Il ruolo del NdV in un’università che cambia: prime evidenze dall’introduzione del sistema AVA

In the last decades, evaluation systems of universities are increased for three reasons: as a consequence of Bologna Process and of the creation of the European Higher Education Area; in the perspective of the new paradigms of public governance and of the public administration reforms; in accordance with the process of “aziendalizzazione”, due to a more competitive environment. In Italy, the introduction of internal evaluation systems of universities was based on a specific internal authority, the so called “Nucleo di Valutazione” ; however, in the years, several laws have committed to NdV the role of local evaluator, enslaved to political goals. So, in two decades (from L. 537/1993 to L. 240/2010), NdVs have increasingly filled all evaluation fields: teaching, research and administration. The recent implementation of AVA has brought into question the role of NdV as an efficient managerial tool. This paper is aimed to understand if NdV is still adequate in a changing university or if this authority has not a role in the new managerial style of evaluation. The paper, starting from a clear theoretical framework, analyzes, by a managerial point of view, AVA in its three phases – self evaluation, assessment and accreditation – to understand its result to improve strategic governance of university. Hereinafter – through a content analysis on 59 statutes – the paper analyzes the recent reform of NdV, based on the law 240/2010, to understand if this authority could be compatible with AVA and, overall, if it could be useful to universities’ governance. The paper has demonstrated that the composition and the role of NdV and the competences required to its components are not adequate for a managerial evaluation system, that solicits a central role for self evaluation, implemented by internal authority. Furthermore, the paper has enlighted that NdV could not be an external evaluator, because it is not completely independent from the governance and because its components have not be appointed for specific evaluation competence. The result of the paper could be useful either from a scientific point of view, because it allows to understand better evaluation system of universities, and from a practical point of view, as to rethink an efficient role for NdV in reformed universities