Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation

The Quality Assurance System (QA) of Sapienza is described at length in the Web Pages of the Quality Team available at https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/team-qualita.
The Web Pages describe the ten-year-long path developed by the University to build the Sapienza Quality Assurance system, the organisational model adopted, the QA actors (Quality Team, Monitoring Committees, Joint Teaching-Student Committees, Study Course Quality Committees), the active Working Groups, the main activities developed, the documentation prepared for the management of Quality Assurance processes and activities in Teaching, Research and Third Mission.
The Web Pages are also the platform for communication and the provision of reference data for the Re-examination activities, for the drafting of reports by the Joint Teaching-Student Committees and the Monitoring Committees, and for the compilation of the SUA-Didactic and SUA-Research sheets.
Each Degree Course and each Department has the faculty to apply the Sapienza Quality Assurance Model defined in the Web Pages of the Quality Team to the Quality Assurance of the Degree Course/Department, borrowing and adapting it to its own organisational specificities while respecting the models and procedures defined by ANVUR and the Quality Team.
Together with the SUA-Didactics and SUA-Research sheets, the CdS/Department Web Pages represent the communication tools for the implementation of the Quality Assurance System at CdS/Department level.

The Course Quality Committee is composed of three course lecturers, one of whom is appointed Head of Course, the Course Teaching Supervisor and a student representative. It holds office for three years and is responsible for the drafting of the Periodic Review Reports and the annual updating of the SUA-AVA Form. It submits the results of its activities to the Degree Course according to the deadlines indicated by the competent bodies of the Faculty and the University.
The Quality Group periodically examines the data provided by the Faculty and the University on the progress of the Degree Course, as well as activating a number of internal checks, mainly linked to the results of the initial admission test, the choice of study plans, the regularity of the careers of students, and any reports received from student representatives and/or those enrolled in the Degree Course.
The Course Quality Committee is actively involved in the planning of work related to the process of evaluation and self-evaluation of the Course of Study. According to the deadlines communicated by the University and on the basis of the documentary sources received, it is in charge of drafting the following documents Annual Monitoring Form, Dars Opis and Cyclical Review Report. It also proceeds with the annual compilation of the SUA CdS Form. It is also constantly applied in the consultation of the parties concerned, in order to optimise the training offer by adapting it to the demands of the world of work, and in the monitoring of the careers of male and female students, in order to counteract the tendency to extend the time it takes to obtain a degree and above all to prevent drop-outs.
 

Organisation and responsibility for the QA of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation are the responsibility of the Degree Course Quality Assurance Management Commission.
It is composed of: a) the President of the Degree Course, as a member by right; b) one or two full professors; c) one or two lecturers; d) the Course's teaching supervisor and/or other technical-administrative staff involved in the didactic management of the Degree Course; e) a representative of the students in accordance with the European Quality Guidelines.
The Commission meets when convened by the President of the Degree Course, who attends the meetings assisted by the teaching supervisor.
Its main task is the drafting of the Cyclic Review Report, the Annual Monitoring Form and the DARS-Opis document. It also assists the President of the Degree Course in the preparation of the Degree Course offer and in updating the data in the SUA-CdS form. The Commission presents the results of its activities to the Degree Course Council, respecting the deadlines indicated by the University Quality Team and the Faculty Monitoring Committee.

The Steering Committee of reference for the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation is that of the SEAI Department. Go to the page
 

The committee's tasks are:
• organizing a permanent observatory on the effectiveness of teaching activities
• examining the effectiveness of the choices made by the Degree Program and the Faculty regarding the quality of teaching and the services provided
• developing proposals aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of teaching
• supporting the Quality Committee in drafting the annual self-evaluation report.

The Teaching Observatory is currently composed by:
- Professors Valerio Cordiner (Coordinator) and Mary Wardle;
- Ms Antonia Maria Iliuc and Mr Luigi Ranalli (student representatives)
 

The Joint Teaching-Student Committee for the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation is that of the Faculty of Humanities. Go to the page
The Management Commission for Course Quality Assurance for the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation maintains constant and fruitful relations with the Faculty's Joint Lecturer-Student Committee (as well as with the Humanities Monitoring Committee), whose annual reports it analyses, ponders strategies and implements recommendations.

