Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency
HERQA Institutional Quality Audit
Quality Audit Reports
Document referenceHERQAQAO3/07/V1
Date of issueMarch 2007
This applies to audits to be undertaken fromApril2007
Further copies of the document can be obtained from
HERQA
PO Box1367
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Phone011 156 55 50 and 011 156 55 63
Fax011 156 55 50
This document is also available for downloading from the HERQA web site
(
Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency
HERQA Institutional Quality Audit
Quality Audit Reports
Contents
Page
Purpose of this document 3
HERQA 3
Institutional Quality Audits 3
Institutional Quality Audit Reports 3
Structure of Institutional Quality Audit Reports 3
Cover 4
Title Page 5
Contents 5
Preface 5
Executive Summary 5
The Institution 5
The Institutional Quality Audit Process 5
The Institutional Quality Audit 5
Thematic Enquiries and Audit Trails 6
Conclusions 6
Commendations 6
Recommendations 6
Appendix 1 6
Appendix2 6
Appendix 3 6
Appendix 46
Appendix 5 6
Authorship of Institutional Quality Audit Reports 7
Checking on the accuracy of Institutional Audit Reports 7
Quality assurance of Institutional Quality Audit Reports 7
Feedback on Institutional Quality Audit Reports 7
Ownership of Institutional Quality Audit Reports 7
Follow-up on Institutional Quality Audit Reports 7
Feedback on Institutional Quality Audits 7
Complaints 7
Making use of Institutional Quality Audit Reports 8
Dissemination of good practice 8
Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency
HERQA Institutional Quality Audit
Quality Audit Reports
Purpose of this document
The purpose of this document is to provide information on the Institutional Quality Audit Reports produced by the Higher Education Quality Agency (HERQA) following Institutional Quality Audits.
HERQA
HERQA is an autonomous agency established through the Higher Education Proclamation (351/2003) as one of the key agencies responsible for guiding and regulating the higher education sector in Ethiopia. HERQA has been established to help ensure a high quality and relevant higher education system in the country. One of the central roles of HERQA is to encourage and assist the growth of an organizational culture in Ethiopian higher education that values quality and is committed to continuous improvement.
Institutional Quality Audits
As one of its key activities HERQA will carry out Institutional Quality Audits of all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). An Institutional Quality Audit is an in-depth analysis and assessment of the quality and relevance of programs and of the teaching and learning environment. Equally importantly, an Institutional QualityAudit will assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of a HEI’s approach to quality care, its systems of accountability and its internal review mechanisms. The product of an Institutional QualityAudit is an Institutional Quality Audit Report.
Institutional Quality Audit Reports
An Institutional QualityAuditReport prepared by HERQA following an institutional QualityAudit will provide a description and evaluation of the quality of a HEI’s educational provision and of its mechanisms for assuring quality and relevance.Reports will make clear HERQA’s confidence in the ability of the HEI to provide appropriate degree level education. A HERQA institutional QualityAuditReport will highlight elements of good practice and make where appropriate, recommendations for improvements. In issuing Institutional Quality Audit Reports HERQA aims to support a HEI by recognizing its good practices and by indicating areas where changes in practice can improve the quality and/or relevance of its activities. HERQA hopes that through its Institutional Quality Audit Reports and the dissemination of good practice that it will help to enhance the provision of higher education in Ethiopia and the confidence of all stakeholders in the quality and relevance of that provision.
Structure ofInstitutional Quality Audit Reports
The reports that HERQA writes following Institutional Quality Audits will be structured similarly and be written in a similar style. Some text will be standard to all reports. The indicative structure of a HERQA report on an Institutional Quality Audit is as indicated below.
Cover
This will be in standard format for all Institutional Quality Audit Reports and will carry the HERQA name and logo, the name of the HEI audited and a date and reference number.
Title Page
This will carry the name, address and contact information of the HEI, the dates of the audit visit and the date of the issue of the Institutional Quality Audit Report.
Contents
This will list the headings of the sections of the report and the page numbers on which they commence.
Preface
This will be a standard text in all HERQA audit reports that describes the roles and responsibilities of HERQA and outlines the quality audit process and purpose.
Executive Summary
This section will provide a summary of the report. It will provide an overview of the HEI, the procedures of the Institutional Quality Audit, the major conclusion of the audit, elements of good practices and recommendations for essential actions on quality and/or relevance. It will also state the total number of commendations and the number of essential, advisable and desirable recommendations for action made.
The Institution
This section will set the context for the Institutional Quality Audit by describing the location, size, and history of the HEI including any special features. It will also give information on the programs offered, the students and the staff. In addition, it will present any recent actions taken following internal audits or reviews, responses to external audits or reviews or responses to changing situations.
The Institutional Quality Audit Process
This section will describe how the Institutional Quality Audit was carried out, how information was collected, the meetings held and the observations and visits made.
