Unite! Quality Management

Implementation of Unite!‘s Quality Management system (Erasmus+ Project)

As a central structural element of Unite!, Quality Management ensures that the individual activities within the Alliance are in line with the strategic goals of the Unite! Mission Statement 2030. The focus of the Erasmus+ project for the current funding phase is to establish quality cycles for the key activities of Unite!

(Duration: November 2022 – October 2026)

Unite! University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering aims to reach the next level of development as a European university alliance, creating a wealth of new and unprecedented opportunities for its students, staff, and partners in the coming years. Continuing its journey that began in 2019, Unite! aims to develop as a dynamic and inclusive university alliance, committed to long-term sustained collaboration and progressive integration.

This is stated in the new Unite! Mission Statement 2030 (opens in new tab) which defines the Alliance's objectives for the coming years as:

  • To educate highly qualified future European and global experts and responsible citizens with key skills for the dual digital and green transition by providing innovative learning and teaching opportunities,
  • Build a strong and inclusive community that promotes the free flow of ideas, broad participation, and equal access to its offerings,
  • Build a well-developed multilingual, virtual, physical, and blended trans-European campus with seamless mobility where its communities of students, staff and ecosystem partners will find the virtual and physical spaces, create the opportunities for learning, research, and innovation, and offer the services to collaborate and team-build across Europe daily, in a multitude of formats and through many channels.

The Unite! Quality Management (QM) plays a central role in the implementation of these ambitious goals. Corresponding targeted QM processes ensure that the individual activities within Unite! live up to the claim of excellence and contribute to long-term and sustainable cooperation and progressive integration.

Unite! has already laid the foundation and taken important steps towards developing a professional and efficient QM system: The Quality Management Manual (QMM) was jointly developed by the partner universities for the Alliance and adopted by the Unite! Governing Platform. Initial pilot activities to implement the QMM have already taken place. Unite! is now aiming for a comprehensive implementation of its QM system by 2026.

The project plan includes, among other things:

  • Continuous implementation of the Unite! quality objectives in all Unite! activities,
  • Support of Work Packages/E+ Unite! Communities in establishing quality cycles (following the PDCA principle) for long-term key Unite! activities,
  • Coordination of a peer review process at alliance-level to receive recommendations from experts on how to further develop Unite! strategic objectives and QM.

The kick-off event for the project took place from 9-11 November at TU Darmstadt.

Finished projects

The project aims at the development and pilot implementation of a quality management system for the European University Alliance Unite!

(Duration: October 2019 – October 2022)

Unite! develops and starts to implement quality management principles and processes that support the vision of realising a new European University. This is a pioneering endeavour for the quality management both of universities and for the European Higher Education Area.

Starting point and basis of Unite!’s integrated quality management are the quality management procedures and approaches in all seven member universities. All Unite! partners have quality management systems in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines. In addition, the Unite! partners share a vision of the high – and added – quality they aim for as a European University. These ambitions define the specific quality goals for the Unite! quality management (QM). Unite! seeks to establish, for its core activities and services, quality management cycles that link strategic goals of the alliance with quality assurance instruments of the partner universities.

As key document for the Unite! QM, the Quality Management Manual (QMM) defines the quality management principles and procedures, as well as the Unite! quality goals.

The project plan includes:

- the evaluation of the QMM as part of the EUniQ project,
- its discussion and dissemination within the Unite! community, in particular the task forces,
- the involvement of external stakeholders for its further development,
- and its approval by the Unite! Governing Platform.

The project seeks to implement the Unite! QM approach in a number of pilot activities.

A summary of the most important events in the EUniQ project can be found here. (opens in new tab)
Project duration: May 2019 – April 2021