The Faculty has consulted the CGIL and ISFOL regarding the adequacy of the training offer as a whole to labour market demand. On 3.12. 2008 the Faculty received the response of the two consultations in writing. ISFOL, considers that 'the occupational and professional outlets envisaged in the training offer plan are correctly identified for the various degree courses and, in general, congruent for the various courses of study, with respect to the needs of the labour market'. The CGIL also expresses a 'positive opinion' on the Faculty's training offer.
At the conference held on 24.1.2009, the Linguistic-Cultural Mediation course also formalised a permanent consultation table with the social partners on which it had been working for some time.
At the final meeting of the University-wide consultation on 19 January 2009, in view of the results of the telematic consultation that preceded it, the organisations that took part in the meeting welcomed the rationalisation of Sapienza's training offer, which was aimed not only at reducing the number of courses, but also at diversifying them into classes that are highly attractive and for which there is more than adequate faculty coverage. Moreover, after a detailed evaluation of the Faculties' training offerings, the organisations themselves expressed a favourable opinion on the establishment of individual courses.

When proceeding with the organisational reform, the CGAQ of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation consulted, according to the procedures and timeframes established by the University, the interested parties on the contents of the current organisational change. The latter were duly identified on the basis of the indications received and, therefore, divided into two categories: internal and external stakeholders. An essential contribution in this regard was provided by the Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies, which set up a large and highly qualified Steering Committee for the occasion. The first category included student representatives and the presidents and chairs of the master's degree programmes; the second, representatives of organisations and associations active in production and services, as well as professionals and experts in the field.
All stakeholders were duly invited to take part in the consultation. At the same time as the invitation to participate, they were sent an attachment containing the following frameworks of the reformed SUA-CdS Form: A4.a (SPECIFIC TRAINING OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE TRAINING COURSE); A4.b1 - Knowledge and understanding; A4.b1 - Knowledge and understanding.
Knowledge and ability to understand; A4.b1 - Ability to apply knowledge and understanding; A2.a - The professional profile to be trained; A2.a - Function in a work context: Main functions of the professional figure and list of competences associated with the function; A2.a - Competences associated with the function in a work context; A2.a - Occupational outlets, A2.b - The course prepares for the profession of (ISTAT code). This annex also contained the table of examinations envisaged in the training course and their scanning by year (with a list of study languages and a rough indication of the subjects envisaged for related and supplementary subjects), as well as a summary of the results of the most relevant indicators on "Careers", "Satisfaction" and "Employability", the Almalaurea and Opis data for the last two years.
Also attached to the aforementioned email, they were sent the consultation questionnaire (specially prepared from the template provided by the University) to be filled out later at the meeting and returned dated and signed.
Prof. Valerio Cordiner, president of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation, and Prof. Mary Wardle, a member of the QAC of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation, as well as the secretary taking the minutes at the meetings, took charge of the entire process.
The selected and consulted stakeholders belonging to the category of 'internal' stakeholders were:
- a student representative at the Assembly of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy enrolled in the Course of Studies in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation, who declared herself fully satisfied with the changes introduced and especially with the change from 6 to 12 CFUs for third-year language courses (consultation which took place on 4/10/2024)
- the president of the Master's Degree Course in Gender Studies, Media and Communication Cultures and Policies (LM-19) at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", who declared herself fully satisfied with the changes to the regulations introduced, while advising to suggest to students intending to subsequently enrol in the Master's Degree Course in Gender Studies to obtain, through the CFUs envisaged for elective examinations, the IT and socio-communication knowledge and skills envisaged in the admission requirements of the same Master's Degree Course (consultation held on 10/10/2024).
- the President of the Master of Science in Publishing and Writing at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (LM-19), who declared herself to be fully satisfied with the changes introduced, although she suggested to students who intend to enrol in the Master of Science in Publishing and Writing to extend and deepen their preparation in historical subjects (consultation on 21/10/2024).
- the president of the Master of Science in Development and International Cooperation (LM-81) at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", who declared himself fully satisfied with the changes introduced, expressed his appreciation for the graduates in Mediation who subsequently enrolled in his Cds, and suggested that the presentation of the study plan be guided in order to comply with all the admission requirements of the Master of Science in Development and International Cooperation (consultation on 24/10/2024).
