can only be submitted to the modification process, at most once each academic year. The possible changes can be classified according to their typology:

Non-substantial modifications: minor changes that improve the degree and that are incorporated into its memory report whenever it undergoes a modification process.
Substantial modifications: changes that entail alterations in the structure or teaching nature and objectives:
- Authorizable: changes that affect the structure of the title but do not imply a change in its nature and objectives. These changes are requested through the modification process.
- Non-authorizable: substantial changes that affect the nature and objectives of the verified degree. In this case a new verification of the degree, and subsequent extinction of the former degree, must be implemented.

The accreditation is a evaluation process, based on continuous improvement, of the quality of an academic program as well as the institution in charge of it.

The academic programs offered by Barcelona School of Civil Engineering must be positively accredited in order to be taught:

Bachelor's degrees: no more than 6 years from the date of verification or last accreditation.
Master's degrees: no more than 4 years from the date of verification or last accreditation.

To obtain a positive accreditation it is essential that each program presents the following documents:

The monitoring reports of the academic programs that agents appointed by the System for Internal Quality Assessment of each university generated and delivered to AQU Catalunya.
The self-assessment report prepared by the Internal Evaluation Committee (IEC)
The evaluation reports that AQU Catalunya may have prepared annually on the aforementioned monitoring reports.
The external evaluation reports of the academic programs issued by the External Evaluation Committee (EEC).

The accreditations of the official academic programs will be issued by the corresponding Accreditation Commission appointed by AQU Catalunya.

More information on the certifications awarded to the degrees.

HERE you will find all the documents regarding this quality evaluation process for each of our degrees.

Barcelona School of Civil Engineering: some facts