According to the provisions of article 215 of Law No 4957/2022, each Higher Educational Institution (HEI) has an administrative structure called "Quality Assurance Unit" (Q.A.U.). The Q.A.U. is functionally independent of other departments and is supervised by the Rector or the competent Vice-Rector, to whom the relevant competence has been delegated.
QAU Mission
The mission of the QAU is the continuous improvement of quality of the educational and research work of the Foundation, as well as the effective operation and performance of its services, in accord with international practices, especially those of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and the guidelines of the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE).
The QAU is structured internally by:
- The Quality Assurance Committee
- The Quality Assurance Administrative Department
A) The responsibilities of the Quality Assurance Committee are as follows:
- The drafting of a proposal for the structure and operation of the Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS) and its submission to the Senate for approval and publication in the Government Gazette.
- The development of a policy and strategy to ensure and improve the quality of all types of teaching, research and administrative work offered by the HEI and in particular for the quality of: a) the first, second and third cycle study programmes, including foreign language study programmes, b) lifelong learning programmes and in general the quality of the operation of the Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning Centre (CE-LLC) of the University, in particular, c) the individual academic units of the University, d) the quality of operation of the AUA Special Account for Research Grants (SARG) and the University Center for Research and Innovation (UCRI), (e) the quality of operation of individual academic or research departments, such as university clinics, university museums and university laboratories, including the supply of services by them, (f) the quality of operation of the administrative services of the University.
- The updating of the IQAS, at least every five (5) years, aiming to its continuous improvement, in accord with developments in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), international practices and the guidelines of the Hellenic Association for Higher Education (HAHE).
- The drawing up of the IQAS Manual and its submission for approval to the Senate of the University.
- The periodic internal evaluation and review of IQAS.
- The cooperation with HAHE for the implementation of its guidelines and directives within the scope of its responsibilities.
- The exercise of any other responsibility assigned to the Quality Assurance Committee by the Internal Regulations of the University.
B) The responsibilities of the Quality Assurance Service are as follows:
- The execution of decisions and secretarial support of the Quality Assurance Committee.
- Making recommendations to the Committee and preparing materials for its decisions.
- The cooperation with HAHE and the support of the internal and external evaluation and accreditation procedures of the HEI, its individual academic and research departments, and all cycles of curricula, including foreign language study programmes and cooperation programmes, lifelong learning programmes in accordance with Law No 4653/2020.
- The development, management and monitoring of the IQAS and the implementation of the internal evaluation according to the IQAS quality manual.
- The coordination and support of the processes of the Institution and of its individual departments while implementing quality assurance.
- The collection and processing of data from all academic and research departments, as well as the administrative ones, regarding the implementation of quality assurance of all University activities.
- The publication on the website of the institution of the data concerning the accreditation, internal and external evaluation of the HEI and its individual units.
- The responsibility for supplying the indicators for drawing up the annual report of achievements for the allocation of the annual regular grant of the HEI, according to article 16 of Law No. 4653/2020.
- The responsibility for updating the information system of the QAU, as well as the Integrated National Quality Information System (NISQA) of HAHE with the quality data of the institution and the development of interoperability.
- The exercise of any other competence specified in the Statute of the HEI and is related to the scope of QAU.