As part of the Bologna Process (www.bolognaprocess.it), in 2005 the Congregation for Catholic Education (CEC) asked all ecclesiastical universities to create an internal Commission for the Promotion of Quality (CPQ).
According to the CEC's instructions, the main tasks of the CPQ are to: a) draft an institutional strategic plan; b) identify tools for quality; and c) create a database to effectively guide and carry out the university's self-evaluation process.
This periodic self-evaluation process is to be done in collaboration with the Agency for the Promotion and Evaluation of Quality (AVEPRO), established by the Holy See to stimulate the quality of research and teaching in ecclesiastical academic institutions and assess their compliance with international standards.
In response to these requests, at the beginning of 2006, the Rector established an initial Commission, composed of five professors and an employee of the Secretariat of the Faculties, with the task of drawing up the Institutional Evaluation Guide, taking into account the indications received up to that time from the Congregation for Catholic Education. This Guide was studied and approved by the Academic Senate in May 2007.
Subsequently, the Rector, in agreement with his Council, created the CPQ, which is currently composed of: the President of the Commission, who is the University's Academic Vice Chancellor; the Director for the Promotion of Quality (DPQ), who must be a full professor who does not hold government positions in the University; one professor from each School and one from ISSRA (Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose all'Apollinare), also without government positions in the University; one student representative; and a non-teaching employee/manager.
Thanks to the work of the Commission and the entire University, the first RAV (Self-Evaluation Report) was delivered to AVEPRO (Agency for the Promotion and Evaluation of Quality) on October 2, 2012.
The members of the CPQ are currently as follows:
- Prof. Cristina Reyes (President, Academic Vice Chancellor. Faculty of Philosophy)
- Prof. Rafael Jiménez Cataño (Director, Professor of the School of Institutional Social Communication)
- Rev. Prof. Jesús Miñambres (Professor of the School of Canon Law)
- Prof. Maria del Pilar Río (Professor of the School of Theology)
- Prof. Ivan Colagè (Professor of the School of Philosophy)
- Prof. Ilaria Vigorelli (Professor of the ISSR at the Apollinare)
- Dr. Giampaolo Del Monte (Library officer)
- Avv. Gaspare De Lisi (Student of the School of Canon Law)
- Dr. Maria Federica Di Curti (Secretary)
The CPQ also performs the duties of the Office for Quality Promotion.
The CPQ's email address is: promoqualita [at] pusc.it (subject: Da%20pagina%20web)
The different stages of the Internal Self-Assessment process were coordinated by the Commission for the Promotion of Quality (CPQ), previously established for the implementation of the first RAV in 2012.
1. The first stage of the process, which took place during A.Y. 2021/2022, involved defining the process as a whole and the tasks of the CPQ itself, with the help of a consultant.
2. In the following academic year, 2022/2023, the second stage, the self-evaluation stage, began with a reflection on the current state of the university at all levels (Rector's Office, Schools and ISSRA, Students, Faculty, Technical-Administrative Staff, Alumni).
The work then focused on preparing and administering questionnaires to listen directly to students, alumni, faculty and staff. The participation of teaching and non-teaching staff was high, attesting to the deep-rooted feeling of belonging to the university, as evidenced by the data recorded in the questionnaires (employees 80%, teaching staff stable 84%), while the participation of students (65.2%,) and alumni (8.3%, a figure that can also be explained by the lack of previous experience with this type of survey) was somewhat lower.
3. Once the data and the responses to the questionnaires were collected and interpreted, in May 2023, the third stage was undertaken with the actual drafting of the Report, in which, in addition to the CPQ, the Steering Committees of the Faculty and the ISSRA and the Rector’s Office participated actively. The drafting was completed at the end of November.
The Report consists of a general part, concerning the University as a whole, and five parts related to its component units (the four Schools and the ISSR at Apollinare).
On Friday, November 23, 2023, the Holy See's Agency for the Promotion and Evaluation of Quality (AVEPRO) officially received the Holy Cross 2023 Self-Assessment Report, thus concluding a three-year process in which the entire academic community of our University has participated.
