initial areas in quality assurance for must-凯发k8国际首页登录

introduction

key priority areas in the university are: (1) teaching and learning, and related to this is assessment.  closely related to teaching is (2) student support, feedback and involvement.  both of these are concerned with quality, so a related issue is (3) quality assurance in the faculty.  for quality to be continuously improved in the faculty, attention has to be given to its leadership and management (4), also to its staffing and staff development (5) and to research (6).  these six areas, then, are the main focus for faculty review, with the first three and the last being particularly significant, and with teaching and learning being the priority.

six key areas

the faculty review and quality assurance in the faculty must bring real, tangible improvements in the university, not just be paper exercises. hence, whilst faculty review can focus on a whole range of issues, at this present these six areas are the main priorities:

1. student support, feedback and involvement
2. quality assurance in the faculty
3. leadership and management of the faculty
4. staffing and staff development
5. research

as faculty review is a sizeable undertaking, it is proposed that key points (only) in each of these six areas are identified, and these are set out in the following pages, in the form of a deliberately limited set of: (a) key areas of focus within each of the six areas; and (b) main questions to be addressed. 

structure of each of the six key areas:

within each of the six main areas set out above ((1) – (6)) there are specific sub-areas, thus:

1. key areas of focus (these link to the 7 points mentioned below ((1) – (7));
2. key questions (these are the three key questions outlined below((i) – (iii));
3. core questions (the core questions are set out directly below);
4. main sub-areas (these vary according to the particular field of the six key areas set out above)
5. summary of key points for each of the six key areas.

three key questions in each of the six areas

for the initial faculty reviews, there are three key questions to be asked for each area:

1. how high is the quality of each of (1) - (6) above in the faculty?
2. how do we know and how will we continue to know?
3. what is being done to improve teaching, learning and assessment?

core questions in each of the six areas

there is a common core of 9-10 questions that are asked of each main area in the following pages, and some supplementary priority questions,   

for the core questions, ‘x’ refers to the particular item from (1) – (6) above:

1. what are the policies and strategies for x in the faculty? 
2. what procedures and processes does the faculty have for planning, monitoring, reviewing, and developing x in the faculty? (‘procedures’ are the mechanisms, whereas ‘processes’ are how the mechanisms actually come to life – how they work in practice.)
3. how does the faculty know and inform itself and stakeholders if these procedures and processes are working/being used?
4. are the procedures and processes for planning, monitoring, reviewing, and developing x in the faculty in place, operating and effective in meeting the faculty’s stated mission, values, purposes, policies, self-evaluation contents and criteria for the effectiveness of the faculty?
5. how does the faculty inform itself/stakeholders about how these procedures and processes for the faculty are effective in terms of outcomes and quality (i.e. impact analysis)?
6. how high is the quality of x in the faculty, and how does the faculty know?
7. how has the faculty improved x over time, and how does it know?
8. what recommendations can be made for needed interventions in, and development of, x in the faculty?
9. what does the faculty do to monitor and improve x in the faculty?

seven key foci within each area

the key foci within each of the six areas, themselves, address have deliberately common features to be addressed with reference to each faculty:

1. policies and main strategies:
   • faculty policies and strategies for each of the six areas.
2. main practices in that area:
   • main practices in that area: what is happening in each of the six areas.
3. judgements of quality in that area
   • judgement of overall quality in each of the six areas.
4. strengths and weaknesses in that area
   • identification of strengths and weaknesses in each of the six areas.
5. quality assurance practices in that area:
   • practices for monitoring and reviewing the actual quality in each of the six areas.
6. development and improvement plans in that area
   • plans for interventions and staff development to improve the quality of each of the six areas
7. staff development for improvement in that area
   • the provision of, uptake of, and effects of staff development in each of the six areas.

it is intended that these areas are not only the main focus for the faculty review and panel visit, but that they should also be the focus for the self-evaluation report prepared by the faculty.  it is strongly advised that the self-evaluation report addresses these.

summary in each of the six areas

each of the six main areas concludes with a four-point summary of the main points to be extracted from that area of focus (x’ refers to the particular item from the key areas (1) – (6) above):

1. current strengths and weaknesses in x in the faculty.
2. future directions x in the faculty.
3. key challenges and prospects for x in the faculty.
4. key opportunities for developing x in the faculty.

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(pdf).