Quality Assurance for Colleges and Universities: What are the Real Issues?
Ali Mansouri Writer, Researcher, Consultant Published on December 7, 2016
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Introduction Everybody is talking about Quality Assurance (QA) these days, especially in private colleges and universities. They all wish to get recognition and accreditation through QA procedures though in some colleges and universities things are going upside down and they may not get accreditation in a hundred years if things stay as they are now! As everyone understands the concept, QA refers to an accepted level of quality of everything the college or university does, or will do, as per the local, regional and international benchmarks and standards. This naturally covers all programs from the Foundation Program to all study programs at all levels in addition to the other operations that make the college or university keep going. QA is a vast and challenging field. It is a science in addition to being a field work based not on ink and paper but on what is actually being done and implemented in the organisation. It requires highly-qualified and honest people with academic specialization on QA and field experience. It is regrettable to see a college or a university assign a QA department or QA tasks to people who have nothing to do in any way whatsoever with QA as if QA was the “dustbin” where unwanted or incompetent employees are thrown into. Of course, this is done in a college or a university where the senior managers themselves are lacking in honesty and in all the criteria of being good mangers. They are simply corrupt people.
What is Quality Assurance? In industry, in commerce, in government circles and now in higher education, the word ‘quality’ is on everyone’s lips: ‘quality control’, ‘quality circles’, ‘total quality management’, ‘quality assurance’, and so on. The maintenance and enhancement of quality, and attempts to define and measure quality, are now major issues for higher education in many countries (Frazer 2005:18).
The word “quality” refers in the daily language to anything of a high standard or level and does the job it is supposed to do in an excellent or a very good way. ‘Quality Assurance’ is a generic term in higher education which lends itself to many interpretations; it is not possible to use one definition to cover all circumstances.
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Similarly, the word ‘standards’ is employed in a variety of ways, ranging from statements of narrowly defined regulatory requirements to more generalized descriptions of good practice. The words also have very different meanings in the local contexts of national higher education systems. Bogue and Saunders (1992:20) observe quality assurance in higher education as a process which is primarily based on coordinating the mission and achieving the goal within a framework of publicly accepted responsibility and integrity. Such a definition makes certain assumptions: firstly, it assumes that the institution should define the mission, secondly, that the goals of the institution are explicit and achievable, and thirdly, that there are public and accepted standards which are advocated by the institutions. Harman and Meek (2000:vi) defines Quality Assurance as “systematic management and assessment procedures adopted by a higher education institution or system to monitor performance and to ensure achievement of quality outputs or improved quality. Quality assurance aims to give stakeholders confidence about the management of quality and the outcomes achieved.” Quality assurance thus comprises administrative and procedural activities implemented in a quality system so that requirements and goals for a product, service or activity will be fulfilled. It is the systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention. This can be contrasted with quality control, which is focused on process output.
Quality Assurance in Higher Education Quality assurance in higher education has become a real concern for all educational authorities in almost all countries. All over the world there is an increasing interest in quality and standards, reflecting both the rapid growth of higher education and its cost to the public and the private purse. Accordingly, if a country is to achieve its aspiration to be a dynamic and knowledge-based economy, then its higher Page 3 of 14
education will need to demonstrate that it takes the quality of its programmes and awards seriously and is willing to put in place the means of assuring and demonstrating that quality. The initiatives and demands which are springing up both inside and outside the country in the face of the internationalization of higher education demand a response. Quality assurance is the systematic review of educational programmes to ensure that acceptable standards of education, scholarship and infrastructure are being maintained (UNESCO:1). The quality of a country’s higher education sector and its assessment and monitoring is not only key to its social and economic well-being, it is also a determining factor affecting the status of that higher education system at the international level. The establishment of quality assurance systems has become a necessity, not only for monitoring quality in higher education delivered within the country, but also for engaging in the delivery of higher education internationally (UNESCO:9). Mizikaci (2006:50) states that the evaluation programme should be considered as an approach to a system and that an appropriate model should be integrated into quality planning. Further improvement of quality in higher education and the efficiency of evaluation should be a priority of the overall educational policy. There are several examples associated with quality assurance and its formal implementation into higher education which started in the mid 1960’s. External quality assurance, as a “world phenomenon”, started in the 1980’s and 1990’s (Woodhouse 2004). In 1985, Harvey (2005) recommended the universities and the overall education system to work with clear goals, develop performance indicators and offer real value for money. The same year, certain public sector institutions were recommended by Lindop (1985) to take full responsibility for their own quality assurance standards and also work on their image. Stanley and Patrick (1998) have made their own comparison of the British and the American higher education. In Great Britain, the emphasis is mostly put on variety of systems connected to quality assurance: revision quality, teaching quality, research quality and quality assurance based standards. In the USA, the focus is on regional accreditations, specialized accreditations, system efficiency indicators, student evaluation outcome and alumni. The development of quality assurance systems is an important lever for achieving the strategic objective of improved educational quality and efficiency; consequently, the quality of education Page 4 of 14
is increasingly being evaluated. The focus of this evaluation may be the education system as a whole, or it may be individual programs, institutions or teachers (Eurydice 2012). While the concept of quality assurance is new, many of the ideas behind the concept are by no means new. What is new, however, apart from the new terminology, is a more systematic and far reaching approach to monitoring performance and ensuring that institutions and systems have in place appropriate and effective mechanisms for review and assessment, and improvement. Compared with past approaches, the new mechanisms also put much more emphasis on external scrutiny, seeking the views of employers and graduates and, in various ways, making the results of assessments more widely available to the public (Hartman and Meek 2000).
