The regular dialogue at degree programme level serves to develop quality in studies and teaching. It opens up a space for discourse in order to

• _ take social requirements or internal needs for change into account in the future-oriented further development of the degree programme,
• _ deepen a common understanding of quality with regard to the academic and scientific content of the degree programme as well as the teaching and examination formats and
• to open up perspectives for the further development of the content or structure of the degree programme.

The regular dialogue aims to create a space for theory- and experience-based ideas and at the same time for explorative thoughts. It serves as an invitation to all status groups involved in the respective degree programme to reflect on the status quo of a degree programme.

Section 7 (2) of the Folkwang University of the Arts' Quality Work Regulations stipulates that ’Deans and programme directors of all degree programmes are required to meet regularly at appropriate intervals (accredited degree programmes at least in the middle of the accreditation period) or on specific occasions to discuss the quality of teaching and learning with all status groups involved in the respective degree programme, in particular teachers and students, and to discuss, initiate and implement changes on this basis.’

The quality dialogue process developed for Folkwang at degree programme level is described in detail in this document.

> Download „Handreichung strukturierter Qualitätsdialog“

The impetus for the new or further development of a degree programme can come at any time from the Rectorate, the Faculty Council, the head of degree programme, individual lecturers or a group of lecturers or students or be initiated in accordance with § 7 para. 2 of the Regulations for Quality Work (in this case as a result of a structured quality dialogue, an evaluation procedure or due to an accreditation deadline).

There can be many different reasons for new or further development of a degree programme: In degree programmes in which certain content or instruments are exclusively or significantly represented by one lecturer, for example, the change or retirement of this lecturer can make it necessary to develop a degree programme. More often, however, it is new or different content requirements that are to be integrated into teaching and thus trigger a programme development. These can be, for example, expectations that are brought to university education from the professional fields, digitalisation requirements or the results of feedback or evaluation procedures.

Every new development or change in a degree programme is discussed with the Quality Development department before implementation. Based on the type of change, the issue is categorised into one of three categories (strategic - formal - editorial) and the timeline and further steps of the change process are outlined.

The consultation is binding and is actively requested by the person responsible for the degree programme / dean via the respective dean's office in the Quality Development department – unless the (further) development of the degree programme results from a structured quality dialogue or an evaluation procedure that has already been accompanied by the Quality Development department.

Depending on the classification of the change (strategic - formal - editorial), the preparation and implementation of the (further) development of the degree programme undergoes a binding process, which is described in detail in the procedure model and the associated participation scheme.

Explanations of the three categories of change (strategic - formal - editorial) can be found in the handout (1): Handreichung (1)

Detailed background information on the implementation of a study programme development can be found in the handout (2): Handreichung (2)

Detailed information on the purpose and content of the study programme documents can be found in the handout (3): Handreichung (3)

Responsibility for the (further) development of degree programmes lies with the departments. Deans and programme directors of all degree programmes are required to meet regularly at appropriate intervals (accredited degree programmes at least in the middle of the accreditation period) or on specific occasions to discuss the quality of teaching and learning with all status groups involved in the respective degree programme, in particular teaching staff and students, and to discuss, initiate and implement changes on this basis (structured quality dialogue).

The impetus for a degree programme or module evaluation that goes beyond the structured quality dialogue can also come from the rectorate, the dean, the faculty council, individual lecturers, a group of lecturers, students or student committees on an ad hoc basis. An evaluation always serves to identify the potential of a degree programme or module, to make this potential transparent and to support those responsible for the degree programme in their responsibility for development. The results of the programme/module evaluation are used to derive measures for the improvement and further development of the programme or module and to support and promote the achievement of the university's development goals and the implementation of the action guidelines of the teaching mission statement.

The specific planning and implementation of a degree programme/module evaluation is based on the research interests and questions of the responsible department. These can include, for example, the review of 

• _transparency of the qualification/module objectives,
• _the transparency of the performance requirements,
• _the coherence of the modules or module components.

