Quality Assurance Procedures
Since 2002, the system of student surveys on the quality and efficiency of teaching has been implemented at YSU.
Student surveys are conducted by the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Education" and the YSU Charter and are considered a manifestation of the right to participate in the functions that ensure the quality of YSU students' education and to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching staff.
To increase the effectiveness of the mechanism of teaching staff evaluation by students, the survey methodology, procedure, and criteria (questionnaire) have been regularly updated and improved over the past years. Changes have been made in regulating the discussion of the results of the survey and their effective application, as well as clarifying and supplementing some questions of the questionnaire.
Conducting surveys is regulated by the "Student Survey on the Quality and Efficiency of Teaching at YSU" regulation (the new edition was approved by decision № 4/2 of the session of the YSU Academic Council on January 26, 2017).
Starting in 2017, surveys have been conducted online after the examination period of each semester. The student has the opportunity to participate in the survey from anywhere, using the personal virtual domain of the YSU student, and accessing his/her university email address. The survey is conducted on a scale of 1-5 points.
To ensure impartiality, surveys, and data processing are carried out centrally, based on uniform criteria for conducting the survey and analyzing the results. The results of the survey are discussed at the Academic councils of the chairs, and faculties, and then at the meetings of the YSU Board of Trustees.
The results of the discussion are used to improve teaching approaches and methods, as well as for the purposes of tenure, and promotion of professors.
In the 2019-2020 academic year, 25.96% of the students enrolled in YSU Undergraduate and Master's educational programs participated in the student surveys regarding the quality and effectiveness of teaching.
One of the existing mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of YSU educational programmes is the annual surveys on the satisfaction of graduates with the education they received at YSU, which have been conducted since 2009.
To carry out the surveys, an appropriate questionnaire and procedure are used, which have been revised several times. The procedure for organizing surveys on the satisfaction of graduates with the education they received at YSU was last approved (with a new edition) by the Academic Council of YSU in session No. 1 of October 12, 2017.
The survey of graduates' satisfaction with the education received at YSU is one of the most important components of YSU's internal quality assurance system and is conducted online. All graduates of YSU Undergraduate and Master's programmes and part-time educational system, participate in the survey.
The procedure for organizing surveys defines the conditions of their conduct, processing, and the use of results, the questionnaire contains a corresponding section where graduates evaluate their satisfaction with the content of educational programmes and teaching methodology. The results of the surveys are summarized, analyzed, and published in the corresponding annual report, which is discussed at the YSU Academic Council session.
In 2012, to conduct an external evaluation of the quality and modernity of YSU educational programmes, YSU developed the procedure for surveys of employers' satisfaction with the professional skills and abilities of YSU graduates and conducted a series of trial surveys in various fields such as law, economics, informatics, radiophysics, social work, pharmacy, and journalism. The survey reports are available to the chairs of the respective faculties of YSU and will be used in the review processes of educational programmes.
YSU’s main employers are involved in the process of expert evaluation of newly developed educational programmes by point 3.4 of the YSU educational programmes approval procedure.
In addition, YSU educational units (faculties, institutes, and centers) regularly conduct satisfaction surveys of major employer organizations with the professional skills and abilities of their graduates.
The institutional accreditation process at YSU started in March 2012 and was implemented by the RA government regulation on "State Accreditation of Educational Institutions Implementing Secondary and Higher Humanities Basic Educational Programs of the Republic of Armenia" approved on June 30, 2011 (Institutional Self-Assessment Report).
YSU's institutional and programmatic accreditation processes were carried out to support accreditation and quality assurance processes within the framework of the "Technical Assistance for quality assurance in Armenia" program financed by the World Bank, which is implemented by the joint efforts of the National Accreditation Organization and the Dutch independent accrediting organization NVAO (Nederlands Vlaamse Accreditatie organisatie).
In the 2019-2020 academic year, the new YSU accreditation process was launched, the first stage of which was the organization of the self-analysis of institutional capabilities for the purpose of YSU self-evaluation and the preparation of the corresponding report. Despite the situation created due to the "COVID-19" pandemic, the report "Self-Analysis of Institutional Capabilities of Yerevan State University" was prepared in Armenian and English versions, with its appendix, which was submitted to the organization that carries out the external evaluation, the National Center for Quality Assurance.
The trial accreditation of educational programmes at the Faculty of Biology of Yerevan State University was carried out with the support of the World Bank Grant Program and the Educational Programmes Center of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports. The “Technical Support for quality assurance in Armenia” program, which was coordinated by the accreditation organization of the Netherlands and Flanders, and the “Experimental Accreditations” programme, which was coordinated by the “National Center for Quality Assurance of Vocational Education” foundation, facilitated the implementation of the accreditation process.
"Biology" Undergraduate and "Genetics" Master's educational programmes participated in the trial accreditation of educational programs at YSU Faculty of Biology.
For the purpose of evaluation and regular improvement of YSU learning resources and student support services, an appropriate management manual (guide) has been developed, which is available to the relevant structures.
