Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Clinical specialisation: a Speech Language or Audiology graduate from Ghent University is a clinical specialist.
- Education and research: our study programme is founded on cutting-edge research in the disciplines of speech therapy and audiology. From the first year onwards, we acquaint you with the research expertise of our internationally acclaimed lecturers. You will enjoy a thorough clinical training. Furthermore, you will acquire the skills to independently plan and execute academic research through a social research project, culminating in the completion of a Master’s dissertation.
- Multidisciplinarity: in professional practice, a multidisciplinary approach and consultations with specialists from other fields are imperative. Embracing multidisciplinarity is crucial. The skills necessary for your future interprofessional practice are covered in the exact science course units, biomedical course units and the psycho-pedagogical course units.
- Preliminary tracks: education, leadership or research. The Education or Leadership minors in the Master’s curriculum allow you to obtain an additional diploma in one extra year, at most. The Research minor boosts your chances to do a doctorate or find work at a research institution.
- Student well-being: throughout the entire programme, we monitor the well-being of our students closely and encourage them to be conscious of their well-being as well.
Strengths
- Two main subjects: from its inception, our study programme has consisted of two solid research-based main subjects: Speech Therapy and Audiology. In the curriculum, this takes the shape of general and speech therapy/audiology course units, work placements, the Master's dissertation, and internationalisation tracks.
- Innovation-focused clinical, academic and socially relevant curriculum: our programme’s intended exit level aligns with (inter)national standards in the speech therapy/audiology sectors. The patient’s premium-quality care takes centre stage and is founded on integrated academic, social and technological knowledge.
- Student involvement: our students participate actively in our programme’s day-to-day operations and the quality assurance of our education. The personal interaction between our students and the study programme management is ingrained in our culture.
- Well-being and inclusion: we nurture an environment that promotes personal development, emphasising diversity through student counselling, care processes, and honours programs, while also fostering mutual respect.
- Dynamic study programme and committed team of lecturers: our programme boasts a highly committed team of lecturers from various disciplines. Clinical expertise and recent research findings find their way into our teaching practice.
Challenges
- Clarifying the difference between a professional and an academic Speech Therapy and Audiology programme.
- Aligning specialised clinical work placements with the clinical specialisation in the Master’s curriculum.
- Expanding our collaboration with (inter)national stakeholders.
- Strengthening student support after graduation: focusing on entering the job market, pursuing further education, and/or embracing lifelong learning.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The resulting Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This information was last updated on 09/07/2024. In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.