Mathematics, taught at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, received a prestigious Education Excellence Certificate in the category of ‘Excellent degree programme – excellence in providing education as a part of degree programme’. The decision to award the title was made by the Presidium of the Polish Accreditation Committee.
The certificate is the result of a positive evaluation included in the assessment team’s report of the Polish Accreditation Committee, and corroborates the highest quality of first- and second-cycle degree programmes in a particular field of study.
‘We are happy that the positive evaluation of our field of study by the Polish Accreditation Committee resulted in this certificate. It is a wonderful distinction and a token of recognition of our efforts to make the education offer of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics stand out and remain superb. It’s important to remember that the certificate is also a gesture of appreciation for the entire faculty community. (...)’, emphasises Dr hab. Jerzy Stochel, Associate Professor at the AGH UST and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics. ‘We count on the fact that the possibility of boasting this certificate until the end of the academic year 2028/2029 will serve as an excellent way of promoting Mathematics and our entire faculty. I am certain that this distinction will not only attract more students, but will also solidify the position of the field of study and the faculty itself among Polish rankings’.
According to the Statute of the Polish Accreditation Committee and the rules and regulations for awarding Education Excellence Certificates, the ‘Excellent degree programme – excellence in providing education as a part of degree programme’ certificate can be awarded to a higher education institution that offers a particular field of study that received a positive evaluation of the programme for six years. Such an assessment must be supported by good practices in the quality of education or documented and regular achievements of students and graduates, as well as a recommendation and justification for the distinction provided by the assessment team. To receive a positive evaluation, the field of study must demonstrate good practices in six out of ten detailed programme evaluation criteria and education quality standards.
In its report, the assessment team of the Polish Accreditation Committee pointed to a number of good practices applied in the Mathematics field of study, which provided a good foundation to award the certificate. The team appreciated the very concept of teaching that came about as a result of joint efforts of institutions and companies employing our graduates and that the employees of the said institutions and companies teach specialised classes to our students. The team also recognised the wide spectrum of elective courses in the field of pure mathematics and its applications, as well as elaborate possibilities to personalise the education path at all levels of studies. In addition to highlighting the solutions applied at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, which allowed the faculty to markedly improve the quality of mathematics education among students of our university and facilitated the modification of programmes of study to adjust them to the job market dynamics, the evaluators also noted the role of a special competition for secondary-school students, which gives them the opportunity to skip the admissions procedure.