Procedures for the Conduct of School Audits

APPENDIX PV18

Procedures for the conduct of School Audits

1.The Self-Evaluation Document

1.1The purpose of the Self Evaluation Document (SED) is outlined in AQH paragraphs 4.5.9-4.5.11. The SED is expected to be a reflective rather than a descriptive document. Its preparation should be led by the Head of School and should reflect the views of the School as a whole. The SED must be constructed in accordance with the template provided as Appendix PV18a (which covers the areas listed in 1.2 below), but the School should not feel restricted by the nature of the topics or by the order in which they are listed and should feel free to include other issuesif appropriate.

1.2As a minimum, the SED must include the followingheadings and sections:

1. Characteristics of the School

• A brief summary of the School’s historical development including, where relevant, details of any significant restructuring (such as the creation of a new School following the merger of two institutions) and an evaluation of the outcome of such changes.
• A brief description of the School as it stands today: its principal characteristics, academic portfolio and staff and student numbers.
• A statement on how the SED was constructed.

1. Previous audits

Where applicable, ananalysis of how the School has responded to the recommendations of previous audits.

1. Organisation and management

• A summary of the organisation and management arrangements of the School, including a brief statement on the responsibilities of committees and individuals.
• A summary of the School’s arrangements for assuring the quality of its programmes of study.
• A summary of the facilities and physical resources available to the School.
• A summary of the administrative support available to the School.
• Where applicable, a statement on how provision is managed across campuses.
• An evaluation of the effectiveness of the School’s arrangements for organisation, management and administration, in particular its communication flows and decision making processes.

1. Contribution to the Faculty Plan

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the School’s contribution to the current Faculty Plan and related strategies, with particular reference to:

-student recruitment and retention;

-programme development;

-learning and teaching

-student engagement;

-scholarly activity;

-collaborative partnerships (where applicable);

-thinking creatively about future challenges.

1. Conclusions

The School’s conclusions about its strengths and weaknesses, and confirmation of its future plans.

1.3Sections 3 and 4 should conclude with the School’s summary of its strengths and weaknesses in the areas under discussion and with a clear statement of any matters identified for future action.

2. Supporting Documentation

2.1The SED must be accompanied by the supporting documentation listed below. The documentation, which will already be in existence, should be provided electronically and should beeither organised in folders using the titles and numbering system belowor provided as hyperlinks from the SED. The documentation may be supplemented with additional material and evidence if the School so wishes. An index should be provided:

1. Faculty Plan and related strategies

1. Staff

-List of staff within the School, including the hours of those on fractional contracts

1. Resources

-List of the facilities and physical resources available to the School

1. Programmes

-List of programmes currently offered by the School

1. Student Satisfaction

-Action plans relating to external student satisfaction surveys (NSS, PTES, PRESetc) from the previous two years

1. Publicity material

-Examples of current publicity material specific to the School and/or Faculty

1. Minutes of School meetings

-Minutes of School Boards and Staff-Student Committees from the previous two years. Note that minutes must be redacted to remove references to names of individual students, other than in membership/attendance lists, together with any references to personal information about members of staff.

1. School Policies

-Where applicable, copies of any School policies relevant to matters covered by the Audit, for example, policies on admissions and retention, peer observation of teaching etc.

-Any School evaluations relating to these policies

1. Statistical information: taught degrees

To include, normally for a three year period:

-Student numbers on each programme of study

-Recruitment, retention and completion statistics

-For UG programmes, distribution of degree classifications

-For PGT programmes, percentage of students progressing from Part I to Part II and achieving Merits and Distinctions

-Average undergraduate admission scores

-Demographics

-First Destination statistics

-Student: staff ratios

1. Statistical information: research degrees

To include:

-Student registration, completion and withdrawal data

-Supervision data including first and second supervisor workloads for each research supervisor.

