The SMART QUAL: Structured indicators to manage HEI Quality System project is a project for cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices. The consortium, led by CONEXX EU (Belgium), is also composed of 8 universities and organizations from Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal and Belgium.
The main objective of the project is to develop a framework of quality indicators to be used in quality management systems (QMS) of European Higher Education Institutions. Additionally, with the results of this project it will be possible to make QMS more efficient and effective, based on a structured catalogue of indicators, grouping them according to the three main decision-making levels (strategic, tactical and operational) for each of the HEI dimensions - Education, Research and Interaction with Society.
"The idea for this project arose with a view to promoting greater harmonization of the indicators used in the three dimensions of European Higher Education institutions," reveals Paulo Sampaio, UMinho's research coordinator in the project.
It is intended that the innovative results of the project will have an impact not only on the institutions involved, but also on the other European HEIs, since the institutions of the consortium are already experienced in the area of Quality Management and Quality in Higher Education. "Besides the various higher education institutions from various European countries, we also have the involvement of A3ES and AQU - Catalonia's Quality Accreditation Agency", explains Paulo Sampaio.
The UMinho team is coordinated by Paulo Sampaio, researcher at Center ALGORITMI of the School of Engineering, and includes Ricardo Machado and Pedro Domingues, also researchers at the Center ALGORITMI, and Sofia Pereira, from the EEUM Internationalization Office.
SMART-QUAL is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project funded by the European Commission with a global budget of 187 213,00€. The project started in September 2020 and will last for 28 months.
