| Article Index |
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| Institutional Review |
| Scope |
| Institutional review aspects |
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Institutional review
Institutional review analyses and tests the effectiveness of an AHEI's processes for managing and assuring the quality of academic activities undertaken by it.
It focuses on the powers and responsibilities, which the AHEIs hold for quality and standards. It is concerned with how an AHEI assures itself - and the wider public- that the quality and standards it sets for itself are being achieved.
Institutional review is concerned with institute-wide processes, which support sound quality management and institutional planning to maintain an appropriate environment for teaching, learning and other activities.
PURPOSE
The overall purpose of institutional review is to achieve
- accountability for quality and standards
- promote sharing of good practice and
- Facilitate continuous improvement.
This overall purpose can be divided into four specific parts:
a) Confidence: to instill confidence in an institution's capacity to safeguard standards, both internally and externally.
b) Accountability: to achieve accountability through external review
c) Information: to provide systematic, clear and accessible information on the standards and quality claimed by an institution
d) Improvement: to promote improvement by identifying and sharing good practices and encouraging innovation and active use of national and international standards and benchmarks.
Scope
The scope of institutional review is largely determined by the extent of the powers and responsibilities held by AHEIs for quality and standards.
The review process is shaped by how much can reasonably and practicably be covered in a periodic external scrutiny process without imposing a burden on institutions which would reduce their effectiveness in teaching and learning. The greater the reliance of external review upon an institution's own evidence of self-scrutiny, the greater is the prospect that standards will be safeguarded and. quality will be enhanced.
KEY FEATURES
- Peer review by senior staff
- Completion of an analytical self-evaluation document covering institution structures, procedures and quality assurance schemes
- Provision of supporting documents and other evidence of institution management of quality matters
- Discussions with senior management staff about how they assure and manage quality in the institution
- Discussions with committees responsible for policy development and implementation
- Discussions with students about the management and assurance of the quality of education in the institution
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW ASPECTS
- Institutional goals and corporate planning
- Financial resources and management
- Quality management and administration
- Quality policies and strategies
- Learning infrastructure
- Administrative support for quality assurance
- Quality assurance
- Regulation of awards and qualifications
- Entry standards and policy (including pre-entry information)
- Programme design and approval
- Programme monitoring and review
- Assessment procedures
- Recruitment, reward and development of teaching staff
- Feedback and verification mechanisms
- Learning resources and student support
- Students affairs
- Institution/industry/community/other extension activities