Basic Principles and Values A good QA process in a college or a university should be based on a number of fundamental principles which can be summarized as follows: •
The process should take into account the genuine interests of students, employees,
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employers and the society more generally in good quality higher education. The autonomy of colleges and universities should be understood in the general context of
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the national educational system and policies. This brings with it heavy responsibilities. Colleges and universities are societal educational organisations and should be run as such. They are established to serve all the society not the selfish interests of the few. They are not to be run as if they were “private” farms for an incompetent and corrupt Dean or a
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Vice Chancellor. The QA process comes to make sure this does not happen. The providers of higher education have the primary responsibility for the quality of their
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academic programs and how these programs are implemented. There need to be efficient and effective organisational structures within which those
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academic programmes can be provided and supported. Honesty in quality assurance processes are important. Cheating and fake documents
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defeat the objectives of the process. Transparency is very important for any college or university to gain the confidence of the public. Hiding all the information and relevant data from the public in the
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name of “confidentiality” runs counter to the basic tenets of the QA process. Colleges and universities should build up and maintain a culture of quality among management, students, teachers and staff. Page 5 of 14
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Processes should be developed through which higher education institutions can demonstrate their accountability, including accountability for the investment of public
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and private money. External Quality Assurance needs to be completely independent and objective and in line with international standards and guidelines.
Standards and Guidelines The must be a set of standards and guidelines for internal and external quality assurance. They must be based on the QA principles for the use of higher education institutions and the relevant quality assurance agencies covering key areas relating to quality and standards. The purpose of these standards and guidelines is to provide a source of assistance and guidance to both higher education institutions in developing their own quality assurance systems and agencies undertaking external quality assurance, as well as to contribute to a common frame of reference, which can be used by institutions and agencies alike to ensure that appropriate quality assurance mechanisms are in place and subject to independent reviews. The purposes of the standards and guidelines are: • to improve the education available to students in higher education institutions; • to assist higher education institutions in managing and enhancing their quality and, thereby, to help to justify their institutional autonomy; • to form a background for quality assurance agencies in their work; • to make external quality assurance more transparent and simpler to understand for everybody involved.
National and International Benchmarks Accreditation of higher education institutions and courses is usually under the control of special authorities, which may be State and Territory Governments, who view this responsibility as flowing from their responsibilities for the educational system. Generally, the relevant legislation makes provision for private providers to secure accreditation and approval to offer courses. In Page 6 of 14
other cases, legislation provides for accreditation of both institutions and courses. Apart from differences of views in the academic debate, managers and experts in educational measurement for many years have been wrestling with difficult technical questions about such matters as measuring academic performance of students, comparing academic standards over time and between different institutions, and devising means to ensure that teaching in academic departments or institutions is of consistently high quality.
