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DEVELOPING QA SYSTEMS

Second TEMPUS Seminar For HE ExpertsZagreb, 16-17 June 2008

Dr Andreas MallouppasCyprus University of Technology

andreas.mallouppas@cut.ac.cy

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BENCHMARKING AS A TOOL IN DEVELOPING INTERNAL QA SYSTEMS

Aim of presentation:

To promote awareness for the need of establishing:

an Internal QA system mechanisms for quantifiable measurement of

performance

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BENCHMARKING AS A TOOL IN DEVELOPING INTERNAL QA SYSTEMS

Learning Outcomes On completion of the workshop the participants would be able to: appreciate the significance and link between External and Internal

QA systems identify the requirements in organisational culture, human and

technical infrastructure needed to implement QA systems define benchmarks and performance indicators for corporate and

lower levels

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EXTERNAL QA SYSTEMS (1)

The most common examples of EQA are: Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) European (National) Qualifications Framework National University Legislation (3 cycles,

ECTS/DS, NQF, national benchmarks etc) University funding regimes University governance

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EXTERNAL QA SYSTEMS (2)

Examples of EQA benchmarks:o Establish 3 cycle system by 2010o Attain national/international university ranking of certain

levelo Academic achievement of enrolled students to be “above

80%” o Financial funding will be against specified achievements

in research, teaching and social interventiono Number of international publications, patents, spin off

companies etc

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ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE

Prerequisites for implementing QA systems: Imbedded Quality Culture top-down and bottom-

upQA implementation needs STRONG political

support and commitment from the TOPWillingness for TRANSPARENCY and

ACCOUNTABILITYE-culture and e-governance

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INTERNAL QA SYSTEMS (1)

PREREQUISITE: Cannot have IQA system that ignores the requirements of EQA

Thus if the EQA requires that universities become involved in:

international collaboration [no. partners] have a global presence [no. of countries] become involved in innovation [patents, spin off

companies, science parks, publications] externally funded projects [incoming funds, co-funding,

total value of projects etc]

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INTERNAL QA SYSTEMS (2)

quality of student intake [academic level of enrolling students, degree of success/failure]

quality of Research Output [No. of PhD’s, No. of publications etc]

social intervention [collaboration with local community, industry, cultural organisations etc];

Then the IQA needs to take these into account and develop IQA objectives and benchmarks which AT LEAST include the EQA demands

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (1)

PREREQUISITES:

In order to set Benchmarks and Performance Indicators an organisation needs to:

establish its vision and mission statements establish quantifiable and measurable long term goals set a specific time horizon for their implementation

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (2)

DEFINITIONS:

Benchmark: This is the level of achievement for a given activity to be attained at a given time in the future

Performance Indicator: This is the performance required in the available time in order to achieve the corresponding benchmark

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (3)

EXAMPLES:a) To increase outgoing students from 100 (2008)

to 200 (2013)ie need to achieve a performance of 100/5= 20

students increase per yearb) To increase active partner collaboration from 70

to 100 partners distributed over 30 countries instead of 20

ie PI 30/5=6/year; 10 countries more

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (4)

c) To increase co-funding of externally funded projects from Euro 500,000 to Euro 1,000,000

The PI here assists the university to budget its needs, ie increase of Euro500,000/5=

Euro 100,000/year in the following budgets

d) Increase publications from 1/person/year to 2/person/year, across all faculties

ie on average there would have to be 1 paper increase/academic

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (5)

e) Attract good students so that the last intake in each department is above 70% average mark in the entrance exams

PI: increase visits to schools by 10/yearIncrease participation in international exhibitions by 2 per

yearConstruct a more attractive web page and improve the

image of the university at home and abroad. Measure the number of web site visits. Achieve an increase of 5%/year

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BENCHMARKS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (6)

Introduce RFID in all books in the Library and increase e-books by 10%/year and have 100% e-journals by 2015

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CONCLUSIONS

IQA cannot ignore EQA but does not have to be equal to its demands

Need to employ data bases that communicate with each other in order to produce automatically the required statistical data

Need to have staff who are conscious of the need for regular and accurate input of data into the dbases

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CONCLUSIONS

Need to have the right IT environment and e-culture Need to have established e-governance and

dissemination of information to all staff Need the right mix of top-down and bottom-up

communication in the decision making process Need to have an overall vision and mission to which all

parts of the university would need to work towards, each from their own perspective