The programme or module evaluation procedure is based on guided group discussions with lecturers, students and, if applicable, graduates or drop-outs of the module or programme. Alternatively, a two-stage procedure can be carried out in which the group discussion is preceded by an anonymous survey. The results of the survey are incorporated into the group discussion and can be scrutinised and verified if necessary. All feedback is processed in such a way that it is not possible to draw conclusions about the respective students and lecturers. The results of the internal degree programme or module evaluation are treated confidentially and used in consultation with the head of degree programme and, if applicable, the module coordinator in order to derive measures to improve the degree programme or module as part of a degree programme or module (further) development.

The ‘Quality Development’ and ‘Digital Transformation in Studies, Teaching and Research’ departments are available at any time to advise and support the responsible module coordinators, programme directors or departments in the initiation, development and implementation of structured quality dialogues or evaluation procedures.

If you are interested in evaluating your module or degree programme, please contact the Quality Development department in confidence at any time. We will be happy to advise and support you.

Institutional evaluation offers the opportunity to examine individual organisational units of a university of art and music - or even joint institutions of several universities - in depth as required and to combine well-founded development impulses in an action plan.

The process involves internal and external stakeholders and thus achieves a high level of acceptance among most of those involved. The usability of the content-related results and the acceptance of the action plan are particularly dependent on the composition and atmospheric functionality of the peer group, especially at universities of art and music. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the selection and appointment of external peers during the procedure.

Process description Institutional evaluation procedure

Phases of institutional evaluation

If you are interested in an evaluation of your organisational unit, please contact the Quality Development department in confidence at any time. We will be happy to advise and support you.

Student surveys 2021

‘Studying in times of the pandemic - feedback from students’

With the 2021 student survey, Folkwang aims to gain an even better understanding of the impact of the pandemic on studying and to tackle the many challenges together. All students were invited to take part in the Folkwang student survey in summer semester 2021. The survey took place online. The student survey focussed on the following topics: digital teaching, studying and everyday student life in times of a pandemic. The feedback from the students will be successively evaluated by the Quality Development department and presented to the university management in a summarised report at the start of the winter semester 2021/22 as a basis for change and improvement measures.

As far as the number of cases allows, the feedback is evaluated for specific subject groups or degree programmes and used for university and degree programme development.

For further information, please contact the Quality Development Department.

Results of the 2021 student survey

Student surveys 2015

In 2015, all Folkwang students were invited to take part in a university-wide student survey on the topics of diversity, counselling and studying. The project team of the first QPL phase developed a Folkwang-specific questionnaire for this purpose.

The results were fed back to the faculties and other topic-specific circles (Departmental Council, Rectorate Conference, counselling stakeholders, etc.) via quality circles. Change measures were developed and implemented on the basis of the quality circles.

Graduate surveys

Some aspects of the degree programme can only be assessed retrospectively after a few years - this is particularly true for graduates of art and music colleges. Their transition period from studying to establishing themselves as artists takes considerably longer than is the case for graduates of universities and universities of applied sciences.

Regular graduate surveys provide Folkwang with detailed information on the individual study and career progression as well as the professional success and personal (artistic) satisfaction of former students.

In 2018, Folkwang graduates from all degree programmes were surveyed for the first time about their whereabouts and satisfaction with their current life situation.162 graduates from the 2016 and 2017 examination years (22%) took part in the surveys one to two years after graduation in the summer semester of 2018 as part of the KOAB 2016 and in the winter semester of 2018/19 as part of the 2017 graduate panel. In addition, 44 alumni from the graduation years 2010 to 2016 took part in the KOAB 2016.

The Folkwang examination year 2019/20, which left the university before or at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, was surveyed in winter 2021/22 about their experiences. In this cohort, 226 students had completed their studies. Of these, 90 took part in the survey (response rate approx. 40 %).

