THE QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM
The Quality Assurance (QA) system is a set of activities through which the Department of Veterinary Sciences (DSV) implements its Quality Policy, in line with the provisions of the national public quality assessment system for universities and research bodies (UNIPI-Quality and Evaluation), interacting with the University’s Evaluation Board (NdV) and the Quality Presidium (PdQ).
Politica per la Qualità
Quality Policy The Department of Veterinary Sciences (DSV) expresses, through its quality policy its objectives and general guidelines with respect to the three missions that the University of Pisa Statute provides for: teaching, research third mission. The DSV operates in accordance with European Directives 36/2005 EC and EU 55/2013, Italian legislation (DM n. 270/2004, Law 20 December 2010 n.240, Legislative Decree 27 January 2012 n.19, DM 23 December 2013 n.1059, DM 30 January 2013 n.47, DM 12 December 2016 n.987), the indications provided by the AVA/ANVUR System (https://www.anvur.it/attivita/ava/), the Standard Operating Procedures of the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (ESEVT SOP 2019 https://www.eaeve.org/esevt/sop.html), and the procedures for the UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 certification for certain activities. The overall objective of the DSV is to increase the level of satisfaction of the students, the families, the institutional and production system and all stakeholders with regard to the quality of the education (in line with the European standards and guidelines of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and the services it provides to the territory. The DSV establishes and monitors the development of a strategic plan in accordance with the strategic plan of the University degli Studi di Pisa, in which it sets medium- and long-term objectives consistent with its mission and undertakes to achieve them with a strategy of continuous improvement in compliance with the general standards established by the University of Pisa and by national legislation. The DSV believes that achieving the standards established by the quality management systems (AVA, ESEVT, ISO) contribute strategically to the achievement of internal objectives, by monitoring processes and activities, and external objectives towards students/ stakeholders who demand high quality standards. To this end, the DSV considers it necessary:
- disseminate its quality policy in order to ensure that it is understood by the internal staff and third parties interested in the activities and services offered; in order to enable the full dissemination of its Quality Policy, the DSV undertakes to regularly publish updated information and to pass it on to all interested parties;
- make their staff aware of the requirements of the AVA/ESEVT/ISO 9001:2015 standards and involve them in the planning and development activities of the quality management system, so that they contribute to its effectiveness. The DSV management, thanks to the 2019 AVA accreditation process, the 2022 ESEVT accreditation process and the ongoing process on the ISO 9001:2015 standard, has established the following general objectives and indicated the ways to achieve them through the available tools:
- offer a high level of training through innovative teaching methods and tools, continuous revision of teaching programmes and the definition of a coherent training coherent;
- support research activities in the different areas of veterinary sciences including One Health, the human-animal relationship, the sustainability of animal production and multifunctionality in agriculture;
- improve the quality of the services offered by the DSV through codified, formalised and made public.
The quality policy is geared towards ensuring departmental management in line not only with the provisions of the DSV Regulations, but also with the strategic priorities, operational objectives, responsibilities, timeframes and indicators defined in the Departmental Strategic Plan 2024-2026 and the Departmental Project of Excellence 2023-2027.
All the bodies and actors of the DSV are involved in various ways in the success of departmental strategic management. With specific reference to the responsibilities outlined in the Strategic Plan, the system of actors directly involved in the QA system sees the active and direct participation of the following bodies and actors:
Director
Council
Giunta
Departmental Quality Assurance Group
Joint Teachers-Students Committee (CPDS)
Delegate for Education
Delegate for Research
Delegate for Third Mission
CoS Presidents
Joint Teachers‘ and Students’ Committee
CoS Review Groups
Board of teachers of the PhD course in Veterinary Science
Area Co-ordinator for Internationalisation (CAI)
Tutoring Body
As part of the Quality Assurance (QA) system, the Departmental Council approved a Reporting Procedure (observations and complaints). The purpose of this procedure is to establish clear and well-defined information channels, ensuring the receipt and analysis of reports on the services and performance of the Department of Veterinary Sciences. Furthermore, it aims to establish the necessary activities for the proper handling and resolution of reports from all interested parties.
The QA system of the DSV is organised in:
Teaching Quality
The DSV implements a series of actions aimed at planning, delivering and monitoring the various teaching activities offered and implementing any improvement actions. The quality of teaching is monitored through the periodic compilation of the documents required by ANVUR. The reference documents are:
Single Annual Study Course Schedule (SUA)
Rapporto di Riesame Ciclico (RRC)
Annual Report of the Departmental Joint Commission
Teaching Evaluation Questionnaires
Organisation and service evaluation questionnaires
Research Quality
The DSV has the task of establishing the research objectives to be pursued, identifying and planning what is needed to achieve them, monitoring the regular conduct of research activities and verifying the degree to which the objectives are actually achieved. The actions inherent in the research QA system concern the compilation of the SUA-RD form, which collects information and data on scientific objectives, the organisation of research activities and their results, the quality policies pursued in relation to research and its promotion, and critical reflections (review). The reference document is:
Quality of the Third Mission
The DSV is responsible for establishing the third mission objectives to be pursued, for identifying and planning what is needed to achieve them, for monitoring the regular conduct of third mission activities and for verifying the degree to which the envisaged objectives are actually achieved. The actions inherent to the third mission QA system concern the compilation of the SUA-RD form and the DSV’s annual report on research and the third mission.
Quality and External Assessments
European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE): the BSc in Veterinary Medicine is accredited according to the standards developed by EAEVE, an association whose task is to assess and promote the quality of veterinary education at European level.
UNI EN ISO 9001-2015 certification: the DSV is UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 certified by the CERTIQUALITY certification body for third-party laboratory analysis services, for the management of blood donations and preparation of blood cojmponents in dogs and cats by the Veterinary Transfusion Medicine service, for the management of patients undergoing haemodialysis treatment by the Haemodialysis and Blood Purification service, for the management of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital stock and drug stock by the Pharmacy Service.
ANVUR audit: the Department of Veterinary Sciences received an audit by ANVUR as part of the periodic Accreditation of Universities and Courses of Study carried out in the period from 11 to 15 March 2019. The Department was selected with regard to the organisation of teaching activities. The results of the visit are reported in the final ANVUR periodic accreditation report of the University of Pisa.
Audit by the University Evaluation Board: on 29 November 2019 the University Evaluation Board carried out a visit to assess the quality of the activities provided by the Department of Veterinary Sciences. On that occasion, the Department produced its own summary Self-Assessment Document. The University Evaluation Board, in turn, issued its Feedback Report of the audit carried out.