The 7th Quality Plan UMH 2026-2029 gathers the experience acquired in previous four-year plans since we implemented the 1st Strategic Quality Plan 2000-2003 and the 1st Master Plan for Quality in Management 2000-2003 back in the year 2000. The results of the 1st Plan were positive, making it possible to improve quality levels in different areas (teaching, R&D, and management), ensuring the conditions for UMH’s participation in the financing system linked to quality objectives of the Regional Ministry of Business, University and Science, and helping introduce the philosophy of total quality at UMH.

This 1st Plan was followed by the 2nd Strategic Quality Plan 2004-2007 which established new and more ambitious quality objectives and developed a quality incentive system covering all centers, departments, institutes, and services, launching the first “balanced scorecards” for management. The main objective of this 2nd Plan was to consolidate the excellent results achieved in teaching, research, and management, without losing sight of the need to respond to new challenges arising in the university environment.

The 3rd Quality Plan 2008-2012 was designed considering the guidelines of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, ANECA’s action plans, and the necessary reforms derived from the European Higher Education Area. Facing new scenarios significantly marked our objectives and new action plans, whose main challenges were internationalization, the employability of our students, and innovation.

With the launch of the new bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the 4th Quality Plan UMH 2013-2016 was designed. In this quality plan, we reflected the current approach: simplifying our system of indicators and focusing our efforts on actions that we can achieve without forgetting our customer-oriented “leitmotif”.

The  5th Quality Plan 2017-2020 took into account in its design the accreditation processes of UMH degree programs, as well as the economic framework, in response to which new indicators were included, maintaining the simplicity of the previous system of indicators and a section relating to doctorate programs. Likewise, various adaptations to the incentive model were incorporated.

The approval of the 6th Quality Plan 2021-2024 was accompanied by an amendment to the Operating Regulations of the competent bodies in matters of Quality at UMH. Among the objectives of this amendment were reinforcing the structure of the bodies responsible for ensuring quality and continuous improvement of the institution, and specifying the functions of each of these bodies regarding the proposal of the Quality Plan, its improvement, ensuring its implementation, monitoring, and dissemination of results among stakeholders.

A system flexible enough to achieve essential objectives without forgetting UMH’s long-term goals.

The quality plans gather the objectives, actions, systems of indicators, and incentive systems for the areas of teaching, research, and management, although specific planning has been developed for the management area from the beginning: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Master Plan for Quality in Management. In the 6th, 10 new indicators were introduced in the teaching area.

Quality Indicator System

One of the main strengths of our Quality Plans is their System of Indicators, which serves as their cornerstone. The indicator system allows measuring the results obtained in different fields.

The collected information is a key source for decision-making across UMH’s various decision-making bodies.

In this 7th Quality Plan 2026-2029, we have introduced significant improvements to the system of indicators to strengthen UMH’s commitment to excellence in all its areas. Indicators in the research area have been specially reviewed and updated, allowing close monitoring of processes that had not been fully covered previously. This is crucial for improving results in degree accreditation and monitoring processes, ensuring that we have relevant information for internal quality assurance. These new indicators apply to Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, Doctorates, Departments, and Institutes, and, as a novelty in this plan, Centers are also included.

The 7th Plan is structured into five main areas of action:

1. Strategic Direction: Consolidates the Quality Pact and Service Charters as pillars of result- and customer-oriented management.
2. Continuous Improvement: Drives Benchmarking actions and the creation of Improvement Teams, now including the possibility of Strategic Management Project Teams to address more complex challenges.
3. Management Innovation: Enhances Innovation Week and Innovation Teams as catalysts for new ideas and solutions.
4. People’s Perception: Introduces a strategic focus on understanding and assessing PTGAS satisfaction through workplace climate surveys, service surveys, focus groups, and 360-degree evaluations, directly linking these results to improvement plans.
5. Strategic and Operational Results: Establishes a comprehensive Management Balanced Scorecard (CMI) acting as a repository of key indicators for data-driven decision-making, including new performance and efficiency metrics.

Overall, the 7th Master Plan is a dynamic tool adapted to current challenges, seeking to strengthen UMH management through the involvement of PTGAS, constant innovation, and rigorous measurement of results, all for the sake of university excellence.

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