University of Salamanca, Spain

The University of Salamanca was founded in 1218 and therefore it is one of the three oldest universities in Europe, boasting a wide range of Faculties and Research Institutes in Sciences and Arts. In 2011, it was awarded the Campus of International Excellence status.

The University of Salamanca offers a wide range of Studies to about 26,000 pre-graduate students every year, plus about 2,600 postgraduate ones; it contracts 3,200 researches, who are distributed in 64 University Departments, 16 Faculties and Schools, 10 Universities Schools, 12 Institutes, as well as several Research Units on the Social, Biomedical, Art, Experimental and Formal Sciences.

The total number of employees who work for this institution is 2,500 and, along with the human resources, the magnitude of its facilities and the available up-to-date instrumental equipment guarantee the quality of a vast scientific and technologic offer to the Society. The University of Salamanca is recognized as one of the most outstanding Spanish universities in both national and international rankings.

The Unity for Quality Assessment (UEC) of the University of Salamanca is responsible for providing technical support and methodological support to the definition and development of different Quality Improvement Programs of the institutional activities of the University.

Moreover, the UEC provide assistance to the activities developed by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation of Spain (ANECA) and the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education of Castilla y León (ACSUCYL), carrying out consultancy, consulting, information and coordination in the evaluation process, accreditation and certification of different units of the University: Degrees, Departments, Institutes, Centers and other services.

The UEC, prepares an annual report that includes the most notable aspects of location, composition, resources, activities, training, processes and relationships, carried out during each course. Memories of the UEC from 2012 are available at the website (http://qualitas.usal.es/).

The University of Salamanca takes quality as a key criterion of its institutional work, promoting within the organization a wide structure dedicated to continuous improvement in all areas: teaching, research and management.