Glossary

The Agency oversees the national public evaluation system of public and private universities and research bodies receiving public funding and was established by Law No. 286 of 24 November 2006. On the basis of the results of its evaluation activities, state funding is disbursed to universities and research bodies.

ANVUR performs the following functions:

• External evaluation of the quality of the activities of universities and research organisations receiving public funding
• Coordination and supervision of evaluation activities delegated to internal evaluation units
• Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of research and innovation funding and incentive programmes

It is the integrated system for the improvement of self-evaluation, the accreditation of degree programmes and seats and the periodic evaluation of universities' activities and results.
AVA constitutes the set of ANVUR activities implementing the provisions of Law no. 240 of 20/12/2010 and Legislative Decree no. 19 of 27/01/2012, which provide for the introduction of the system of initial and periodic accreditation of degree programmes and university campuses, the periodic evaluation of the quality, efficiency and results achieved by universities and the strengthening of the system of self-assessment of the quality and effectiveness of teaching and research activities of universities

It is the process by which a third party formally recognises that an organisation has the competence and the means to perform its tasks.
Through Accreditation, users are first and foremost provided a guarantee that their needs are met and that their fundamental rights are protected by a competent authority. The university education Accreditation system is developed to achieve three main objectives:

• the assurance for users by MIUR and ANVUR that the country's higher education institutions meet at least the pre-established minimum threshold level for quality
• the exercise by the Universities of a responsible and reliable independence in the use of public resources and in collective and individual conduct relating to education and research activities
• the continuous improvement of the quality of education and research activities

It is the authorisation by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), on the basis of ANVUR’s opinion, for the first activation of degree programmes and seats.
In the initial Accreditation, a check is made on the indicators defined by ANVUR and aimed at measuring the teaching, structural, organisational, teaching staff and research qualification requirements, and at verifying the economic-financial sustainability of the activities.

This is the procedure that verifies the persistence over time of the initial requirements for accreditation and ascertains the effectiveness of the University's quality assurance system.
Periodic Accreditation takes place at least every five years for seats and at least every three years for Degree Programmes and is based on the verification, not only of the persistence of the requirements necessary for initial accreditation, but also of further indicators always defined ex ante by ANVUR and related to the results of the evaluation.

Education or research Quality Assurance is the set of all actions necessary to produce adequate confidence that the processes for education or research are, as a whole, effective for the set purposes.
The University’s QA is a system through which the governing bodies implement their quality policy. It comprises design, implementation, observation and control actions conducted under the supervision of a manager. The actions must be planned and systematic, and implement a process of continuous improvement of both the objectives and the tools that enable them to be achieved.

The CEVs, appointed by ANVUR, deal with the Periodic Accreditation of universities.
The CEVs comprise system evaluation experts, who assess the university's QA system, and disciplinary experts, who evaluate how it is concretely applied by Degree Programmes and Departments. The experts making up the CEVs carry out the analysis of the documentation with a remote examination and conduct the on-site visit to verify that whatever the University has declared is concretely achieved, disclosed and shared by the various players doing the training and research activities.

The CPD monitors the range of courses on offer, the quality of teaching and student service activities.
The CPD, which is composed of equal numbers of lecturers and students, draws up an Annual Report, to be forwarded to the Evaluation Board and the University Quality Assurance Unit, which contains opinions and recommendations following the monitoring activities conducted during the year in question.

The NdV is the University body in charge of evaluating teaching, research and administrative activities.
The NdV evaluates the overall effectiveness of the Quality Assurance management of teaching and research: it verifies that the quality assurance activities are effectively implemented in the University's individual internal units and ascertains that what has been planned by the Degree Programmes and Departments is effectively implemented and kept under control. Taking into account the CPD’s proposals, it also formulates recommendations for the improvement of the system in an Annual Report submitted to the MIUR and ANVUR.

The PQA has the overall responsibility for Quality Assurance at the University.
The PQA promotes a culture of quality and advises the governing bodies on QA issues. It monitors and supervises the smooth running of QA procedures for teaching and research activities, ensuring the correct flow of information between the various players involved. It promotes continuous quality improvement and provides support to the University units in the management of QA processes.

Quality consists both in the closeness between predetermined objectives and the results obtained, and in the value that the objectives themselves have for the subjects assumed to be the beneficiaries of the results.
In the abstract, “Quality” is the characteristic of a service that fulfils expectations or requirements that are considered positive and desirable. Its intensity is assessed on the basis of the degree of closeness between the expected objectives and the results actually obtained. In practical terms, “Quality of education” comprises two essential aspects: setting learning objectives that are of value to students and the community in which they will operate, and putting students in the most effective conditions to help them achieve those objectives. Similarly, “Quality of research” consists in setting valid goals for the advancement of knowledge and providing the conditions necessary to achieve them.

Periodic and planned review process.
The Review is an essential action of the QA system: it is a process planned and applied at predetermined intervals by the institution or one of its internal articulations to assess the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of its activity, in order to implement all appropriate corrective and improvement actions. The review may lead to the identification of needs for the redefinition of the management system.

It is a summary document describing the outcome of the Annual Review.
A review report drawn up annually with the aim of promoting improvement in the effectiveness of student education. It focuses on Degree Programme entry, course regularity and exit data, on the student experience and on data relating to entry into the job world.

It is a summary document describing the outcome of the Multi-Year Review.
A review report drawn up every three to five years on the entire course of a cohort of students which covers the objectives and the general structure of the degree Programme. It focuses on the demand for education, on the professional reference figures and on the coherence of the overall learning outcomes and of individual teaching. This document is required in preparation for a Periodic Accreditation visit.

It is the information tool with which the Degree Programme declares its educational commitments to the student.
The SUA-CdS contains information on: educational objectives (recognition of the demand for education and expected learning outcomes); student experience (learning environment, assessment methods, timetables, context services and results of the survey on the effectiveness of the training process as perceived by students and graduates); educational outcomes (entry, course and exit data) and QA organisation (responsibilities, timetable and work scheduling).

It is the management tool that contains the information and data useful for the evaluation of research.
The SUA-RD contains the information and data useful for research evaluation, especially the Departments’ policies and strategic objectives, the available logistical and human resources and results data. The SUA-RD must be completed by all Departments and is divided into three parts:

• Objectives, resources and management of the Department
• Research results
• Third Mission

The Research Quality Assessment (in Italian Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca, VQR) process is aimed at evaluating the results of scientific research carried out, during the period under assessment, by State and non-State Universities, public research organisations supervised by the MIUR and other public and private entities carrying out research activities.