The SEP as a quality assurance tool
According to the SEP 2021-2027, this approach to evaluation and assessment is intended to contribute to an institution’s quality assurance. After all, one of the strengths of the new SEP is its focus on process: research units are asked to determine their own position and ambitions, the evaluation looks ahead, and the visitation committee makes recommendations for improvement to research groups. The evaluation and the committee’s recommendations subsequently result in a position statement by the institution’s board and an action plan for the future.
This approach to evaluation, according to the SEP, is also perfectly suited to shaping the quality assurance system. Indeed, that is its explicit ambition: the institution and the research unit should take the format of the SEP and/or the self-evaluation as the starting point for (annual) reporting and periodic consultations. This creates a continuous dialogue about the mission, position and strategy and the results achieved, with space to ask whether the strategy needs to be adjusted or whether there are obstacles to achieving the stated goals.
There are major advantages to using the SEP as a tool in the quality assurance cycle, both in terms of policy and practice. Surprises are avoided and everyone involved is forced to keep thinking and, if necessary, to change course in good time. But it is also practical: the SEP is a good model for continuous evaluation, meaning that material for the next evaluation can also be collected. Moreover, this approach precludes any need for mid-term evaluations, which were still held until recently.
Finally, the use of the SEP as a quality assurance tool ensures greater administrative involvement. This concerns what is referred to in the SEP as ‘compliance’. After all, this should not be limited to announcing or publishing the evaluation report and the management’s position on the institution’s website.