Rounding off the revision project

Section 2 of the Danish University Act states that the universities are "tasked with conducting research and providing research-based education to the highest international level within its subject areas". And as the Rector wrote in his latest column (opens in a new tab) in the Rectorate's newsletter, SDU's education programmes are the "twenty-lane motorway from research-based knowledge to societal value".

This is an important obligation. We owe it to society, to the academic traditions and to the almost 20,000 students at SDU to deliver the highest quality.

Overhaul of the framework

SDU's quality assurance system for education the framework for how we work with the quality of teaching, programmes and the framework across the entire university. The system ensures that we set the right goals, that we have the necessary knowledge and that we work systematically with follow-up and development.

However, this also means that the quality assurance system itself must be reviewed at regular intervals, and a major review has just been completed with the project Revision of SDU's quality assurance system for education. The project was initiated by the executive board in summer 2023, it has been extensive, and there has been great support and desire to contribute across SDU. The final report from the project was approved by the Council for Education on 23 May 2025.

What has changed?

The revision was based on the fact that we already had a solid and mature quality assurance system for education. Nevertheless, the project has meant many large and small adjustments to the system. Among the most notable are:

• New structure with a clearer focus on teaching
• New follow-up process with a clearer focus on objectives, results and collaboration
• Greater responsibility and freedom for study boards, heads of programmes and other key players
• Simpler structure and more transparency
• Streamline cross-collection and integration with other development processes
• Better use of resources and better support for key stakeholders
• Better description of how the quality assurance system should be developed

From documents to reality

In the coming period, the revised quality assurance system will be implemented in the organisation, and we need to follow up on whether everything is working as intended. Are goals and processes perceived as meaningful? Are efforts being shifted from control to development? Are students' perspectives getting the space they deserve? Does collaboration on education work across management layers, roles and units?

The same applies to the quality assurance system itself, as it does to programme quality in general: The task is never finished when the ambition is to ensure the best possible teaching, the best possible educations and the best possible conditions for students across the university.

Want to know more?

• See the quality assurance system on SDUnet (opens in a new tab)
• Read the final report (PDF) from the revision project in the briefing to the executive board (in Danish)
• Visit the project page (opens in a new tab) for Revision of SDU's quality assurance system for education
• Stand by for the e-learning course Programme quality for employees on itslearning (opens in a new tab - English version expected summer 2025)