Quality Strategy 2020 approved by the President’s Board
The university’s new quality strategy was approved by the President’s Board on 22 December 2020. The strategy reflects the basic elements of the university’s quality assurance and development system and defines goals and measures for its ongoing development. The Quality Strategy 2020 is thus an important element of the university’s preparations for the institutional accreditation process in 2022 in accordance with the Federal Act on the Funding and Coordination of the Higher Education Sector (HEdA).
20 January 2021
Through its Quality Strategy 2020, the university aims to achieve its goal of continuously developing its diverse activities as a “learning organization” and reinforcing its outstanding position as a regionally established and internationally networked and visible university. The guidelines and objectives of the overarching University Strategy 2022–2030 approved last year by the University Council serve as a reference framework in this regard.
The quality strategy has a strong focus on the concept of quality culture and identifies various measures for continuing to improve the quality assurance and development system at all levels of the university. In addition to the core areas of teaching and research, the strategy addresses issues such as governance and leadership, staff development and career advancement, administration and services, the availability of the necessary resources and cross-sectional issues such as diversity and sustainability.
A first draft of the quality strategy was presented and discussed in September 2020 as part of two retreats with the members of the Quality Commission and other representatives of the faculties and central services. An extensive review process was then held via the Senate, and the results were discussed at the Senate meeting of 4 November 2020. The Senate’s response to the strategy was highly positive. A small number of comments were submitted by individual faculties and groups, which the President’s Board integrated as far as possible in the final version.
The in-depth analysis of the university’s overall quality assurance and development system and its representation in the Quality Strategy 2020 play an important role in connection with the accreditation of the University of Basel scheduled for 2022 in accordance with the Federal Act on the Funding and Coordination of the Higher Education Sector (HEdA).
The accreditation process replaces the previously common federal quality audits and is performed by the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) with the assistance of recognized international experts. This process focuses not on the university's performance as such, but on the way in which it maintains the quality of its services and ensures that its objectives can be achieved.
