The study programme fosters an active dialogue with internal stakeholders, especially students, and involves them in all aspects of education policy and quality assurance. The study programme engages external stakeholders (e.g. the professional field, alumni, policymakers, (inter)national experts) by collecting feedback on at least (a) the programme -specific learning outcomes (incl. profile), (b) the content and organisation of the curriculum, and (c) the assessment and exit level. In addition, the study programme seeks out international academic peers to review the programme's content quality. This is a legal requirement under the Flemish Quality Code, implemented at Ghent University as the international programme review.

What? 

Each study programme (committee) serves as a hub for informal feedback among students (student representatives), the teaching staff, programme management, work placement supervisors, alumni, etc. While these informal channels have their merit, it is also important to maintain a formal dialogue with the relevant stakeholders. A study programme (committee) ensures the participation of students, lecturers, the professional field and/or alumni and international peers in its policy-making. It adopts an approach appropriate to its context and uniqueness, while adhering to relevant faculty and university-wide frameworks.   

Internal Stakeholder Involvement: Students

The Programme Committee actively engages students on all aspects of the teaching practice (orientation, organisation, content, guidance). The Education and Examination Code requires Programme Committees to include  a student delegation, accounting for at least one-third of the members. It is also advisable to foster student participation in other advisory bodies or ad hoc task forces. The Programme Committee recruits prospective student members by clearly communicating the opportunities, expectations, and importance of student participation in education policy. A convincing strategy to recruit prospective student representatives is to explicitly promote improvement actions that directly result from student feedback. 

 

Internal Stakeholder Involvement: Lecturers

The Programme Committee communicates transparently with all teaching staff involved in organising education practice and education policy. For that purpose, it makes the meeting minutes of the various consultation rounds and the education monitor readily available to whom it may concern.  

In addition, the Programme Committee informs or encourages its lecturers to participate in the education (improvement) policy through targeted initiatives. An effective way to cultivate a culture of consultation is to introduce annual or term meetings, or meetings per curricular strand. These meetings promote curricular coherence. Another good practice is to provide specific professional development initiatives (short-term training sessions or an education day) on relevant education-related topics. These practices build cohesion among lecturers and promote their involvement in the Programme Committee’s education and improvement policy. 

External Stakeholder Involvement: the Professional Field, Alumni, International Peers

One of the seven legal requirements for every study programme is to consider external perspectives. Programme Committees are expected to devise an approach to gather feedback from the professional field, alumni, and international peers on curriculum content.  

Programme Committees organise a programme review every six years: this process involves at least three independent, international peers who consider at least the programme-specific learning outcomes, the curriculum, and the assessment/exit level of the study programme. Find out everything you need to know in our Education Tip on Embedding the External Perspective.  

Programme Committees also establish a procedure to involve professional field representatives and/or alumni in shaping their education policy. Naturally, they choose an approach that suits their context. While some study programmes have a long-standing tradition of alumni relations, others primarily connect with their professional field through their work placement supervisors. Ghent University offers a wide range of study programmes: some have a broad professional field, while others lead to a specific profession. What is important is that each of our study programmes finds a way to consult with external parties - active professionals in the field - to reflect on curriculum content and graduate employability. These external parties hold up a critical mirror to the study programme. It is at the Programme Committee’s discretion whether or not to work with the feedback they receive. 

Why?

In Ghent University’s dynamic education context, our six strategic education objectives guide decision-making in education policy, both now and in the future. At Ghent University, we continually benchmark our ambitions for education against these objectives.

In doing so, we consistently deliver state-of-the-art education. At Ghent University, each study programme is expected to align with and implement our six strategic education objectives. One of these objectives is Stakeholder Participation”.