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This article shows how the university teachers training must be seen as strategic action to improve the institutional quality. An utilitarian and mass university, as we think the university in our days is, requires inmediate attention about the way the internal elements of the system are affected. One of these elements, perhaps the most sensitive at the point of strategic view, is the university teachers. In this work we analyze the disconcerting and problematic situation they have in the research and teaching activities and we propose the pedagogical

Teaching quality assessment examines, makes comments and offers judgements on the student educational experience and achievement in specific subject areas. Its looks at whether provission in the subject being assessed at the institution concerned is achieving its own objectives. Academic total quality audit looks at the systems and arrangements by which institutions maintain both quality. Addresing the improvement of teaching and learning through total quality, devotes attention to the idea of regarding students as customers and emphasizes making

The reasons for the interest in evaluation are related with the evergrowing state expenses in a context of taxes cut off and with the users demands of better quality in public services. There is a gap between the supply of university curriculums and demands of enterprises.

The management group will prepare a standard form for the content of the report. It is responsibility of the committee to organize the traslation of the diverse report:self-assessment report, department report, faculties report, university report,... A substantial area for discussion is the use of statistical data and performance indicators. Most experts seem to agree that there is no necessary link between performance indicators and quality, which is about much more than measures of output.

The present work describes the viewa of the author on what concerns the relations between the established power and the evaluation processes that are being followed in different countries in Europe and in South America, namely Brazil. The need for more transparency in the use of public funds is possibly the main reasson for the pressure the gouverments are putting over the universities, imposing or suggesting institutional and/or thematic evaluation procedures. The Portuguese experience is presented in detail, refering to the positive relations

The evaluation processes must have general and specifics objectives, and the eva lua tion criteria must be clearly established for all parts of the institution that would be involved in it. Together with the goals, must be clear that institutional evaluation is a continuum process were the objectives need to be achieved and redefined periodically. This put the higher education institutions in a permanent process of self-regulation focusing on the improvement of the quality in all the activities carry out by the institution.

The article defines three institutional evaluation models (English, French and Dutch one) and revises some of the experiences in institutional evaluation fron Europe and Latin America trying to extract points in common as well as between them. We could say that, mostly, the projects of institutional evaluation plan at universities emerge promoted by universities themselves and are pushed by goverments inside the context of institutional improvements. Most of the governments put the control that implies the accreditation of universities to give the

The institutional evaluation is a subject of fundamental importance for the higher education institutions, facing the raising interest by the society in the efficiency and quality of the activities developed by the Universities. This article focus on the necessity that higher education institutions, make clear its own goals when starts the institutional evaluation process. The reflections about experiences of others are very important to help the own planning processes, but local, regional and national characteristics must be taken in account.