Quality Policy of the Undergraduate Studies Program
Quality Policy of the Undergraduate Studies Program
{Decision of Department’s Assembly, Assembly report: 19 / 22-12-2021}
Quality Policy of Undergraduate Studies Program
- In general
The Department of Public and Community Health (PCH) in collaboration with the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) of the University of Western Attica has drawn up and put into effect the Quality Policy of the Department, which is fully harmonized with the Quality Policy of the University of Western Attica. The Quality Policy of the Department of Public and Community Health of the University of Western Attica was approved at the meeting of the Department’s Assembly, Assembly report: 19/22-12-2021.
The Department’s mission serves the scientific field of Public and Community Health as the science and art of protecting, maintaining and improving the health of the population. The achievement of the main mission of the PCH Department is organized and carried out methodically and systematically, so that it is now a distinguished provider of high-level undergraduate and postgraduate education and research in the Greek and European area. In particular, the mission of the Department is organized and carried out by the production, development and dissemination of knowledge and skills in the science of Public and Community Health, through modern undergraduate and postgraduate education, targeted laboratory and clinical practice and classical and applied research in all fields (classical and innovative) of Public and Community Health. In addition, important work is being carried out in the direction of the development of high-quality lifelong education, the provision of training services, as well as the provision of advisory services in order to effectively and efficiently manage and deal with modern population health problems, in Greece as well as in Europe and international level.
It is considered appropriate to point out that both in education (at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level) and in research, the PCH Department embraces and adopts the strategic objectives of the EU for health policy, which thematically concern the following:
- Promoting good health/wellness – preventing disease and promoting healthy lifestyles by addressing issues related to diet, physical activity, mental health, alcohol, tobacco and drug use, environmental hazards and injuries and of mental health promotion. Due to the aging of the population, the specific health needs of the elderly require appropriately tailored support with a particular focus on mental health.
- Protecting citizens from health threats – improving monitoring and preparedness to deal with epidemics, as well as increased capacity to respond to new challenges concerning global health and ensuring the seventeen (17) goals of sustainable development of the UN, such as climate change and the recent migration crisis.
- Promoting dynamic and economically sustainable health systems – evaluating health care so that they can respond to the challenges of population aging, the growing expectations of citizens and the risk of environmental pollution.
- Electronic health (eHealth) as a current issue but also a future challenge. Information and communication technologies improve the treatment of health issues in all their development phases, from prevention through diagnosis to treatment, monitoring and management of health and lifestyle. This may concern individual specific actions or interdisciplinary, transnational actions and collaborations.
- Collection and processing of valid research and epidemiological data in the field of Public Health, based on the principles of research ethics and bioethics and production of reliable research results for establishing and making targeted decisions in the field of population health, health promotion and environmental health.
The vision of PCH Department is the consolidation of a valuable position and a constantly evolving position, both in the Greek and also in the international academic community, aiming in principle at excellence, at the educational, clinical and research level, as well as extroversion.
The Quality Policy aims to achieve the Department’s Strategic Goals and expresses the Department’s commitment to providing education and producing high-quality knowledge, as well as to ensuring transparency, equality and academic ethics in every activity of the Department.
2.Quality Principles
The Department of Public and Community Health has based its educational profile on the following quality principles:
- Strengthening student-centered learning.
- Interdisciplinary structure and organization of the Department’s Curriculum to serve the interdisciplinary nature of the subject by ensuring sufficient and clearly defined learning outcomes and qualifications in accordance with the European and National Framework of Higher Education Qualifications.
- Provision through Undergraduate Studies of knowledge and skills to the students of the Department in order to meet the demands of society and economy.
- Production of research work of high quality and recognition, which enriches the objectives and content of the teaching work offered by the Department.
- Strengthening the internationalized and international dimension of the project and the extroversion of the Department.
- Continuous improvement of the provided educational services through the integration of new scientific knowledge, the adoption of new teaching methods and interaction with the labor market, graduates and the student body, in full harmony with the most modern national and international requirements.
- Strengthening the connection with the local community and strengthening the social impact of the Department’s action, through the development of synergies for continuous improvement of the provided education and research, as well as through the adoption and promotion of sustainable development goals and social cohesion.
- Improving the connection with the labor market, scientific bodies and graduates of the Department. Claiming national and international research programs.
- Promotion of the extroversion of the Department through the strengthening of collaborations at national and international level for the participation in topical issues of academic and research activity.
- Utilization of alternative funding sources (participation in international programs, self-financed study programs, sponsorships/donations)
- Use of new technologies in education, research, administration as well as promotion and information.
- Utilization of the Department’s alumni network in the service of general academic and social goals.
- Strengthening of transnational cooperation programs for the mobility of students and teaching staff (e.g. ERASMUS programs)
- Continuous upgrading of infrastructure and provided administrative and support services.
- Continuous monitoring and improvement of the quality of the Department’s actions, through its institutional bodies and according to the Internal Quality Assurance System.
3. Quality Assurance
The Department implements the quality assurance procedures of the Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS) of the University of Western Attica, with the specialization required on a case-by-case basis. The implementation of the IQAS and the achievement of the Department’s Quality Policy objectives are the responsibility of the Internal Evaluation Group (IEG) and the Assembly of the Department.
Specifically, IEG is formed by Faculty members, preferably with experience in quality assurance procedures. IEG is responsible, among others, for:
- the conduct of the internal evaluation process, as well as the support of the external evaluation and certification processes, in collaboration with Quality Assurance Unit of the University (MODIP),
- the collection and processing of the required data and the assurance of their quality (timeliness, completeness, correctness),
- the monitoring, analysis and comparison with the national and international data of indicators and results,
- the monitoring of quality assurance procedures and the formulation of proposals to improve the quality policy,
- the formulation of proposals to the Department Assembly for the qualitative improvement of the operation of the Department, in relation to the objectives of the quality policy.
The Assembly of the Department is its highest administrative body and is responsible, among others, for
- the periodic review of the quality policy and the quality assurance system and their revision, when required;
- undertaking actions and remedial actions to achieve the quality policy goals and in general for the qualitative operational improvement of the Department,
- the harmonization with the current legislative framework and regulations governing the country’s Higher Education,
- the assurance of the required resources for the implementation of the quality policy.
In parallel, every member of the Department’s academic community has the obligation to contribute to the common goal of implementing the Quality Policy and achieving its goals.
4. Disclosure of Quality Policy
The quality policy is made public and disseminated to the involved members of the Department, so that academic and administrative staff as well as students take responsibility for quality assurance in accordance with the role assigned to them. The same procedure will be followed in case of revisions of the text of the Undergraduate Studies Quality Policy.
For the implementation of the Department’s Quality Policy, Quality Monitoring Indicators of the offered Curricula have been instituted, in agreement with the respective goals of the University.
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