The Department’s governance is based on a system of academic governance and shared responsibility and is implemented through its governing bodies and Departmental Committees.
Within this framework, the Department Council is the deliberative, steering and oversight body that defines, approves and governs the Department’s three-year plan, in alignment with the University Strategic Plan. Through structured processes of results monitoring, outcomes analysis and the definition of development actions, the Council guides the Department’s strategic development and promotes the continuous improvement of teaching, research and third mission activities.
COMPOSITION
It is composed, in addition to all professors and researchers belonging to the Department, of the Administrative Secretary, representatives of the technical-administrative staff, representatives of students and doctoral students and representatives of the assignors (art. 6 of the Department Regulations).
FUNCTIONS
In accordance with applicable regulatory, statutory and institutional provisions, the Department Council exercises strategic leadership, planning and coordination functions across the Department’s core missions of teaching, research and third mission activities, defining development priorities and ensuring alignment between strategic objectives, organisational structure and resource allocation.
Within this framework, the Council defines strategic directions for teaching, research and third mission activities, establishes roles and responsibilities within the Department’s organisational structure, and approves the Department’s three-year strategic plan, ensuring its implementation and ongoing monitoring.
The Council is responsible for the management and development of the Department’s Degree Programmes and PhD Programmes, contributing to the definition of the educational offer and submitting reasoned proposals to the relevant Academic Governing Bodies regarding programme activation, modification or discontinuation. The Council approves the annual educational offer within the established academic planning processes and oversees periodic monitoring and review activities for Degree Programmes and PhD Programmes, including the evaluation of annual monitoring reports and cyclical review reports.
Within the quality assurance framework, the Council reviews the outcomes of monitoring and evaluation activities, considers the annual reports of the Joint Student–Staff Committee, and defines improvement priorities, approving the resource requirements necessary to achieve quality and development objectives.
The Council also approves the main planning, monitoring and evaluation documents relating to research and third mission activities, ensuring alignment between strategic planning, achieved results and improvement actions.
The Council performs all additional responsibilities provided for under applicable legislation, the University Statute and the Department Regulations.