The second ‘coronavirus cohort’ left the university in the 2020/21 examination year. The survey of these graduates took place in winter 2022/23 and received 106 responses (response rate approx. 34%).
The data sets for the 2020 and 2021 examination years were merged and analysed. The summarised university-wide result of the evaluation and the associated visualisations can be viewed here:

> Download: Reports on the Folkwang Graduate Survey Results 2020-21

The departments have received subject group-specific analyses that they use to develop their respective study programmes. 

For the graduate surveys at Folkwang, a questionnaire variant specific to art and music colleges was developed and used in cooperation with the Institute for Applied Statistics (ISTAT). Since then, this variant has been available to all art and music colleges for conducting graduate surveys in the KOAB / AP. With the regular graduate survey and detailed evaluation of the results, Folkwang has laid a further foundation stone for systematic quality development in teaching and studies.

Section 7 sentence (1) of the Kunsthochschulgesetz des Landes NRW regulates the accreditation requirement for degree programmes at art and music colleges:

‘The special features of art colleges require exceptions to the principle of accreditation in artistic study programmes. The study programmes must be accredited and reaccredited in accordance with the State Treaty on the Accreditation of Studies of 12 June 2017 (GV. NRW. p. 806) and the regulations issued on its basis, taking into account the special tasks of the universities of the arts. The successful completion of the accreditation procedure is a prerequisite for the commencement of study programmes; the conditions resulting from the accreditation procedure must be implemented. Exceptions to sentences 2 and 3 are permitted in accordance with agreements between the Ministry and the art academy...’

This means that the artistic degree programmes at the Folkwang University of the Arts are not subject to statutory accreditation. Their teaching and study quality is assured and developed through internal university quality work.

The academic degree programmes in Musicology and Teacher Training in Faculty 2, the cooperative degree programme with the SAE Institute ‘Professional Media Creation’ in Faculty 1 and the degree programmes ‘Product Design’, ‘Design Futures’ and ‘Communication Design’ in Faculty 4 are currently subject to statutory accreditation by the Folkwang University of the Arts.

The cooperative study programme with the University of Duisburg-Essen ‘Art and Design Science’ is accredited as part of the internal system accreditation of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Information on the status of accreditations and re-accreditations of Folkwang degree programmes can be found in the Accreditation Council database: https://antrag.akkreditierungsrat.de/akkrstudiengaenge/?hochschule=abf6bce3-2ef2-d598-6fb7-dd85c18c33e4&akkreditiert=Ja&ordering=ordering_name&limit=100&offset=0

Accreditation procedures are carried out at Folkwang as part of programme accreditation (https://akkreditierungsrat.de/de/akkreditierungssystem/programmakkreditierung/programmakkreditierung) and are subject to the legal foundation of the German accreditation system. This consists of the State Treaty on the Organisation of a Joint Accreditation System for Quality Assurance in Teaching and Learning at German Universities, the Model Law Ordinance of 7 December 2017 and the Law on the Accreditation Council Foundation (Accreditation Council Act).

In addition, the Study Accreditation Ordinance applies to accreditation in NRW for all degree programmes: https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_vbl_detail_text?anw_nr=6&vd_id=16844

Since spring 2023, the Quality Development department has been responsible for coordinating and supporting the accreditation and reaccreditation procedures for degree programmes at Folkwang University of the Arts that require accreditation.

For questions and support in connection with study programme accreditations, please contact the Quality Development Department.

In addition to university-wide statistics along the student life cycle (such as student, applicant and graduate statistics), event-related and area-specific statistics from organisational units support systematic quality assurance in teaching and learning.

One example: The counselling statistics, a record of counselling contacts in counselling centres, can enable the respective counselling centre to optimally adapt its counselling services to university-wide needs and, if necessary, draw conclusions for further development in the sense of continuous improvement of counselling services and other areas at Folkwang.

An interim summary of the use of descriptive data in student counselling can be found here:

Lorz & Lückert (2021): Statistical data collection in student counselling - just a means to an end or an important quality tool? In: Journal for Counselling and Studies (ZBS), issue 1+2/2021, p. 35-39