On October 15, ANQA held a meeting with the RA accredited HEIs’ quality assurance managers, academic programme managers and teachers.
The agenda covered the internal audit process of academic programmes with the involvement of external experts. The meeting aimed to discuss the Accreditation Committee’s decision-making process, explore whether there is an established schedule, and evaluate how the HEIs ensure the continuous enhancement of the academic programme quality.
It should be noted that according to the decision of the Accreditation Committee, the internal audit of the academic programmes is mandatory for the HEIs that have undergone institutional accreditation. The process should be conducted with the participation of external experts and adhere to the criteria for programme accreditation.
It was highlighted that evaluation reports on the APs from all HEIs should follow the same template and meet the criteria for programme accreditation. The internal evaluation should demonstrate that all outcomes have been assessed. This process implies that the HEIs have KPIs to measure the effectiveness of academic programmes and collect information accordingly. In this case, the KPIs are the outcomes of the academic programmes.
The discussions also addressed how HEIs can select external experts. It was noted that the HEIs can use ANQA’s expert pool and presented the requirements for the expert panel:
- experience in education management and teaching;
- knowledge of national and international criteria and standards;
- consideration of the perspectives of employers, teachers and students.
It was emphasised that the sector employer should also be involved in the evaluation process, which is a common international practice.
It was highlighted that the results of the internal evaluation will be monitored through mid-term reports, with the final evaluation conducted during the reaccreditation process to ensure that the HEIs meet the quality assurance requirements.
In the near future, ANQA will discuss the schedule of academic programmes’ internal evaluation processes with the HEIs’ management staff.