The Faculty Board's October Meeting
Quality in education, doctoral studies and research
Quality issues took up a large part of the Faculty Board's meeting on 2 October. But impact work was also given space. And the board's working method provides room for the important strategic discussions.
A large part of the Faculty Board's October meeting was devoted to quality issues. To begin with, the board has been tasked with developing a plan for the upcoming external collegial review of programmes at undergraduate and advanced levels. Åsa Rurling , quality coordinator at the management office, provided background on the work that will begin in 2026, continue through 2027, and be completed in 2028.
"The next step for the Faculty Board will be to create a working group to develop a plan," says Luigia Brandimarte , member of the board. Johan Spross was tasked with proposing the group's composition and he will lead the work in the group.
The Faculty Board and the school's heads of department have also submitted comments on a quality report for research follow-up.
"The report has been sent to the Faculty Council and it will serve as a basis for the operational dialogue with the President on 27 October."
Each year, the school's undergraduate courses are followed up. Eva Liedholm Johnson , director of first and second cycle education, reported on the course evaluations conducted during periods three and four, that is, the spring semester this year. KTH began using a new system for course evaluation and course analysis at the beginning of the year, and more comprehensive data is needed to interpret the evaluations.
"The response rate for course evaluations is generally low at KTH and also at the ABE School. This applies not least to courses with low ratings and where an action plan has become relevant. We discussed how the follow-up has been done and what can be done to improve the response rate and what constitutes quality deficiencies."
The last quality issue during the meeting concerned doctoral education. Stefan Larsson , director of third cycle education, and Karin Bradley , deputy director of third cycle education, presented a quality report for the school's doctoral programs. The school has over 200 doctoral students in 8 programs with between 6 and 61 doctoral students each.
"Some of the strengths in the report are that the study environment is good and that supervision generally works well. At the same time, stress is common and in some programmes, there is a shortage of principal supervisors. Going forward, it is important, among other things, that individual study plans are used in a meaningful way and that gender equality, diversity, and equal conditions are integrated into doctoral education."
Fredrik Johansson , impact leader, reported on his assignment to develop a number of priority measures for the ABE School. The composition of the impact committee was discussed, and Fredrik Johansson proposed a first committee meeting within a month.
Halfway through the term of office, the board has arrived at a good working method with working groups and committees for, among other things, research, education, appointments, and docent positions.
"The meetings have become much more efficient, especially regarding administrative work. The agendas are packed because so much is happening at KTH and we are tasked with producing documents that require time for discussion. Thanks to an efficient working method and the fact that all members of the Faculty Board are dedicated to the task, it works well," concludes Luigia Brandimarte.