3.Responsibilities of the School Audit Team

3.1The composition of a School Audit Team (SAT) is specified in AQH paragraph 4.5.5. All members of the SAThave the following responsibilities:

• in advance of the School Audit visit, reading and assimilating the documentation prepared by the School and making a preliminary identification of areas to be pursued during the audit. A checklist (Appendix PV18b) will be provided to assist the SAT in this aspect of its work;

• attending the School Audit visit for its duration andparticipating in discussions with staff and students during the visit;

• reviewing the facilities of the School during the School Audit visit (this responsibility is normally undertaken by the two external advisers and one internal member);

• towards the end of the School Audit visit, working with other SAT members to agree findings and the main points for inclusion in the audit report;

• at the end of the School Audit visit, providing preliminary formal feedback to the relevant Dean and Head of School on the findings;

• following the School Audit visit, contributing (where appropriate) to the drafting of the audit report and commenting on drafts circulated by the Academic Office.

3.2In addition to the general responsibilities outlined above, specific SAT members have additional responsibilities as follows:

Chair

• to work with the Academic Office on arrangements for the SAT planning meeting (see 3.3 below) and other organisational matters relating to the Audit;

• to ensure that an agenda has been set for each meeting with staff and students during the Audit visit and that SAT members are clear about the questions they will ask;

• to chair the private meetings of the SAT and to work with the Academic Office in summarising the SAT’s findings;

• to work with the Academic Office in finalising the Audit report and considering any amendments requested by the Dean or Head of School.

External advisers

• To comment on the nature of the School’s academic portfolio and its approach to matters such as recruitment and retention.

• To comment on the management, organisational and other relevant practices of the School with reference to those of similar academic units elsewhere in the sector.

Internal members

• To consider the management, organisational, planning, quality assurance and other relevant practices of the School relative to those of other Schools within the University.

3.3In support of these responsibilities, the internal SAT members will hold a planning meeting approximately one month before the School Audit visit in order to:

• discuss the documentation submitted by the School and identify any areas where further documentation is essential, ensuring that such requests are kept to a minimum;

• identify possible themes for exploration during the Audit visit;

• confirm the schedule of meetings for the Audit visit, based on the outline schedule provided by the Academic Office (Appendix PV18c), and consider possible questions for these meetings;

• agree individual responsibilitiesfor Audit Team members.

The Academic Office will invite the external advisers to submit written comments on these areas in advance of the planning meeting.

3.4Normally a member of staff will be required to attend a School Audit visit as an observer prior to his or her appointment as a member of a SAT.

4.The Audit Report

4.1Arrangements for production of the audit report are summarised in AQH paragraphs 4.5.16-4.5.20. The report will be produced in accordance with the template provided as Appendix PV18d. The process will be led by the Academic Office. The draft report will be circulated to all members of the SAT for comment, normally within four weeks of the Audit visit, and the SAT-approved draft will be submitted to the Dean and Head of School for comment.

5.Implementation Plan

5.1In accordance with paragraph 4.5.19 of the AQH, following receipt of the final version of the audit report, the School is required to prepare a response to the SAT’s recommendations in the form of an implementation plan. A template is provides as Appendix PV18e.

6.Summary of process and timeline

Timeline / Event / Responsibility for organising
-1 year / Preliminary meeting between DQS, Dean and Head of School / Academic Office
-8 weeks / Submission of SED and supporting documentation / Head of School
-7-8 weeks / Circulation of SED and supporting documentation to SAT / Academic Office
-4 weeks / SAT planning meeting / Academic Office
-3-4 weeks / Submission of visit programme etc. to School / Academic Office
AUDIT VISIT / AUDIT VISIT / AUDIT VISIT
+ 4 weeks / Submission of draft audit report to SAT / Academic Office
+ 6 weeks / Submission of SAT-approved draft audit report to Dean and Head of School / Academic Office
+ 10 weeks / Receipt of comments from Dean and Head of School / Dean and Head of School
+12 weeks / Report finalised and sent to Dean and Head of School / Academic Office
+16 weeks / Receipt of School implementation plan / Head of School
ASAP thereafter / Presentation of report and implementation plan to Faculty Board and AQSC / Dean/Academic Office

September 20161