Quality Management Structures at the School of Business, Economics and Society
The strategic orientation and goal-oriented development of teaching and studying at the School take place at four levels: at the School level, at the cross-program level of all Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs, at the degree program level and at the module level. At both the cross-program level and the degree program level, quality committees are established which serve as discursive platforms for quality development; these include, for example, the quality circles as well as the advisory boards. At each of the three levels and in every quality committee, tasks and responsibilities are defined and objectives are set. Communication between the different status groups involved in teaching and studying is central to the QM approach and is enabled in particular through the participation of all status groups in the quality committees.
A detailed overview of the quality management structure, the committees at the various levels and their responsibilities can be found here (status: 04 July 2023).
Here you can find the english version of the document “Structure of quality management”.
The degree program coordinators, who are the professors responsible for the respective degree programs, coordinate both the strategic development and the operational tasks of their degree program and address any issues that arise. They are substantially supported in their responsibilities by a research associate.
In the degree-program committees, the degree program coordinators and their research associates meet with representatives of the module coordinators and students from all cohorts of the respective degree program. These meetings serve to exchange information, discuss issues, derive measures and address topics related to further development. All information from the quality circle and the advisory board is also consolidated within the degree-program committee. Based on this information, the committee makes strategically relevant decisions for the degree program.
The quality circle at degree program level serves as a direct forum for exchange between the degree program coordinators and/or their research associates and student representatives from all cohorts of the current degree program. The members of the quality circle meet once a month during the lecture period to discuss matters primarily related to day-to-day study activities. The aim is to identify potential weaknesses at an early stage and to be able to respond to them promptly.
The advisory board serves a professional advisory function and, for each degree program, is composed of the degree program coordinator, their research associate, external experts from industry and academia, at least one current student of the program, one external student, and a representative of the alumni. The outcomes of the advisory board provide valuable input for the strategic development of the degree program.
The information gathered from the degree-program committees, quality circles and advisory boards is brought by the degree program coordinators and/or their research associates into the Bachelor and Master Commission for Teaching and Studying. These two commissions meet twice per semester and bring together all degree program coordinators of the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs and/or their research associates, the Dean of Studies, the Chair of the Examination Board, student representatives and, where applicable, additional participants to address cross-program development. An important guiding principle in this context is subsidiarity, meaning that issues are first addressed at the degree program level. If a problem affects multiple degree programs or cannot be resolved at the program level, it is discussed within the Bachelor or Master Commission for Teaching and Studying in order to jointly develop solutions or to learn from the experiences of other degree programs.
In addition to the information provided by the quality committees at degree program level (degree-program committee, quality circle and advisory board), the results of the discussions from the quality circle at the level of the Dean of Studies are also incorporated into the Bachelor and Master Commission for Teaching and Studying. In this quality circle, the Dean of Studies meets once a month during the lecture period with two representatives each from the Master’s degree programs, the assessment phase of the Bachelor’s degree program (1st–2nd semester) and the Bachelor phase (3rd–6th semester) to discuss current cross-program matters.
The Dean of Studies as well as all degree program coordinators are also members of the School Council, which includes all professors of the School of Business, Economics and Society as well as representatives of the students, the administration and the research staff. The Dean of Studies reports regularly to the School Council on quality-related activities and makes recommendations on matters relevant to the degree programs. In addition, the Dean of Studies is responsible for the implementation and further development of the quality management structure at School level. The Dean of Studies is also a member of central quality committees, such as the Working Group on Quality (AG Qualität), and therefore serves as an interface to the University’s quality management system. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Dean of Studies is supported within the Office of the Dean of Studies (Studiendekanat) by a research associate and a quality coordinator (Q-Koordinatorin).
Ultimately, within this QM structure, all development measures adopted at the individual levels feed into the next higher level, where they either lead to further specific development measures or are initially retained as background information. As part of the ongoing development process, all measures are systematically documented and used as a basis for strategically relevant decisions.
Quality management (QM) at the School is integrated into the central QM system of FAU. Further information can be found here.