Principles of the Assessment Sytem
The principles of the University Social Responsibility (USR) Assessment System of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) are presented in the companion document « A Reference Framework for Assessing University Social Responsibility. From theory to practice”. Higher education institutions (HEIs) wishing to be assessed are strongly recommended to read this document, which will be sent to them upon acceptance of their application.
The system is based on the Newman Benchmarking Framework, a framework made up of around 160 indicators and twenty criteria grouped into 4 main areas, which cover all of the policies and practices inherent to any higher education establishment. In addition to offering a holistic approach, the Newman framework is the very first to use an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system, named Mileva, to analyze and supplement the data provided, as well as to calculate the performance of the HEIs evaluated, while sending them personalized suggestions for improvement. Thanks to its innovative methodology, it is also the only USR assessment system that is both dynamic and respectful of the diversity of contexts in which the establishments to be assessed are located.
The framework is likely to evolve over time depending on the transformations taking place in our current societies; updates are therefore expected in the medium term.