irish universities quality board internal quality assurance at universities: the irish perspective...

Irish Universities Quality Board

Internal Quality Assurance at Universities:

The Irish perspective

Dr Padraig WalshChief Executive


OAQ-CRUS ConferenceInternal quality assurance at higher education institutions – requirement and good practices

2 December 2005, Bern, Switzerland



established 2003Website: www.iuqb.ie



• Independent, non-statutory body– 17 member Board

• 7 nominees from rectors conference (IUA)• 10 other nominees

– Funding Council, Qualification Authority, Employers, Trade Unions, Students

– European, American university system

• Funded by– Universities, Higher Education Authority

• Currently being incorporated


• Irish Higher Education System

• Quality Assurance History and Legislation

• Experiences of Irish Universities with QA/QI

• (External) Review of effectiveness of (internal) QA procedures

Outline of Presentation


• Population of Ireland – 4 million (and <!)

• c. 55% of school-leavers in HE in 2004

• Binary HE system– 7 universities

• Autonomous• Funded by Higher Education Authority

– 14 non-university Institutes (of Technology)• Funded by Department of Education &

Science

Background to Irish Higher Education System


• Universities

– Regulated by Universities Act (1997)

– Universities and IUQB responsible for QA

• Institutes of Technology

– Regulated by Qualifications Act (1999)

– Higher Education Training and Awards Council (HETAC) responsible for QA

Quality Assurancein Irish Higher Education


Before the 1997 Act

• External examiners for UG and PG (taught and research) programmes (all universities)

• Validation and external accreditation of all new programmes (some universities)

• Periodic external accreditation for professional programmes (all universities)

• External members on panels for staff appointments (all universities)

QA in Universities


Legislation that requires the university to put in place

“quality assurance procedures aimed at improving the quality of education and related services provided by the university”

Universities Act 1997


“The (QA) procedures shall include

the evaluation of .. each department (of the university) .. and each faculty (of the university)

.. and any service provided by the university

by employees of the university and by persons .. who are competent to make

national and international comparisons on the quality of teaching and research and the provision of services at university level”



“The procedures shall include

assessment by those, including students, availing of the teaching, research and other services provided by the university”



primary legislation that defines basis for:

• Internal QA procedures for individual universities– autonomously

• External QA of individual universities– Periodic audits (organised by IUQB) of the

effectiveness of QA procedures in individual universities

• External QA of university sector– Review (organised by HEA) of QA procedures in

university sector



What happens in practice?

(Internal) Quality Assurancein Irish Universities


• Self-assessment– of Academic/Administrative Departments– assessment by students/stakeholders

• Peer Review (from list of nominees)– National experts– International experts– Stakeholders

• Publication of Findings

• Implementation of Recommendations– Follow-up

Legislation to Methodology


Lessons learned since 1995

Self Assessment


• A statement consisting solely of functions, activities and outputs is not a self-assessment Report

• A good self-assessment report implies no surprises for Review Team

• Review visit is a validation of the self-assessment report

Self Assessment


• Have a small Quality committee representative of all staff at all grades

• Involvement of the Head

• Regular communication with all staff not on the Quality Committee

Self Assessmentgood practices


Good self assessmentGood peer review!

“ . . . during the course of the two days of meetings, it was notable that no significant areas of criticism were identified which had not already been noted in the (self-assessment) report . . . ”

Self Assessment


Follow-up / Implementation

Quality Assurancein Irish Universities


• Circulate Review Report to all staff

• Agree a (Quality Improvement) plan of action with timescales and deliverables– 1 year and 5 year

• Publish the Review Report (visibly!)

• Publish the Quality Improvement Plan (visibly!)

• Agree to report on progress with the 1 year plan 1 year later– Perhaps invite members of review group back

Follow upGood Practices


EUA were jointly commissioned by IUQB and the Higher Education Authority to review the:

• (internal) quality assurance procedures in the Irish University sector– 1 report

• effectiveness of (internal) quality assurance procedures in the individual Irish Universities– 7 reports

Review of (internal) QA in Irish Universities


• “(the) systematic organisation and promotion of QA at the initiative of the universities themselves .. is unparalleled in any other country in Europe, or indeed in the United States and Canada”

• “A common framework for QA has been agreed collectively by all the Irish Universities through IUQB”

EUA Review of QA - strengths


Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB)

IUQB was established voluntarily by the Irish Universities in 2003 with the aim of increasing the level of inter-university co-operation in developing quality assurance processes


• “The system would appear to strike the right tone and combination of public interest, accountability and university autonomy”

• “The agreed IUQB focus on quality improvement is particularly to be commended”

EUA Review of QA - strengths


QA in a university

Required Practice v Good Practice

Required by law

A university

Departmental Review

Every 10 years 6 year cycle

Institutional Audit

Every 15 years Within 7 years

Publication “Outcome of evaluations”

•Full PRG Report•Full QuIP•Synthetic Evaluation•1 year follow-up


• no system in place for the performance appraisal of individual staff members

• Review focus tends to reinforce existing academic structures

• Quality review cycle is not linked to strategic planning cycle

• Inconsistent support from senior management

• Insufficient monitoring of quality improvement plans

EUA Review of QA - weaknesses


Finals thoughts

Quality Assurance


EUA Trends IV survey

findings

• “Institutions with the most systematic approach to quality are also those that benefit from the greatest institutional autonomy”

• “Institutions find that a well developed internal quality culture should be associated with a light external quality control”


• “While the Irish universities are pioneers in developing and implementing a systematic quality review and quality improvement system by themselves, .. they are not yet leaders in using the outcomes of the system to stimulate strategic change inside the universities”

• “This should be a priority during the next phase of developing the QA system”

EUA Sectoral Report on Irish Universities


Challenge of ‘Bergen’ Standards

• Standards for internal QA within higher education institution (responsibilities of universities)

• Standards for external QA of higher education (IUQB with involvement of universities)

• Standards for external QA agencies (IUQB with universities as customers)

• Update of Framework Document as joint IUQB/IUA publication

• Establishment of IUQB on a legal basis

IUQB and Universities

irish universities quality board internal quality assurance at universities: the irish perspective...

Documents

universities qa

universities validation

university universities

quality of education

universities external

qa quality assurance

quality of teaching

irish higher education