The visit of AVEPRO – the Vatican Agency of the Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties – has ended. The summarizing meeting with the Agency’s experts was attended by Rev. Professor Ryszard Czekalski, PhD, DSc, the Rector of UKSW, and Rev. Professor Marek Stokłosa, PhD, Dsc, Associate Professor, the Vice Rector for Science and International Cooperation.
The quality of education proves the high level of the university, which is why the efforts of educators to provide knowledge in the best way possible are so important. So far, all fields of study at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw has received a positive assessment from the Polish Accreditation Committee, but we want to go further and apply for international certificates of education quality. I hope that the results of the AVEPRO’s visit to the church faculties of UKSW will be positive – said Rev. Professor Ryszard Czekalski, PhD, DSc, the Rector of UKSW, after the meeting summarizing the visit of a group of experts from the Vatican Agency.
The in situ external visit began on March 4, 2024 at the Faculty of Theology, then experts visited the Faculty of Canon Law, The next two days of visits took place on the campus at Wóycickiego street, where the Faculty of Christian Philosophy and Faculty of Family Studies offices are located. Each day the experts met with self-assessment teams of each faculties and with the authorities of faculties and institutes. The experts also talked to employees, doctoral students and students. An important element of the visit was getting to know the research and teaching facilities of UKSW and external partners of individual units.
Submitting to an institutional assessment carried out by AVEPRO is an obligation resulting from legal acts of the Holy See. The law on higher education and the education system at church faculties also applies to four of the twelve faculties of UKSW. The time spent with the Agency’s experts was very good, and the initial comments made during the meetings will certainly be applied at our University – added the rector of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
The committee nominated by AVEPRO included:
- Dr. Mariola T. Kozubek, prof. UŚ (University of Silesia in Katowice) – chairwoman,
- Rev. PhD, DSc,. Leszek Adamowicz, prof. KUL (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin in Lublin) – expert,
- Rev. prof. PhD. Pavol Dancák (University of Prešov, Slovakia) – expert,
- Rev. PhD. Antoni Świerczek, prof. UPJPII (Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow) – expert,
- Jadwiga Gorol (University of Silesia in Katowice) – student representative.
AVEPRO is the Vatican Agency of the Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties. It was erected by Pope Benedict XVI in a letter of September 19, 2007.
The immediate goal of AVEPRO is to establish close and harmonious cooperation with ecclesiastical faculties and universities throughout Europe, in accordance with the requirements established by the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium. It is intended to help create solid procedures to ensure the quality of education, consistent with the requirements of the Bologna Process and the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
The principles for assessing the quality of education adopted by AVEPRO were developed based on standards created by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the European Universities Association (EUA), the European Association of Institutions of Higher Education (EURASHE) and the European Students’ Union (ESU, previously known as ESIB) and adopted by European education ministers in 2005.
AVEPRO ensures that the institutions cooperating with it meet international standards, while complying with the recommendations of the Constitution of Sapientia Veritatis Gaudium in the light of changing external circumstances.
19 March 2024