From April 8 to 10, 2024, the External Visiting Commission appointed by AVEPRO (Agency of the Holy See for the Evaluation and Promotion of the Quality of Universities and Ecclesiastical Faculties) visited the university. It was composed of the following persons:
- President: Prof. Andrea Toniolo (Facoltà Teologica del Triveneto, Italy)
- Prof. João Manuel Duque (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal)
- Prof. Santiago Bueno Salinas (Ateneu Sant Pacià, Spain)
- Prof. Martin Stowasser (Universität Wien, Austria)
- Student Representative: Patient Bahati (PISAI doctoral student)
The aforementioned Commission wanted to meet with different groups in order to get to know the multiple realities that make up Holy Cross, such as: the Rector's Council, the Steering Committees of the Schools and the ISSRA, the CPQ and the Library. In addition to these, the Commission also had the opportunity to listen to and engage with representative groups of faculty, students and non-teaching staff, the Research Committees, etc.
The Commission's Evaluation Report was released on October 15, 2024 on the AVEPRO website.
The publication of this document allows the Rectorate to conclude the definition of the Strategic Plan 2024-2029, integrating the results of the visit and the recommendations of the AVEPRO Agency itself with a view to the continuous improvement of the quality offered.
The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross has established the Commission for the Promotion of Quality (CPQ) in order to promote a culture of Quality within the Athenaeum in accordance with its strategic objectives and in line with its Statutes. This is a permanent advisory body to the Rector's Council, whose task is to oversee the self-evaluation process of the various bodies operating within Holy Cross.
1. Mission of the CPQ
The mission of the Commission for the Promotion of Quality (CPQ) is based on two guidelines:
- To foster, on the part of professors, students and administrative staff, a constant commitment to improving the quality of the service provided by affecting the organization of their way of working, thinking and developing each activity;
- To stimulate in the entire academic community a marked interest and greater involvement in the mission and strategic objectives of the University, so that Holy Cross may be confirmed as a place of dialogue and a center of reflection as adequate as possible to the needs of the Church and society.
The main instrument with which the University's Quality Policies are pursued is the periodic evaluation processes, with a focus on the University's strategic horizons.
2. Quality Policy Objectives
In its advisory and service action, CPQ will center its attention in these areas:
OB. 1 – Research Quality:
- To encourage faculty members' personal research and foster an increase in the level of their publications; to encourage the creation of research projects with colleagues from the same university and from other universities, both in group and research center modes; to promote conferences, refresher courses and other events of special interest and academic value; and to ensure that the Faculty’s journals achieve levels of excellence;
- To facilitate the membership of each professor in at least one research group; the same applies to young researchers/assistants and doctoral students;
- To raise the level of doctoral theses and promote “post-doctoral” specialization programs for young people;
- To promote the increase of library holdings and services necessary to meet the needs of the different lines of research.
OB. 2 - Quality of Teaching/Training:
- To involve students more closely in the educational pathways, stimulating them in study engagement and cultural and scientific development;
- To strengthen in the different categories of protagonists of campus life - priests, seminarians, religious and laity - the attitude of service to the needs of the Church, according to the requirements of their own condition of life;
- To create a space for dialogue within each course or program and, also physically, in the University's venues;
- To stimulate collaboration with other universities and educational entities in order to initiate processes of interaction with civil society (Third Mission).
OB. 3 – Logistics Quality:
In terms of logistics, the CPQ's attention will focus in particular on the following services:
- Reception: place of first contact and first impression of “what the University is” in the eyes of those who enter it;
- Canteen: essential service and place for dialogue, strengthening relationships and stimulating creativity;
- Library: indispensable service for study and research;
- Classrooms: the environment where most of the teaching time takes place.
OB. 4 - Involvement of non-teaching staff:
- To foster greater employee participation and sharing in Quality Policies;
- To take care of the training and enhancement of human resources already working within the University.
3. Quality Assessment
The Quality Assessment process according to the above-mentioned Principles is carried out through verification and improvement phases, flanked by analysis carried out cyclically by the Quality Promotion Commission.
The phases are semiannual, annual and five-yearly, and constantly gather the opinions and suggestions of students, Faculty, non-teaching staff, and alumni. Their implementation takes into account the guidelines of the University's Strategic Plan.
Rome, October 2024
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