Tools

Draft and programme action plan

• In the draft which is needed for every teacher who wants to work at the study programme, indicate the way in which they translate the university and faculty vision on education, present their profile, and explain what they stand for.
• The programme action plan builds on input and challenges uncovered in the LOGOS flow, and crystallises priorities from the Study Program Policy Plan and developments within the Study Department Policy Plan.
• The draft is made available externally and the programme action plan remains an internal tool for the Study Programme Director.

Teaching portfolio

The teaching portfolio, with regularly and accompanying Self Evaluation Report (at the end of each study year) at ECA is an important tool at ECA to strengthen the discussions on education, and to further encourage the appreciation of education and the validation of teaching duties within the academic assignment of the teaching staff and research of the teaching staff and within the regular interest for research in the context of the Academy’s strategy.

Academy-wide surveys

Academy-wide surveys allow us to gather data in a systematic and standardized way. These data provide both the study programmes and the Academy as a whole with information on several aspects of education.

• All courses are evaluated with the student evaluation of teaching. Each semester ends with Quality Questionnaires filled by students and they are analyzed in the Senate meeting by independent sociologist from Latvian University
• The programme evaluation surveys graduating bachelor’s and master's students on the quality of their study programme and the framework of preconditions necessary to provide this study programme.
• Every two years, the alumni survey gathers information from students who graduated from the master’s programme, about their study programme and their career. At that moment, the alumni have been graduated for about one year. Amount of graduates it is not so large therefore the Academy can follow their career regularly.
• Students who deregister from a programme during an academic year are asked to fill out a deregistration survey about the period in which they made their choice of study, the extent to which they participated in study counselling initiatives, the reason for their deregistration, and their further plans. Surveys show that the main reason for deregistration from the study programme is financial.
• Students who obtain their bachelor’s degree at ECA, but do not register at the master in the following year, are asked about their current activities and their reasons for leaving the Academy.

Working on educational quality in your program

Educational Policy at ECA provides support materials for each study course and always supplements classical literature needed for enquiring of the study results of the course with updated newest literature.

Curriculum development procedures

• The programmes guide and the curricula are in constant development. Each initiative with regard to curriculum development starts in the Programme Councils and Study Programme directors and is further developed through appropriate procedures in Senate. After all, the programmes are bound by legal Latvian norms and criteria. In addition to the rules in legislation, internal guidelines are also drawn up at ECA. These internal procedures are a first step in quality assurance and allow to gain immediate insight into the quality of a new or reformed curriculum, and they allow for creating support. Curriculum development procedures are always based on careful analysis of European Standards and Guidelines.

Senate Academic Quality Unit Award

ECA wants to recognize, value, and encourage exceptional educational realizations. Therefore, every year, the Education Council hands out the Rector’s Award usually after the Students’ Conference after internships.