Quality assu­rance

Quality assu­rance measures in teaching and studies create the oppor­tu­nity to iden­tify strengths and weak­ne­sses and the possi­bi­lity to make good things even better. Evalua­tions and feed­back discus­sions are ther­e­fore an important basis for the further deve­lo­p­ment of the study programs.

Regular quali­ta­tive and quan­ti­ta­tive surveys of students and graduates are central evalua­tion instru­ments. They streng­then internal self-control mecha­nisms and contri­bute to syste­matic stra­te­gies of quality assu­rance and deve­lo­p­ment. In this context, the sustainable deve­lo­p­ment of a quality culture as well as a distinc­tive commu­ni­ca­tion among the univer­sity members are also essen­tial. The results obtained from the various surveys also serve as infor­ma­tion for internal and external reporting requi­re­ments and are an essen­tial basis for the successful (re)accreditation of the study programs. The orga­niza­tion and hand­ling of survey results are regu­lated in the univer­si­ty’s own evalua­tion statutes.

Accre­di­ta­tion

The study programs must be subjected to external moni­to­ring at regular inter­vals. This is done by the Accre­di­ta­tion Council, which issues its verdict on the basis of a report by a group of experts. For this purpose, the univer­sity compiles exten­sive docu­men­ta­tion on the manner of teaching and the exis­ting quality assu­rance measures.

Teaching evalua­tion

The study programs regu­larly conduct feed­back inter­views on the quality of the courses. Each semester, randomly selected courses are evaluated using stan­dar­dized evalua­tion forms. Since 2007, students have been asked to give their assess­ment in order to better tailor the seminar and lab week offe­rings to the inte­rests of the course participants.

Teaching didac­tics

The further deve­lo­p­ment of teaching is important for the future viabi­lity of the degree programs. Ther­e­fore, the offers of the office of the Study Commis­sion for Univer­sity Didac­tics at Univer­si­ties of Applied Sciences in Baden-Würt­tem­berg (GHD) are available to teachers. The courses offered can be found on the home­page. In addi­tion, own events are held at irre­gular intervals.

Further surveys

Since 2007, the HfG has regu­larly parti­ci­pated in the Study Quality Monitor. In addi­tion, we parti­ci­pate in other state or nati­on­wide surveys on student satis­fac­tion. The results of these student surveys, which are conducted at many univer­si­ties nati­on­wide, are incor­po­rated into the study quality and condi­tions at the univer­si­ties and at the HfG.

Networ­king

As a small univer­sity, we network state­wide and natio­nally and can thus benefit from the expe­ri­ence of many. It is also important to make our own contri­bu­tions to these networks at regular intervals.

Graduate survey

Since 2008, the HfG has parti­ci­pated in the annual graduate survey conducted by the State Statis­tical Office of Baden-Würt­tem­berg. The study is commis­sioned by the Baden-Würt­tem­berg Ministry of Science, Rese­arch and the Arts and the univer­si­ties of applied sciences. Graduate surveys provide infor­ma­tion in parti­cular about the tran­si­tion of former students to the job market and enable retro­s­pec­tive evalua­tion of their studies.

  1. Why should I take part in the survey?

    Because only you can provide infor­ma­tion about your career and assess, from your perspec­tive, to what extent the know­ledge and skills acquired at the univer­sity can be utilized profes­sio­nally. And it is precisely this infor­ma­tion that is of great inte­rest to our quali­fi­ca­tion program. They help us to keep pace with the constantly chan­ging demands on higher educa­tion and to syste­ma­ti­cally improve .

    Among other things, the survey results flow directly into the further deve­lo­p­ment of our degree programs and thus contri­bute to a perma­nent impro­ve­ment in quality.

    In addi­tion, as a univer­sity we have an educa­tional mission and are obliged to evaluate our degree programs and find out what influence studying and teaching have on career entry and later career paths. This is enshrined in the Higher Educa­tion Act and the State Higher Educa­tion Act of Baden-Württemberg.

