The University of Amsterdam's policy paper 'Professorial Appointments Policy' was ratified by the Executive Board on 9 July 2009. Agreements and basic principles regarding types of appointments, appointment procedures, quality control and emeritus professors are listed and explained and together form a coherent policy.

The accompanying appendices, which include sample regulations and agreements as well as checklists for the different procedures, are intended to increase the effectiveness and transparency of the University of Amsterdam's professorial appointments policy.

The University of Amsterdam’s vision on teaching and learning reflects developments in society and in the educational community, while also looking to shape those developments. In this policy document, we examine what sort of university we want to be and how we can go about achieving that.

Education at the UvA is research-intensive, centred on academic development and serves to promote further differentiation and specialisation. For this, we need students who are intrinsically motivated and ambitious, and we must further invest in the professionalisation of our lecturers.

Four ambitions

This updated Vision on Teaching and Learning sets out four educational ambitions:

1. We will focus on the development of motivated and ambitious students by offering high-quality, innovative education.
2. We are a broad, research-intensive university, and we help our students to acquire the skills and knowledge they will need to flourish in an increasingly complex world.
3. We strive to be an open and diverse community in which all students feel at home and have access to the same opportunities.
4. We assign responsibility for education to our lecturers where possible, focusing intensively on support, knowledge sharing and the professionalism of our lecturers.

Working on improving the quality of education is an ongoing focus at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). To ensure that improvement occurs systematically, the principles of a quality assurance system were laid down in the Internal Quality Assurance Framework in 1999. This Framework was modified in subsequent years following the introduction of the accreditation system in 2003 and various internal audits that looked at the application of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Changes to the accreditation legislation as of 1 January 2011 and the establishment of a new Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2014 provided the direct impetus for a further update of the quality policy and the quality assurance system.

This Framework again sets out the quality policy of the UvA. There have been no changes to the principles of the quality policy and the desired quality assurance system vis-à-vis the policy formulated in 1999, 2004 and 2006. However, the wording has been made more precise and has been modified on several points to reflect the new context.

The UvA considers it important to continuously measure the effects of its policies and their implementation, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Examples of measuring instruments include the management information system UvAdata, the student feedback system UvA Q and the assessments carried out by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). The accreditation results can be found on the NVAO website. The recommendations resulting from the development dialogues (ontwikkelgesprekken) the NVAO holds with the study programmes are available on the UvA website.

This policy paper describes the UvA-wide assessment policy framework. It is vital for both educational institutions and students that institutions can vouch for the exit level of their students. This has resulted in a major focus on assessment and assessment policy, including within the degree programmes at the University of Amsterdam.

New legislation, the new accreditation system and the major importance that the UvA attaches to study success have prompted an urgent review of our assessment policy. In particular, this entails looking at how Examinations Boards can fulfil their weightier role, how the quality of the local assessment policy can be stimulated at the institutional level, how the UvA can effectively be ‘in control’, and which aspects of the assessment policy can reinforce the UvA’s approach to study success.