Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst/ Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB)

Artistic and design processes at higher education institutions have always been characterised by self-evaluation. This self-evaluation takes place, for example, when discussing project results with students and colleagues or when swapping ideas with external institutions and public partners. In this sense, the teaching of art and design at the HGB is subject to a permanent quality control. The quality management at the HGB serves to ensure a constantly high level of artistic teaching, simultaneously meeting ambitious standards and continually improving structural and organisational processes. It is therefore most important to take into account the inherent interdisciplinary boundary crossings between media, forms of expression and work processes, which already cause a continual change and development of the teaching methods. The quality management system at the HGB corresponds to the specific artistic teaching practices and is appropriately flexible.

Evaluation

The teaching quality at the HGB is ensured by a bespoke evaluation practice. This includes: student surveys and alternative forms of feedback, criticism and reflection as well as a teaching review of the leading professor. The evaluation lays a special focus on processes, not just on results. The results of these evaluations are therefore exclusively used for internal communication and to promote creative processes within the academy. They are effectively used in discussions on courses, in senate and HGB council meetings and in order to ensure a broad debate. Surveys evaluating specific problems or institutions at the HGB constitute a useful instrument for improving the quality of teaching. They give students the chance to voice their opinion and to comment, make suggestions and offer criticism. Such surveys do not necessarily render objective results, but they form one element of many to evaluate the quality of work at the HGB. That is why, as a rule, they are used exclusively as a basis for discussions between individual professors and students. The evaluation practice at the HGB is guided by the following questions:

How can ideas for improvement be realised?
How can we learn to look for longer?
Should we work more collaboratively?
How can criticism be learned and applied?
Are there no mistakes in art?
Why should we refrain from immediately analysing when making art?
How can we find happiness?
How can we violate (our own) rules?
How can quality be given the space it needs without destroying it with organisational matters (time management, self-organisation etc.)?
What makes a good degree course?
How can we reduce on administrative work in order to find more time for the students and the supervision of their progress?
How can we increase the level of identification with each degree course/the HGB?
How can we effectively shape the students’ years of study?
How can we improve the exchange between students, tutors and administration?
How can we collectively realise the students’ suggestions and ideas?

The HGB is a place of mutual learning and is shaped by the lively exchange between teaching staff and students. The ways, aims and methods of developing your own creative/artistic position are individual and correspond- ingly diverse. Criticism, assessment or project-based feedback are also always connected to the person, the existing relationship with said person and the situation and require a special trust.

Quality assurance

Evaluation