Quality

THE QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM 

The Quality Assurance (QA) system is a set of activities through which the Department of Veterinary Sciences (DVS) implements its own Quality Policy. 

It involves planning, implementation, monitoring and control actions in order to ensure that each actor in the system has full awareness of their tasks and can perform them in a competent and timely manner, that the service provided is effective and that traces are kept with appropriate documentation, in order to make it possble to evaluate the results. 

Various bodies of the DVS participate in the implementation of the QA system, according to their levels of responsibility. 

As part of the QA system, a Reporting Procedure (observations and complaints) has been approved by the Department Council with the aim of establishing clear and identified information channels suitable for guaranteeing the receipt and analysis of reports on services and performances provided by the DVS from all interested parties, and to define the activities necessary for their correct resolution. 

The DVS QA system is organized into: 

  • Quality of Teaching– by monitoring and evaluating the management of the training offer, from design to review, of each Degree Course (DC) of the DVS (DC in Veterinary Medicine, three-year DC in Sciences and Technologies of Animal Production, DC in Dog Breeding and Education Techniques and Master’s DC in Sciences and Technologies of Animal Production). The documents that are functional to the quality of teaching are the Scheda Unica Annuale (SUA) of the Degree Programs (SUA-CdS MV, SUA CdS STPL, SUA-CdS WPALM, SUA CdS TAAEC), which collects all the information useful for planning, implementation, management, self-assessment and redesign of the DC, the Scheda di monitoraggio annuale Annual monitoring  and the Report of cyclical system reviewRapporto di riesame ciclico (MV, STPAL, WPALM, TAAEC), which aim to periodically verify the level of the learning objectives that the DC has proposed, the correspondence between objectives and results and the effectiveness of the way in which the Course is managed. The DC in MV was certified by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) in December 2009 and the EAEVE Commission of the Department carries out the development and coordination of the activities necessary for maintaining EAEVE accreditation. In addition, the teaching QA system makes use of the contribution of the Annual Report of a Joint Faculty-Students Committee, which exercises an independent role with respect to the DV, providing indications, suggestions and action proposals to the DC, also in order toto facilitate their task when preparing any changes to the legal system or regulations. 
  • Research Quality – the DVS has the task of establishing the research objectives to be pursued, identifying and planning what is necessary to achieve them, monitoring the regular performance of research activities and verifyingtheextent to which the objectives are reached. The actions inherent to the research QA system concern the compilation of the SUA-RD form, which collects information and data on scientific objectives, the organization of research activities and related results, the quality policies pursued in relation to research and its promotion and critical review, and the Annual Report on Research and the Third Mission of the DVS. 
  • Quality of theThirdMission – The DVS also has the task of establishing the objectives of the third mission to be pursued. This involves identifying and planning what is necessary to achieve the objectives, monitoring the regular performance of the third mission activities and verifying the extent to which the goals are reached. The actions related to the QA system of the third mission concern the compilation of the SUA-RD form and the Annual Report on Research and the Third Mission of the DVS. 

 

Quality and external evaluations: 

  • ANVUR Audit: the DVS received an audit by ANVUR as part of the periodic Accreditation of Universities and Study Programs carried out from March 11 to March 15, 2019. The Department was selectedaccordingto the organization of teaching activities. The results of the visit are reported in the ANVUR final periodic accreditation report of the University of Pisa. 
  • Audit of the University Evaluation Unit: on November 29, 2019 the University Evaluation Unit carried out a visit to assess the quality of the activities provided by the DVS. On that occasion, the Department produced its own Self-assessment Summary Document. The University Evaluation Unit, in turn, issued its Feedback Report on the audit carried out. 
  • UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 certification: the DVS is UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 certified by the certification body KIWA CERMET for laboratory analyses carried out on behalf of third parties of laboratory services, for the management of blood donations and preparation of blood components in dogs and cats by the Veterinary Transfusion Medicine service and for the management of the supply of medicines by the Pharmacy Service of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.