On this page you will find the mandate for programme councils at NTNU. The mandate is decided by Rector and entered into effect at NTNU from and including 1 August 2018.

Main page: Education Quality at NTNU
In Norwegian: Studieprogramråd

All programme councils must be established in accordance with the decision by 1 August 2018.

Background

NTNU’s quality system for education states: “The programme council is an advisory body that contributes to efforts to enhance the quality of the programme of study. The programme council consists of students as well as academic and administrative staff. The programme council is to have external representatives or provide for input from external parties. One programme council can serve as the council for several programmes of study”.

The programme council is an arena for development of the study programme with input from the working world. The programme council should contribute to coherence, consistency and relevance in the programme of study and provide strategic support to the programme leader.

Guiding principles for work in the programme council are specified in the Regulations on the supervision of educational quality (studietilsynsforskriften), the Norwegian Qualifications Framework, the national Regulations on the quality of programmes of study (studiekvalitetsforskriften), NTNU’s quality system, and through NTNU’s International Action Plan.

The Mandate for Programme Councils was discussed in the Education Committee in June and November 2017 and was distributed to the faculties for consultation in the autumn of 2017.

Mandate

The programme council must advise the Dean and Heads of Departments on matters that concern the quality, academic and teaching profile, content, structure and implementation of the programme of study.

The council's tasks

• Ensure the long-term development of the study programme to fulfil the mission, the requirement for relevance, and the requirement for research-based education.
• Help to ensure the quality and relevance of the study programme(s) through development of learning outcome descriptions, and recommend necessary measures.
• Monitor non-continuation and student flow patterns and recommend necessary measures.
• Advise on the design of the programme: composition of courses, progression, specializations/programme options and electives including student exchange.
• Assess whether the courses included in the programme have learning activities and assessment forms conducive to achieving the overall learning outcomes for the programme(s).
• Provide input to the annual evaluation of the programme.
• Contribute to and follow up the periodic evaluations of the programme.
• Advise on development of the learning environment for the programme.
• Submit statements to consultative hearing processes that affect the programme.
• Advise on student recruitment and marketing, as well as admission requirements and capacity.

Composition and term of office

The programme council is designated by the Dean. The Dean decides which programmes of study are to be included in the same programme council. Where there are several levels of study, from one-year programmes to master's programmes, these should be covered by the same programme council. (One-year programmes, bachelor’s degrees, further education programmes and master’s rogrammes. In this connection, further education refers to programmes based on a bachelor’s degree forming part of the ordinary academic portfolio (not to paid programmes)).

The programme council should normally have the following composition:

• Programme leader(s)
• Study programme coordinator(s), if required
• Academic staff representing the academic breadth of the study programme(s)
• Student representatives
• External representatives from relevant sectors of the working world
• Administrative employee, who can function as a secretariat for the council

Any deviation from the proposed composition must be justified.

A programme council should preferably not exceed 10 members.

If the council covers several programmes of study with different programme leaders, leadership of the study programme area should rotate among the programme leaders.

If a programme is offered in more than one university city, all the cities must be represented in the programme council.

The programme council usually meets 1–2 times per semester, and the meetings should be linked to milestones during the academic year, such as the work on programme descriptions and the quality assurance report.

The term of office is 4 years. The student representatives have a one-year term of office and are appointed by the Student Council at the Faculty.

Programmes of study that are offered in more than one university city are to have a joint programme council and one programme leader, but may have one or more local study programme coordinators. The study programme coordinator is appointed by the Dean and, in close cooperation with the programme leader, is to coordinate and implement academic activities in the relevant university city.

The combined management of the study programme consists of the programme leader and any study programme coordinators.

Compensation in accordance with Statens personalhåndbok (the Personnel Handbook for State Employees) can be paid to external members.