Dear colleagues, Additionally to the first assignment, content of which will be discussed in France, the project coordination body

asks you to prepare answers for the two next assignments. We would be very grateful, if you prepare them by the French meeting. We expect a 20 min presentation about results of all the three assignments from each university team. On behalf of the coordination council, Serge V. Chernyshenko

DIUS assignment 2: Defining the university mission and identifying the underlying processes within each dimension the university engages in.

According to the UNESCO World Declaration on Higher Education (1998), the aims of the higher education have changed to consider the change in the educational paradigm and massification. Now it evolves around three major dimensions: 1) teaching and learning; 2)research and development; and 3) services to society. Within the frames of the new developments, the universities are to decide along which dimensions they will proceed. On the other hand, following the Armenian national development plan, one of the goals is to become comparable at international level, which requires fundamental changes in higher education management with the quality assurance being a core and driving force of its activities. Considering the recent developments at both European and international levels it is crucial for us to find out what the purposes of your university are and, based on that, the processes the university engages in to achieve the mission. This will facilitate the process of quality assurance mechanisms development that best meets the needs of your university. To decide which dimensions your university targets at and which processes are organized to meet each purpose, please answer the following questions. Remember that these dimensions should be aligned with the mission of the university. 2,1. 2.2. What is the mission of your university? Which of the following dimensions does it target? Please, tick all that applies. My university s mission evolves around teaching and learning. If yes, answer question 3. My university s mission evolves around research and development. If yes, answer question 4. My university s mission includes services to society. If yes, answer question 5.

2.3.

What are the processes within the teaching and learning? Please, list all the processes within this dimension and a brief description of each process. For example: a. Process: teaching (the teaching process usually consists of four steps; preparation, presentation, application, review and evaluation. To ensure the quality of teaching the university has to make sure that each step serves to the predefined aims and they are coherent with the programme aims. So, the aim of this exercise is to write down all the processes that occur in the teaching and learning process to identify the mechanisms that should be used to ensure its quality.) What are the processes within research and development dimension? Please, list all the processes within this dimension and a brief description of each process. Example: Research methods

2.4.

2.5.

What are the processes within services to society dimension? Please, list all the processes within this dimension and a brief description of each process. Special attention should be paid to higher education's role of service to society, especially activities aimed at eliminating poverty, intolerance, violence, illiteracy, hunger, environmental degradation and disease, and to activities aiming at the development of peace, through an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach. Any process undertaken by the university that covers any of these aspects is considered to be a process and should be quality assured.

DIUS assignment 3: Planning practical steps for the university quality assurance departments organising. Within the frames of DIUS project workpackage 3 the universities are supposed to establish internal quality assurance units. Correspondingly, we ask you to prepare by the France meeting a first version of the following information: 3.1. Recruitment of the necessary staff: a. a unit organogram; b. job responsibilities; c. candidates for the positions. 3.2. Providing legitimate background for the unit: d. the unit charter, approved by the respective authorities in the university; e. the concept for internal quality assurance; f. a strategic plan for internal quality assurance (2011-2015). 3.3. Purchasing the equipment for the infrastructure functioning g. Provide a list of equipment, necessary for unit functioning.