THE SELF-STUDY

“OUR EXPERIENCE”

MAJAN COLLEGE

(UNIVERSITY COLLEGE)

Normal self-review vs. the self-study

Normally our main focus is:• monitoring all academic aspects• quality of provision and academic standards• identifying and acting on areas for improvement

The self-study :• more comprehensive and intensive (all departments and all

activities) • focus on existing policies and systems• more emphasis on data and analysis• strengths, weaknesses, gaps and areas for improvement

Broad areas of focus

• Institutional governance and management;

• Learning and teaching environment;

• Student Support;

• Support Services

• Staffing and Resources

• Timing of the self-study: 6 months before the submission of portfolio to the OAC

Steering CommitteeIncluded the:

• Academic Management Team

• Quality Assurance Committee

• 22 members

• all levels of academic management.

What did the Steering Committee do?

• Own the process.

• Lead the way and walk the talk.

• Don’t fool yourself.

• Ensure maximum involvement.

• Transparency and openness cannot be over emphasised. Forget the OAC.

• Empower staff and ensure that they are critical and reflective . Forget the OAC.

• Send out the right message (its not just for the OAC, its for us)

How did the Steering Committee do this?

• Planned, organised and coordinated the self-study (as a committee);

• Identified and managed working groups for each specific section/subsection in the QAM (as a committee) ;

• Conducted orientation meetings (focus ADRI) with members of the working groups and other committees (as smaller committees);

How did the Steering Committee do this?

• Organised student and employer surveys and student and staff focus groups (smaller committees & individuals);

• Managed all the data (smaller committees & individuals);

• Allocated responsibility for the writing up of various sections in the portfolio (committee);

• Reviewing working drafts of the portfolio (committee);

Working Groups

• Structure the working groups around the sections in the portfolio/manual.

• Essential to ensure wider participation and ownership. Almost all staff was involved .

• The self-study was structured around our mission, values, stated policies and objectives and processes in each area and results;

• Consistency is critical: All working groups/ committees used the following approach.

• Approach: What is supposed to be achieved in terms of stated objectives and policies?

• Deployment: What is actually being done?

• Results: What are the results with supporting evidence?

• Improvement: How can we improve?

What would we change?

• Nothing in terms of process.• Data analysis for support services could be

improved.

• For the OAC: Issues around the Audit panel’s/ reviewers understanding of: – The role of the prescribed self-study in the audit process

and how it informs the Quality Audit Manual. – the institution's normal/ existing QA systems and how

they have been influenced by the self-study.

THE END

THANK YOU