Transparency Roberts (2001:426) states that quality assurance does not include solely the efforts of the institution (internal quality assurance). It also includes external evaluations (external quality assurance). Additionally, quality assurance is a condition which leads to achieving transparency. Institutional transparency insures academic quality (lectures, curriculum, etc.), structural quality (buildings, computers, premises, etc.) and subject facility. It will also ensure an independent and objective insight into their quality. By implementing the quality assurance system, many governments try to maintain the supervision over the performance and autonomy of higher education institutions, for understandable reasons. HE Institutions get their autonomy when the government fulfils its obligation to sustain educational and scientific research programmes. Therefore, autonomy is not solely the right of the universities, but also the obligation towards the government, labour market, professional associations, students and their parents. Not all countries apply all the elements of quality assurance. There are five key elements which all quality assurance systems should have, and they are all implemented in the Berlin declaration (2003) for QA in Europe (internal evaluation, external assessment, student involvement, result publication and international participation). Of the five above mentioned elements, two lacking the most are student involvement and publication of evaluation reports from the higher education institutions. Result publication is a key element for the exposure and transparency of quality assurance system. In some countries higher education institutions publish their evaluation reports, while in other countries the universities are still not open to the public (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education).
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Internal Quality Assurance Institutions should have a policy and associated procedures for the assurance of the quality and standards of their programmes and awards. They should also commit themselves explicitly to the development of a culture which recognizes the importance of quality, and quality assurance, in their work. To achieve this, institutions should develop and implement a strategy for the continuous enhancement of quality. The strategy, policy and procedures should have a formal status and be publicly available. They should also include a role for students and other stakeholders. Institutions should have formal mechanisms for the approval, periodic review and monitoring of their programmes and awards. Institutions should have ways of satisfying themselves that staff involved with the teaching of students are qualified and competent to do so. They should be available to those undertaking external reviews and should be commented upon in reports. Institutions should ensure that the resources available for the support of student learning are adequate and appropriate for each programme offered. Institutions should regularly publish updated, impartial and objective information, both quantitative and qualitative, about the programmes and awards they are offering.
Internal Audit The Internal Audit Department can play a vital role in the Quality Assurance process provided it is headed by a qualified and competent officer and is well-staffed and equipped. The Department should have access to all other departments and documents and should act in an objective and honest way for he genuine interests of the organisation. Unfortunately, the Internal Auditor may be very dishonest and a cunning person. He may act like an “internal snake� rather than an internal auditor. He may be a cheat hiding the true picture and tries his best to appease the senior management for his own selfish interests in order to get his contract renewed in return for his dishonesty and fabricated reports. This can be a disaster for the whole process of Quality Assurance.
External Quality Assurance
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External quality assurance procedures should take into account the effectiveness of the internal quality assurance processes. The aims and objectives of quality assurance processes should be determined before the processes themselves are developed, by all those responsible (including higher education institutions) and should be published with a description of the procedures to be used. Any formal decisions made as a result of an external quality assurance activity should be based on explicit published criteria that are applied consistently. All external quality assurance processes are to be designed specifically to ensure their fitness to achieve the aims and objectives set for them. Reports should be published and should be written in a style which is clear and readily accessible to its intended readership. Any decisions, commendations or recommendations contained in reports should be easy for a reader to find. Quality assurance processes containing recommendations for action or requiring a subsequent action plan need to have a predetermined follow-up procedure to be implemented consistently. External quality assurance of institutions and/or programmes should be undertaken on a cyclical basis. The length of the cycle and the review procedures to be used must be clearly defined and published in advance. Quality assurance agencies should produce from time to time summary reports describing and analyzing the general findings of their reviews, evaluations, assessments etc. The US has the oldest tradition of external evaluations of universities dating to the beginning of the last century. At the beginning of the 1990s, fewer than half of the European countries had national quality assurance programmes. By 2003, almost every European country had a quality assurance programmes implemented and operating. In 2010 there are very few countries in the world that are not developing national programmes for quality assurance in higher education. (Reisberg 2010).
Quality Assurance Agencies All QA agencies (national, regional, and international) need to operate within accepted international frameworks and standards. They should put the interests of the students and the society on the top priority list. There should be no comprise of any sort on quality. In the words Page 9 of 14
of Anthony McClaran, the Chief Executive of QAA UK, “Above all we will continue to put students and the public interest at the centre of everything we do.” (QAA-Strategy-2014-17 UK, p.4) and “Students and their families invest heavily in their future through time and money so they need to have confidence in the decisions they make. Quality Assurance Agency acts in the public interests for the benefits of students and support higher education providers in providing the best possible student learning experience.” (QAAUK, p.7). QAA-Strategy2014-17 UK Respectable agencies which accredit programmes or institutions take the view that external quality assurance is essentially a matter of ‘consumer protection’, requiring a clear distance to be established between the quality assurance agency and the higher education institution whose work they assess. This should be the basic guideline for any QA agency, be it national or international. The genuine interests of students are of paramount importance and what some senior managers think that their mission is only to make huge profits at the expense of quality education is utter nonsense and absolute stupidity!
