Evaluation Procedure

Starting with the preliminary talk (not shown in Figure 1) and ending with the Agreement on Measures, an evaluation takes about two semesters. At the beginning of the first semester, the members of the unit under evaluation are informed about the process (information event, also not shown).

The Evaluation Agreement is drawn up jointly by the Evaluation Office, the representative of the responsible governing body (Faculty Council and/or Executive Board) and the unit under evaluation (head[s] and representatives of staff members; academic units: head[s], representatives of the professors and the "Stände"). In the agreement, the parties define the evaluation questions and determine other important framework conditions of the evaluation.

The Evaluation Office provides the unit with a template of the self-evaluation report, enriched with university data and statistics as well as suggestions and instructions.

By the beginning of the second semester, the unit finalizes its self-evaluation report addressing, among other things, the questions in the evaluation agreement. In the case of the subject of evaluation being an academic unit, the results from the quality management of teaching and learning are included in the form of the education quality report. Where appropriate, the Evaluation Office writes additional reports (e.g., analysis of publication activity) or conducts surveys with various stakeholders. The self-evaluation documents are used by the external experts to prepare for their visit.

The unit under evaluation proposes potential experts. After the Evaluation Office prioritizes and checks the proposals (e.g., for potential bias), the experts are determined by the Faculty Council and/or Executive Board. The Evaluation Office then informs the unit about the decision on the nominated experts and invites them. 

The site visit (on-site) takes place in the second semester of the evaluation. The site visit starts and ends with an opportunity for the Faculty Council and/or Executive Board to inform the experts on the context of the unit under evaluation and to discuss their findings with them. During the site visit, the experts meet with the head(s) and with representatives of the staff members of the unit (academic units: representatives of the professors, der "Stände") as well as with further persons if  necessary.

In the weeks following the site visit, the group of experts finalizes their report, including an overall assessment of the unit as well as their perfomance (SWOT analysis). The experts answer the evaluation questions and formulate recommendations for quality assurance and development as well as for the relevant structures, processes and results. The members of the unit are given the opportunity to comment on the experts' report.

Based on the experts' report and the unit's comments, the Evaluation Office promptly prepares the evaluation report containing a list of recommendations. 

The list of recommendations serves as the basis for the first strategy and development discussion (SDD) between the unit and the Faculty Council and/or Executive Board. In the course of this discussion, the agreement on measures is drawn up. 

As a rule, three months after the SDD the unit submits the implementation plan. The Faculty Council and/or Executive Board supplement(s) the plan with a report regarding the points addressed to them.

Approximately two years after the measures have been defined, the monitoring (discussion and review of measure implementation) is carried out in a further strategy and development discussion.  

The Executive Board and the Board of the University periodically receive the evaluation reports, the signed Agreements on Measures and the protocols of the strategy and development discussions of all completed evaluations. The monitoring reports are submitted annually to the Executive Board and the Board of the University for their information.