- the President of the Master's Degree Course in Linguistics (LM-39) at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', who declared herself to be fully satisfied with the changes introduced, expressed her appreciation for the graduates in Mediation who subsequently enrolled in her Cds, while noting in this regard the less than impeccable written Italian production, and finally suggested guiding the presentation of the study plan in order to comply with all the admission requirements of the Master's Degree Course in Linguistics, and in particular in SSD L-LIN/02, L-FIL-LET/10 and L-FIL-LET/12 (consultation on 28/10/2024).
- the president of the Master's Degree Course in English and Anglo-American Studies (LM-37) at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', who declared herself fully satisfied with the changes to the regulations introduced, expressed her great appreciation for the seriousness, preparation and strong motivation of the graduates in Mediation who subsequently enrolled in her Cds, and finally suggested that students wishing to enrol in the Master's Degree Course in English and Anglo-American Studies in the future be advised to deepen their knowledge of the literatures of the languages of study as much as possible, especially English and Anglo-American Literature (consultation on 28/10/2024).
-The President of the Master's Degree Course in Literary Linguistics and Translation Studies (LM-37) at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", who declared herself to be fully satisfied with the changes introduced, assessed in positive terms the tabular and textual parts of the draft SUA-CdS presented to her, expressing her great appreciation for the prospective introduction in the third year of two language and translation courses of 12 CFU each. In light of past experience, she also expressed an overall positive opinion of the graduates of our degree course,
who subsequently enrolled in the Master's degree course in SLLT, appreciating their ability to make use of and further improve the good linguistic and intercultural skills acquired over the three years (consultation on 31/10/2024).
The selected and consulted stakeholders belonging to the category of "external" stakeholders were divided into three sub-categories Associations engaged in the field of intercultural mediation; Professionals and professionals in the field of language services and judicial and extrajudicial mediation; and Researchers and experts in the field of migratory phenomena.
For the first sub-category, the representatives of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation met with
- a representative of the non-profit organisation Recosol - Network of Solidarity Communities, who approved the name and training pathway of the course of studies, and considered the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train to be in line with the needs of its association and the demands of the labour market in the field of intercultural mediation. In order to train future mediators also in the support towards subjects defined as "vulnerable", he suggested the inclusion, in the group of "Affini ed integrative", of the teachings of anthropology, ethno-psychiatry and sociology of migration (consultation on 5/10/2024).
- a representative of the non-profit organisation Intersos humanitarian organisation, who approved the name and training pathway of the degree course, and considered the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train to be in line with the needs of its association and the demands of the labour market in the field of intercultural mediation. At the same time, he suggested supplementing the training already provided with targeted knowledge and skills in the following areas: emergency management, project management, international humanitarian law, psychological relief. Finally, he recommended, in light of the ongoing migration flows, that Arabic and Persian language courses should also be made available to students (consultation on 14/10/2024).
- a representative of the Centro Servizi Volontariati Lazio - Rete Scuolemigranti, who approved the name and training pathway of the degree course, and considered the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train as a whole to meet the needs of the association she represents and the growing demand of the labour market in the field of intercultural mediation. In addition to this, she expressed concerns about the actual ability to apply, in practice, knowledge and understanding in the various areas of learning covered by the degree course. On the basis of his experience, he therefore suggested increasing the number of CFUs allocated to internships, to be chosen in different environments and sectors, and to be carried out with the tutoring of experts directly engaged in the field (consultation on 30/10/2024).
- a representative of the CIES Centre for Information and Development Education, who approved the name of the degree course, while noting the multiplicity of meanings of the term 'intercultural mediator'. She considered that the professional figures that the CoS aims to train are partly in line with the needs of the association she represents and, more generally, with the demands of the labour market and associations in the field of intercultural mediation. In this regard, however, she pointed out the gap represented, for standard graduates of Italian universities, by mainly theoretical knowledge, which can however be compensated for through practical internship activities at qualified institutions and with the due support of experts in the field. Although it regrets the absence, among the languages taught, of the natural languages used by most migrants, it considers the training course and its year-by-year scansion to be congruous. However, he proposed supplementing the training already provided with targeted knowledge and skills in the following areas: intercultural communication, sociology of ethnic relations, cultural and social anthropology, immigration law and the structuring of public services (consultation on 31/10/2024).
For the second sub-category, the contact persons of the Language and Intercultural Mediation Course met with