EQAA, the European Quality Assurance Agency EQAA offers international accreditation to universities, other higher education institutions and a wide range of other education and training providers, including providers of technical and vocational education. EQAA has been established on the basis of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and operates accordingly. EQAA is the first international agency offering institutional accreditation. EQAA also offers accreditation of individual study programmes and other qualifications. Whilst EQAA works on the basis of the European Standards and Guidelines, it offers its services to universities and higher education institutions worldwide. EQAA works only with highly qualified reviewers who have substantial international experience and the Agency is fully independent. The guiding rationales for EQAA are:
Quality assurance is an indispensable tool for continuous quality enhancement.
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Whilst universities and higher education institutions have the main responsibility for quality assurance, quality assurance agencies need to offer guidance and advice to them in order to ensure both quality and relevance.
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The development and improvement of a quality culture in institutions is key to the improvement of the educational system.
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Each university and higher education institution operates within its specific environment and quality assurance has to fully acknowledge the contextual setting.
The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) As mentioned on their Website, The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) is a world-wide association of over 200 organisations active in the theory and practice of quality assurance in higher education. The great majority of its members are quality assurance agencies that operate in many different ways.
A Culture of Quality Institutions should have a policy and associated procedures for the assurance of the quality and standards of their programmes and awards. They should also commit themselves explicitly to the development of a culture which recognizes the importance of quality, and quality assurance, in their work. To achieve this, institutions should develop and implement a strategy for the continuous enhancement of quality. The strategy, policy and procedures should have a formal status and be publicly available. They should also include a role for students and other stakeholders.
Accreditation Page 11 of 14
Accreditation: Accreditation is the establishment of the status, legitimacy or appropriateness of an institution, programme or module of study. Accreditation refers to a process of assessment and review which enables a higher education course or institution to be recognised or certified as meeting appropriate standards. In Australia, the term accreditation has developed three specialist meanings: a process of review or assessment conducted by a government agency to enable a Minister or approved authority to recognise and approve a higher education institution or course; a process of review carried out by a government registration body to enable graduates of particular courses to practise in the particular State or Territory; and a process of assessment and recognition carried out by professional associations. Accreditation is achieved through a multi-step process (self-evaluation/ documentation submitted by the unit undergoing accreditation; external assessment by independent experts; the accreditation decision). The accreditation decision depends upon a quality assessment based on internationally accepted quality standards. The final decision of the accreditation procedure itself is authoritative in nature, has been determined by an external process, and results in a “yes” or “no” judgment with a limited validity. (Accreditation in the European Higher Education Area. Conference of European Ministers for Education in Bergen, 2005).
Conclusions As we have already said, QA is a fast and challenging field. It is not a hotchpotch of ideas or processes. This article aims to draw attention to some of the real issues facing QA for colleges and universities as some may experience a very “dishonest’ process of getting recognition and accreditation for a college or a university through “crooked” means. This is a sort of corruption which is accepted only by those who sacrifice everything in order to make huge profits at the expense of the students, teachers and society. This will certainly shake the public confidence in the higher education institutions, especially in the private sector. While the concept of quality assurance is new, many of the ideas behind the concept are by no means new. What is new, however, apart from the new language, is a more systematic and farreaching approach to monitoring performance and ensuring that institutions and systems have in Page 12 of 14
place appropriate and effective mechanisms for review and assessment, and for renewal and improvement. Compared with past approaches, the new mechanisms also put much more emphasis on external scrutiny, seeking the views of employers and graduates and, in various ways, making the results of assessments more widely available (Hartman and Meek 2000). When a college or a university, anywhere in the world, is run by a “gang of thieves” and unqualified, incompetent and dishonest people who are academically and morally bankrupt and take arbitrary decisions based on fabricated documents rather than on actual facts, the whole process of Quality Assurance does not really mean anything except a waste of time and money!
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