Abstract:

The Bologna process proposed a reform that would allow the harmonization of the higher education systems of the European Union countries, taking into account quality and mobility principles, common requirements, comparable contents and teaching methodologies aimed at competency-based learning. This involved a restructuring of the university system in 2010, as well as the implementation of quality assurance systems (QAS) for the follow-up and improvement of the degrees.

With these changes, in the field of learning, new support and guidance needs arose for the students, and guidance and mentoring systems became a fundamental quality criterion in degrees. For this reason, the student orientation process became a "key procedure" in the QAS of the degrees.

The Faculty of Sciences in the University of Cádiz (UCA) began to develop Guidance and Mentoring tasks for students in the 1998/99 academic year, as one of the proposals for the improvement arising from the evaluation of the Degree in Chemistry, within the framework of the First National Plan for the Evaluation of the Quality of the Universities. For this purpose, it was created the Mentor Action group, which developed different work strategies through the project called Brújula (Compass). In 2009, and in compliance with the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the UCA designed its own QAS for the new degrees, including a specific procedure related to these orientation activities. For the development of this procedure it was necessary to define the Student Guidance and Support Program (PROA) for each degree, and therefore the Faculty continued with the previous project adapting it to these new guidelines.

Throughout these years the PROA has been implemented in all the degrees at the Faculty of Sciences: Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mathematics and Oenology. A mentor teacher and, if possible, a mentor student are assigned to every new student. The PROA coordination board and team design and participate in multiple activities: recruitment and training of mentor teachers and students, planning of tutorials, coordination meetings, analysis of activities, design of resources for mentoring, participation in the Reception and Welcome Days of the Faculty, participation in the quality assurance commission, preparation of QAS reports...

For all these reasons, it seems interesting to get and analyze the PROA’s experience of the last decade with undergraduate students of the degrees at the Faculty of Sciences in the UCA, within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), considering the following aspects:
- Analysis of acceptance of the program by the students, based on indicators of student’s participation in mentoring sessions.
- List and classification of the topics discussed in the meetings held by the mentors and coordinators of PROA with the students, due to their significance and importance.
- Presentation of the strengths and weaknesses detected during this decade of experience.
- Proposals for improvement that were applied during these years of evolution of the new teaching methods within the EHEA.

Student’s Guidance is a dynamic and continuously developing process, but in recent years it has represented a great challenge and a cornerstone in the success of degrees adapted to EHEA.

Keywords:

Guidance and support, Orientation Effectiveness, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cádiz, Evaluation of the Quality, European Higher Education Area.