- an interpreter and translator who is a member of AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters), who approved the name (although he suggested replacing the adjective "linguistic" with "interlinguistic") and the course of studies in its year-by-year structure, and considered that the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train are in line with the needs of the professional sector in which it operates and with the demand of the labour market in the field of language services. On the basis of his professional experience, he recommended the use, in practical lectures and in individual study, of audio-visual materials dedicated to enriching knowledge and skills that can be spent in translation and interpreting services (consultation on 10/10/2024).
- an interpreter and translator who is a member of Assointerpreti, who approved the name and training pathway of the degree course in its year-by-year structure, and considered that the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train are in line with the needs of the professional sector in which she works and with the demand of the labour market in the field of language services. On the basis of his professional experience, he pointed out the profit to be derived from the acquisition, for future graduates, of basic knowledge and skills in the field of the subjects covered by the language services, as well as skills in the use of translation service technologies (consultation held on 14/10/2024).
- a civil lawyer associated with the Dotto-Antonazzi law firm, with scientific publications to his credit and university teaching experience in negotiation techniques and strategies in the intercultural sphere, who approved the name and training pathway of the degree course in its year-by-year scanning, and considered that the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train are in line with the needs of his professional sector, particularly in the context of judicial and extrajudicial mediation. On the basis of his professional experience, he suggested the inclusion, among the related and supplementary subjects, of teachings capable of acquiring basic knowledge and skills in the field of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (consultation held on 21/10/2024).
- a freelance translator specialising in literary texts, who approved the course's name and training pathway in its year-by-year structure, and considered that the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train meet the needs of the professional sector in which she works and the demand of the labour market in the field of the translation of literary and other texts. On the basis of his professional experience, he suggested increasing the courses in the speciality languages, languages and translation in the legal-economic, socio-political and historical-geographical fields (consultation on 29/10/2024).
For the third sub-category, the contact persons of the Degree Course in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation met with:
- a researcher at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies - ISMed (Naples branch) of the National Research Council, who approved the name and training pathway of the degree course in its year-by-year scanning, and considered that, among the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train, that of Linguistic and Intercultural Mediator is the one most in line with its research areas and the one best suited to meeting the growing demand from the labour market and the third sector and non-profit sector. In order to further implement the training of students, in view of the concrete needs of the sector concerned, it suggested that knowledge and skills be enhanced to prepare them for coordination and responsibility roles (consultation on 30/10/2024).
- a first researcher at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies - ISMed (Rome branch) of the National Research Council, which approved the name and training pathway of the degree course in its year-by-year structure, and considered that, among the professional figures that the degree course proposes to train, that of Linguistic and Intercultural Mediator is both the one that best corresponds to its research areas and the one that is best suited to meeting the growing demand from the labour market and the non-profit sector in the reception and integration of migrants. In view of a more comprehensive training of future mediators, functional to the concrete needs of this sector, it suggested a greater focus on the social aspect of the professional field towards which future graduates will be oriented (consultation on 6/11/2024).
Once the consultation phase was completed, as requested, on 15 November 2024, and the revision of the regulations was approved by the Study Course Council and then by the Department Council, the aforementioned interested parties were duly informed of the results of the overall consultation process in which they had been involved, as required by the University. At the same time, they were informed that, at least once a year, subsequent consultations would be carried out in a manner similar to that adopted in the present case, subject to any changes and/or additions requested by the University.
In the weeks that immediately followed, a sample of former students of Intercultural Linguistic Mediation who had recently graduated and subsequently enrolled in the Master's degree course at Sapienza was consulted on the changes to the curriculum, which had just been approved by the Course Council, in the same way as in previous consultations. In expressing an overall positive opinion on the previous training experience and on the revision that has just been launched, the five former graduate students expressed particular appreciation for the new distribution of related subjects, which will enable future graduates to more easily compose their study plans with a view to enrolling in the Master's degree courses at Sapienza (consultation on 27/01/2021).
The set of minutes and questionnaires relating to the various consultations, ordered according to the above-mentioned criteria, can be accessed at the following link:
Link: https://lettere.web.uniroma1.it/it/consultazioni-parti-interessate-2025 ( Minutes of consultations Interested Parties ) Pdf inserted: view

• Annual Monitoring Form (AMF) (PDF)
• Cyclic Review Report (CPR) (PDF)
• Opis Results Analysis Document (Opis-RAD) (PDF)