The Quality Office is the advisory body that assists the Rector in promoting a culture of quality in all sectors and departments of the University. The office placed under the direction of philosophy lecturer extraordinaire P. Alejandro Páez L.C. aims to manage tasks related to internal evaluation processes in order to improve and promote a culture of quality within the school.

Since 2010, a Commission to promote quality has been established, chaired by the Rector.

• Fr. José Enrique Oyarzún, L.C. – President of the Commission
• Fr. Alejandro Páez, L.C. – Commission Secretary and Quality Office Director
• Fr. José Fernández San Román, L.C. – Representative for the Faculty of Theology
• Fr. Fernando Pascual, L.C. – Representative for the Faculty of Philosophy
• Fr. Francisco Ballesta, L.C. – Representative for the Faculty of Bioethics
• Prof. Giorgia Brambilla – Representative for the Schools
• Fr. Thomas Montanaro, L.C. – Data Book and member of the Quality Office
• Fr. Alberto Carrara, L.C. – Teachers’ Representative
• Br. Luis Eduardo Alger, L.C. – Students’ Representatives
• Daniela Longo – Representative for Administration
• Salvador Ortiz de Montellano – External Component
• Òscar Sastré Pérez – External Component

The Office is working to institutionalise internal evaluation procedures in view of the next evaluation cycle and in light of the experience gained through the service evaluation questionnaires.

Self-assessment is a process that, according to the prescriptions of the Congregation for Catholic Education (CEC), every church university must regularly carry out to verify and improve the quality of its institution.

The evaluation and improvement of the quality of church faculties is required by the Bologna Process which the Holy See adhered to in 2003 and which saw the creation of the Agency for the Promotion and Evaluation of Quality, AVEPRO, in 2007.

The purpose of self-assessment is to acquire a culture of quality understood above all as compliance with the objectives set by the papal magisterial document Sapientia Christiana and its own statutes (APRA Statutes).

Following the indications of the Congregation for Catholic Education (CEC) and AVEPRO, APRA started the process of the self-evaluation in 2010 with a preparatory phase during which, on 10 May 2010, the Commission and the Quality Office and the ten Committees in charge of carrying out the self-assessment were activated.

The self-assessment process consists of the following steps:

• Data collection. It takes place through forms drawn up by the committees, tables collecting objective and statistical data, filling in questionnaires.
• Analysis of collected data. Each committee prepares a report pointing out weaknesses and strengths in its area and identifying proposals for improvement.
• Drafting of the final self-assessment report (RAV). Edited by Committee X, it collects and summarises the reports and proposals from the committees.
• RAV delivered to AVEPRO.
• The external experts appointed by AVEPRO visit APRA. On the basis of the final report, the reality of APRA is analysed and recommendations for improvements are formulated.
• Implementation of improvements. Improvements are planned in the APRA strategic plan and progressively implemented until the start of a new self-assessment cycle.

The self-assessment and quality promotion section on the APRA website and the QO newsletter make the progress of the process known both inside and outside the academic community.