Introduction

The Quality Assurance Policy of the School of Dentistry is fully aligned to the quality assurance policy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), as it has been approved by the Institution’s Senate, and reflects its core values.

The School of Dentistry ensures and disseminates the quality of its teaching, research and administrative services, through their continuous improvement and with the participation and contribution of all its members.

The School designs and implements Postgraduate Programs of high standards in the most important areas and subjects, oriented to modern trends and demands, thereby strengthening its academic profile and orientation. In addition, the School is committed to the development of a creative research and work environment for all its teaching, research and administrative staff as well as to the development of a creative academic environment for its students.

Quality is recognized as a fundamental element for the realization of the School’s vision and the achievement of its mission; therefore, the establishment of a quality culture is of paramount importance.

Quality Policy Implementation – Quality Assurance

The School of Dentistry and the Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry in particular are committed to the implementation of a quality policy, which:

• Strengthens the academic profile and orientation of the postgraduate study programs
• Promotes their purpose and subject
• Implements their annual strategic goals
• Determines the resources, actions and mode of achieving its annual goals
• Ensures the participation of stakeholders
• Implements the appropriate internal and external quality procedures having as an ultimate aim their continuous improvement.

In addition to the above, the School is committed to fostering a climate of communication and cooperation between all its members (staff, students and interested parties).

The School of Dentistry and the Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry apply the quality assurance procedures of AUTh’s Internal Quality Assurance System’s (IQAS) Manual, while proceeding to any required adjustments on a case-by-case basis at the Postgraduate Program level. The implementation of the IQAS procedures is carried out in collaboration with the University’s Quality Assurance Unit (QAU/MO.DI.P.). The quality assurance procedures constitute a valuable tool for the School and each Postgraduate Program in order for them to fulfill their teaching and research purpose, to ensure the achievement of their set goals and to upgrade the effectiveness of their academic services in general.

The School of Dentistry and the Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry while implementing the present policy, are committed to apply the quality procedures that will demonstrate the following:

• The suitability of the structure and organization of the Postgraduate Program
• The intended learning outcomes and qualifications are in line with the European and National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education
• The enhancement of the quality and effectiveness of the Postgraduate Program’s teaching/research activity
• The adequacy of the teaching staff’s qualifications for the Postgraduate Program
• The setting, implementation and review of specific annual quality goals for the Postgraduate Program’s improvement
• The level of labor market demand for the graduates’ acquired qualifications
• The quality of support services
• The efficient use of the Postgraduate Program’s resources, which may derive by any tuition fees
• The conduct of an annual internal evaluation and review of the quality assurance system for the Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry, with the cooperation of the School’s Internal Evaluation Group (IEG/OM.E.A.) and the MO.DI.P.

The procedures applied to monitor and continuously improve the Postgraduate Program’s quality are analyzed as follows:

• Implementation of the Postgraduate Program’s Quality Assurance Policy, its periodic review and revision (when required)
• Postgraduate Program design, in accordance with the current Legislation and AUTh’s Regulations, taking into account – to the extent possible – the opinions of the School, the Postgraduate Program’s students and graduates as well as of other stakeholders
• Harmonization with the in force legislative and regulatory framework
• Implementation of the Postgraduate Program’s Regulations, any other Regulations and AUTh’s Regulatory Decisions
• Submission of the Personal Inventory Form and the Course Description Form to MO.DI.P.’s information system, by the teaching staff
• Conduct of Courses and teachers’ evaluation by the students
• Various student assessment methods
• Effort towards the monitoring of the professional/career development of the Postgraduate Program graduates
• Faculty staff (selection, regulations, performance, support)
• Postgraduate Program’s resources allocation and management (infrastructure, equipment, etc.)
• Quality data collection and processing/analysis (apt, complete, correct) as to ensure the Postgraduate Program’s quality with the goal of improving it
• Monitoring, analysis and comparison to national and international key performance indicators
• Postgraduate Program information publication.
• Updating of the Postgraduate Program website in a systematic and qualitative way (Greek, English and potentially in another language), for the publication of the Program’s relevant information.
• Feedback mechanisms for strategy and goals, etc. review, corrective actions implementation (when required)
• Annual internal evaluation (monitoring, control and revision of the Postgraduate Program), in accordance with all the aforementioned and based on the guidelines provided by the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (H.A.H.E./ETHAAE) and the MO.DI.P.
• Support of external evaluation and accreditation procedures, in collaboration with the MO.DI.P.

Quality Goals

The quality goals, on which the School of Dentistry will focus its efforts for the Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry are the following:

1. The use of objective and predetermined indicators and criteria that reflect the quality of the educational and research work, of the administrative and other services, and the level of demand for the qualifications of the graduates in the job market.
2. The systematic, documented, and detailed recording, evaluation, and promotion of the produced work.
3. The critical analysis and utilization of the data resulting from internal and external evaluations of its work.
4. The institutional interaction with MO.DI.P. aiming at taking actions and exploiting the evaluation data to improve existing weaknesses.
5. The publication of Quality Assurance procedures, as well as the data from the internal and external evaluation of the work of Postgraduate Program in Paediatric Dentistry on a systematic basis.

Quality Policy Dissemination and Publication

The Quality Policy is communicated and disseminated to the academic and administrative staff, to the students, as well as to other involved parties. The Quality Policy is published on the Postgraduate’s Program website.