The quality certification mark for Italian university degree programs in Computer Science

The new rules recently introduced in the Italian University organization force the academic community to face the issue of quality assessment and certification of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The autonomy that has been granted to each University in the specification of the curricula allow the faculties to design their products both with respect to the requirements of the work market, and with respect to the cultural expectations of their potential students. Unfortunately, the quality of Computer Science curricula is at risk, as Computer Science is often confused with the use of computer technologies, while disregarding the complexity of methodologies and scientific tools that are behind them. The Italian Association of Computer Science University Professors (GRIN) promoted a common effort involving almost all of the Italian Universities towards the elicitation of the “product qualities” of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Computer Science, and characterized the constraints to be fulfilled in order to obtain the GRIN quality certification. There is no other similar initiatives in the Italian academic context. In order to manage this certification process, a web site is maintained by the NESTOR Laboratory at Universita di Roma “Tor Vergata”. About 40 university degree programs in Computer Science obtained the 2004 GRIN quality certification mark. This project has been supported by the Italian Council of University Deans (CRUI).