The implementation of a quality assurance policy, in line with internationally recognised standards, is one of the institutional objectives of the Polytechnic University of Lisbon. This commitment is set out in the statutes and other strategic documents of the institution.
This quality assurance policy reflects Polytechnic University of Lisbon’s commitment to continuous improvement across its organic units and to the involvement of everyone within the institution in defining and achieving the objectives of its quality culture. A quality culture depends on the active participation of all members of the academic community and its strategic partners in analysing the present and reflecting on the future of Polytechnic University of Lisbon.
Services Certification
As part of its quality policy, the Presidency Services of Polytechnic University of Lisbon including the national and international representation of its activities, administrative support for the procurement of goods and services, human resources management, and technical and logistical support for its organic units, are certified under the international standard NP EN ISO 9001:2015.
Policy for Quality
Within the framework of Polytechnic University of Lisbon’s strategic objectives, and with the aim of improving services and promoting the quality of teaching delivered in its organic units, Polytechnic University of Lisbon has created a quality structure under the responsibility of the Presidency. Its purpose is to formalise an internal quality management system that supports the self-evaluation of both services and organic units.
This structure also reflects the creation of the Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency (A3ES), established by the Portuguese State in 2007 in the context of the European Higher Education Area and the implementation of the Bologna Process, with the aim of promoting and ensuring the quality of higher education.
Internal and External Assessment
Even before the emergence of the formal higher education assessment system, Polytechnic University of Lisbon had already shown a concern for the quality of the education it provides. Since the 1980s, some of the Institute’s organic units had already carried out regular evaluations of teaching, collecting the views of students and lecturers and promoting the discussion, dissemination and publication of the results, with the aim of continuously improving the quality of the education offered.
The legal framework for higher education assessment, established by Law No. 38/2007 of 16 August, makes quality assessment mandatory and places it within the European system of quality assurance in higher education.
External assessment focuses on higher education institutions and their study cycles. Under the legislation currently in force, the competent authority responsible for this process is A3ES, created by Decree-Law No. 369/2007 of 5 November.
In this context, Polytechnic University of Lisbon began a process of coordination and systematisation of the various quality management structures already in place in the Presidency Services, the Social Action Services (SAS) and its organic units, in order to align the institution with the new Portuguese and European higher education framework.