Mission Statement and Fields of Activity

The quality management system of the University of Potsdam gives extensive autonomy to the faculties with respect to developing and implementing quality-assuring measures. The Center for Teaching Quality Development (ZfQ) supports the faculties in both preparing and implementing quality measures. The University defined five key fields of activity that have been anchored in the University Development Plan 2014 - 2018:

  1. Development of research-based teaching and professionalization of teaching
  2. Realizing the right to structured studies with suitable curricula
  3. Skills orientation in teaching and studying
  4. Use of procedures and quality assurance tools adequate for science
  5. Continuous development of quality awareness and consolidating a dialogue-driven culture of quality.

The primary task of the QM system at the Faculty of Human Sciences is to establish a quality culture that serves as a guideline for alle relevant decisions. The quality of all processes that are implemented in the central fields of activity is ensured according to the following basic principles:

  1. Continous optimization while using a solution-oriented approach,
  2. Transparency of decision-making processes and equal access to relevant information,
  3. Creating a compulsory procedure with competent contact persones,
  4. Clear definition of responsibilities,
  5. Professionalization of the staff responsible for studies, research, teaching, and administration through (further) qualification.

The following intra-faculty fields of activity in teaching and studies were defined in accordance with the priority fields of activity of the University of Potsdam:

  1. Internationalization of degree programs,
  2. Creating clear degree prgram profiles,
  3. Anchoring project work in the degree program curricula and strengthening students' interdisciplinary skills,
  4. Continuous development of quality in teaching and professionalization of teaching staff,
  5. Dialogue-driven, inta-faculty procedures to further develop degree programs.

All processes related to implementing the fields of activity are controlled by using the PDCA cycle. Measures that are taken in the fields of activity are documented and published annually  in a Faculty report. For an overview of current measures and projects, please click here.