Quality assurance

Commitment

EPFL has long been committed to continuous improvement and quality management and strives to constantly improve its services, whether they be managerial, academic, operational or financial.

Swiss system

According to the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector (HEdA), all institutions wishing to use the protected title of «university» in Switzerland or to benefit from federal subsidies must implement a quality management system and demonstrate its effectiveness against 18 national standards during institutional accreditation.

Quality management

EPFL’s quality management system has been developed for over 30 years.

EPFL has 3 types of processes. Each process is placed under the responsibility of a pilot who ensures that it is efficient and documented. The processes follow the Deming circle (PDCA cycle), i.e. they are planned, implemented by specifically dedicated teams, controlled by specific instruments and improved.

A whole range of instruments and mechanisms is used to monitor whether EPFL’s performance is constantly improving and whether the conditions are right to foster the EPFL community’s commitment to quality.

The instruments are described in detail here.

Responsabilities

At EPFL, responsibility for Quality Assurance is collective:

  • The EPFL President has overall responsibility for the governance of EPFL. He or she is accountable to the ETH Board.
  • La Direction de l’EPFL dĂ©termine la stratĂ©gie relative Ă  la qualitĂ©, procure les moyens ou instruments nĂ©cessaires pour la mise en Ɠuvre et assigne les tĂąches spĂ©cifiques.
  • The Direction of EPFL determines the quality strategy, provides the necessary means or instruments for its implementation and assigns specific tasks.
  • Each Vice President (VP) ensures the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the processes within his or her area of activity. He or she approves the continuous improvement objectives and appoints the process drivers responsible for documenting and implementing the measures.
  • The Deans of the Faculties and the Directors of the Colleges ensure that their entities are fully involved in the quality approach. They regularly submit their activities to a peer review, whose opinion is analyzed and, if necessary, integrated into the activities of their entity.
  • EPFL professors ensure that their teaching and research are of high quality. They adhere to the principle of continuous improvement, taking into account the results of student surveys and peer reviews to improve their performance.
  • Students engage as representatives and/or class delegates in the governance of EPFL and provide input to the Direction or its representatives. By responding to surveys, students can express their views on teaching, working conditions or campus life.
  • The person responsible for Quality Assurance coordinates quality-related activities within EPFL.

Quality commission

The Quality Commission is one of the advisory commissions of the Direction of EPFL. It is placed under the responsibility of the person responsible for Quality Assurance and affiliated with the President’s and Provost’s Office. Its mission is to promote and support the development of a quality culture and the improvement of EPFL’s quality management system. The composition of the Commission is on its dedicated website.

EPFL’s quality is periodically evaluated at multiple levels.

  • Institutional accreditation aims to evaluate the design and effectiveness of the quality management system according to the 18 national standards. The procedure consists of three stages, a self-evaluation stage, a visit by external experts and a decision by the Swiss Accreditation Council. For more information, click here.
  • Every 8 years, a group of experts selected by the Direction of EPFL evaluates the performance of each Faculty and College according to the terms of reference defined by the Direction of EPFL, and in accordance with the framework defined by the ETH Board. For more information, click here.
  • Master’s programs that award the title of engineer are accredited by the French Commission des titres d’ingĂ©nieur1 (CTI). For more information, click here
  • Centres dependent on AVP-CP are evaluated every four years, in accordance with Lex 1.2.12.
  • Administrative and financial processes are audited by the ETH Board or by the Swiss Federal Audit Office.

1. The term «titre d’ingĂ©nieur» is intended for people of all genders. It is kept in the masculine form in this book because of its official use by the CTI.

The essentials in brief

In short, in order to continuously improve its services, EPFL takes the following measures :

  • Stakeholder satisfaction is systematically monitored.
  • All EPFL services are periodically evaluated.
  • Institutional data is collected and made available to the community to enable evidence-based decision making.
  • Participation in decision making is crucial to the proper functioning of the quality management system. Each member of the EPFL community plays a specific and differentiated role in EPFL’s quality management. Do not hesitate to ask for more information!

Legal basis

Further informations

Contact

Ewa Mariéthoz
Head of Quality Assurance
Phone 021 693 20 30
[email protected]

Access map