EAQUALS Inspection Scheme V7

How to Prepare for a First Inspection

V7: Key Documents

• The Charters

• The EAQUALS Quality Standards

• The Detailed Criteria: Indicators of Compliance with EAQUALS Standards

• The Guide to the Inspection Process

• The Guide to Meetings during an Inspection

• The Report Template

• The Guide to writing a Report

April 2014 2

The 12 Categories

CATEGORIES

1. Management and Administration

7 Client Services

1. Teaching and Learning 8 Quality assurance

1. Course Design and Supporting Systems

9 Staff Profile and Development

1. Assessment and Certification 10 Staff Employment Terms

1. Academic Resources 11 Internal Communications

1. Learning Environment 12 External Communications

April 2014 3

Supporting documents

• Self-Assessment Handbook

• Self-Assessment Questionnaire

• Application Form

• Information Form

April 2014 4

1. Management and Administration

1.1 There is an institutional ethos and a mission statement, which provide the foundation for the institution’s activities.

1.2 The leadership and organisational structure of the institution support this mission and the achievement of its objectives.

April 2014 5

Self-assessment Questionnaire

Have you made a statutory declaration that your institution has been established and operates according to all relevant national and local legislation, including company law on insurance, employment, data compliance accounting, and taxation?

Action (what to do)

Evidence – how to prove you have done it.

Is there documentary evidence of compliance with international copyright law?

Do you have systems for strategic planning?

How do you maintain market awareness?

How do you co-ordinate management and administrative activity?

April 2014 6

A Guide to the EAQUALS Inspection Process

Procedures, Meetings and Documentation

• list of documents is not exhaustive – the Language Education Centre may have additional documents to those mentioned

• the list of documents is not necessarily obligatory, if evidence can be found from other sources, such as verbal reports and meetings

• some of the documentation will have been sent to inspectors in advance of the inspection and will already have been read by them

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Inspection Procedures

• Inspectors may check any or all of the relevant documents referred to in the declaration in areas such as company law on company registration, insurance, employment, data compliance accounting, and taxation

• Inspectors check that there is actual and documentary evidence of compliance with international copyright law

• Inspectors look for evidence of co-ordination of management and administrative activity. For details see 11.2 below

• The institution’s data management (collection, storage and retrieval) systems are checked by inspectors

• IT and other systems that are used to manage the enrolment process

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Meetings

• Meetings with the Language Education Centre management are designed to establish an understanding of:

• the ethos and goals of the Language Education Centre

– how the management team see themselves and their roles in relation to all stakeholders in the LEC (staff, students, parents, sponsors etc.,)

– how the structures systems and procedures documents sent before the inspection, are applied in practice

April 2014 9

More meetings …

• Inspectors ask the management team for their analysis of the state of the market, the performance and situation of the institution (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and about any strategy or plans for the future

• In meetings with the management team, and throughout the inspection, the inspectors look for evidence that the management structure is appropriate to the size and activity of the organisation.

• In meetings with administrative staff and with student focus groups etc. inspectors check that administrative systems are transparent and can be understood by all stakeholders

• In meetings with administrative managers, staff and students inspectors look for evidence that enrolment procedures are reliable and effective

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Documentation for Category 1: Management and Administration

• A statutory declaration by the institution that it has been established and operates according to all relevant national and local legislation (EAQUALS Application form)

• Any strategic plans, SWOT analyses or any other similar planning documentation

• Any marketing plans or marketing analyses of performance

• Any documentary evidence of compliance with copyright laws, for example:-

– any agreement with a national or international copyright licencing agency

– a notice by the photocopier(s) of what teachers can and cannot legally photocopy and/or a record book by the photocopier where teachers fill in details of all their photocopying

• Organizational charts

• Job descriptions

• Enrolment forms including on-line enrolment

• Any information / guidance for students concerning administrative procedures of the institution, for example in a student handbook or similar

April 2014 S. Damman & S. Sheerin 11