  2. Who can take part in the survey?

    All graduates of the previous exami­na­tion year. You will be cont­acted by email 1 to 2 years after your gradua­tion. You can only take part in the survey online with the help of this letter and the personal access code it contains.

  3. How do I access the questionnaire?

    The survey takes place online. In the email you received, you will find both the link to the ques­ti­on­n­aire and your personal access code, which you will need to register. Please note that the code is case-sensitive.

    It is possible to inter­rupt the ques­ti­on­n­aire at any time and continue at a later date. To do this, you must keep your personal access code.

  4. During which period of time can I take part in the survey?

    The online survey takes place annu­ally. The survey period runs from October to February of the follo­wing year.

  5. Why may my address data be used?

    Address data may be used within the univer­sity if it serves the fulfilment of scien­tific tasks and/​or the fulfilment of the univer­si­ty’s tasks.

    Both are fulfilled in the context of graduate studies :

    • The Graduate Study of the Hoch­schule für Gestal­tung is part of a nati­on­wide scien­tific rese­arch project coor­di­nated by ISTAT. ISTAT analyses data from graduates anony­mously for scien­tific purposes.
    • The results of the study are used for rese­arch and quality assu­rance of teaching and study programs within the university.

    The legal basis for the proces­sing of personal data in the context of the graduate survey at the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e. EU-DSGVO. The proces­sing is carried out as part of the fulfilment of the univer­si­ty’s tasks in accordance with § 5 of the Baden-Würt­tem­berg Higher Educa­tion Act (LHG).

    In addi­tion, there is a data protec­tion agree­ment between ISTAT and the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences. This regu­lates the hand­ling of the survey results.

  6. What are my rights?

    As a data subject, you can assert the rights granted by the EU GDPR at any time:

    • Right of access, recti­fi­ca­tion and erasure of your personal data (Art. 15 – 17 EU GDPR)
    • Right to rest­rict the proces­sing of your data (Art. 18 EU GDPR)
    • Right to object to the future proces­sing of data concer­ning you (Art. 21 EU GDPR)
    • Right to lodge a complaint with the data protec­tion super­vi­sory autho­rity, for example with the data protec­tion officer respon­sible for the univer­sity (Art. 77 EU GDPR)
  7. What about anonymity?

    All infor­ma­tion is recorded anony­mously and treated confi­den­ti­ally in accordance with data protec­tion regulations.

    Even if you have an indi­vi­dual access code, your details in the online survey and the access code are not connected and no conclu­sions can be drawn about your person on the basis of your details.

    The results are analyzed and published as a whole. If it is possible to draw conclu­sions about indi­vi­dual persons (due to an insuf­fi­cient number of cases), the answers given will not be included in the analysis.

    Once the survey has been completed (February of the follo­wing year), the data required to carry out the survey will be deleted by the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences.

  8. What role does ISTAT play?

    The Insti­tute for Applied Statis­tics (ISTAT) coor­di­nates the overall project (Coope­ra­tion Project Graduate Studies, KOAB). It has an advi­sory role in the deve­lo­p­ment of the ques­ti­on­n­aire, manages the process of further deve­lo­ping the survey and coor­di­nates the network of univer­si­ties parti­ci­pa­ting in the KOAB project.

    ISTAT is respon­sible for conduc­ting the online survey and provides the univer­si­ties with the analyses. In addi­tion, ISTAT analyses the data from all coope­ra­ting univer­si­ties and prepares scien­tific evalua­tions, which in turn form the basis for publicly acces­sible rese­arch results (without refe­rence to indi­vi­dual universities).

  9. Will the results be published anywhere?

    Once the survey has been completed, the results of the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences will be published on the home­page in aggre­gated form.

    The results of the survey will also be scien­ti­fi­cally analyzed by ISTAT for all univer­si­ties parti­ci­pa­ting in the KOAB project. These analyses form the basis for publicly acces­sible rese­arch results.

Lukas Christoph Gundling

Referent des Rektorats und für Qualitätsmanagement, Geschäftsstelle für Senat und Hochschulrat, Beauftragter für die interne Meldestelle nach Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz

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07171 6026791