The Institutional Quality Audit
This section will deal with the findings of the audit. It will be divided into 10 sub sections each corresponding to one of the ten focus areas of the audit. These sections will beheaded as follows:
1Vision, Mission and Educational Goals
2Governance and Management System
3Infrastructure and Learning Resources
4Academic and Support Staff
5Student Admission and Support Services
6Program Relevance and Curriculum
7Teaching, Learning and Assessment
8Student Progression and Graduate Outcomes
9Research and Outreach Activities
10Internal Quality Assurance
Each of the ten focus area sub sections will be structured similarly.
The starting point for each sub section will be a description of the focus area and a commentary on each of the reference points of that focus area. This commentary will be based on the information in the Self Evaluation Document and any additional information gained during the audit exercise. Where the evidence cited or referred to in the Self Evaluation Document has been confirmed this will be stated. Where the evidence in the Self Evaluation Document has been shown to be unreliable this will also be stated. Where there is no evidence that a focus area meets a threshold level this will be stated and, where possible, an explanation given. Where a HEI has made a judgment on its educational provision in a focus area then this will be commented on. Where the audit team is not in agreement with the institutional judgment an explanation will be given
Where there is evidence of what is considered to be good practice, achievements or planning, this will be stated and, if merited, there will be a statement of commendation. Where it is considered that improvements should or could be made then these will be stated in the form of recommendations for action. Essential recommendations will be actions that need urgent attention to assure quality and/or relevance. Advisable recommendations relate to areas where there is the potential for quality and/or relevance to be at risk and where action is needed but not so urgently. Desirable recommendations are actions which will help to enhance quality and/or relevance.
Thematic Enquiries and Audit Trails
This section will describe and evaluate any themes that have been investigated across the HEI and aspects of the management of quality that have been investigated in depth in one of more programs. (e.g. themes of equal opportunities, student centered learning, continuous assessment, feedback to students on their progress: aspects such as program approval, assessment practices, staff development.
Conclusions
This section will present the overall conclusions from the Institution Quality Audit. It will express views on the educational provision of the HEI and the factors that have an impact on quality and relevance. It will comment on the HEI’s capacity to manage, assure and enhance the quality and relevance of its programs and its capacity to provide an appropriate learning environment.
Commendations
This section will bring together all the commendations made in the earlier sections of the report.
Recommendations
This section will bring together all the recommendations for action made in earlier sections of the report grouped under headings of essential recommendations for immediate action required to assure quality and/or relevance; advisable recommendations where action is needed to assure quality and/or relevance but not so urgently and desirable actions which will help to enhance quality and/or relevance.
Appendix 1
This appendix will list the acronyms used in the report.
Appendix 2
This appendix will list the members of the Institutional Quality Audit Team and give their affiliations.
Appendix 3
This appendix will give the timetable of activities undertaken during the Institutional Quality Audit Visit.
Appendix 4
This appendix will list those audit team members, HEI staff, students and other stakeholders who participated in the various meetings held during the Institutional Quality Audit Visit.
Appendix 5
The appendix will list any documents, in addition to the Self Evaluation Document, that were consulted for the Institutional Quality Audit.
Authorship of Institutional Quality Audit Reports
The Institutional Quality Audit Report is written by the team who carried out the audit. One member of the team (normally one of the HERQA staff who was in the team) will act as the editor.
Checking on the accuracy of Institutional Audit Reports
A draft of the Institutional Quality Audit Report will be sent to the HEI to check for factual accuracy and to ensure that in reaching conclusions, the audit team has considered all the relevant evidence available at the time of the audit.
Quality assurance of Institutional Quality Audit Reports
All HERQA reports on Institutional Quality Audits are subject to internal quality assurance by the HERQA directorate. This process will ensure that reports are appropriately structured and worded, that the conclusions are fair and based on evidence and that the recommendations relate to the conclusions and are in line with good practice.
Feedback on Institutional Quality Audit Reports
Once an Institutional Quality Audit Report has been finalized HERQA will send the report to the audited HEI and arrange for representatives of the audit team to revisit the HEI to discuss the content.
Ownership of Institutional Quality Audit Reports
The Institutional Quality Audit Report is owned and issued by HERQA and will be a public document. HERQA will provide an audited HEI with copies of their report in hard copy and soft copy (pdf) form. HERQA will retain the report in its archive and make the report available to any interested party. In the case of private HEIs seeking accreditation it may form an element of the evidence considered in granting this request.
Follow-up on Institutional Quality Audit Reports
As indicated above, in making its report on an Institutional Quality Audit, HERQA will make recommendations for action by the HEI. These will be denoted as essential recommendations, advisable recommendation and desirable recommendations that indicate a priority for action. Following the issue of an Institutional Quality Audit Report, HERQA will ask a HEI for a quality and relevance enhancement action plan. This plan should address the recommendations listed in the audit report and indicate any other actions that the HEI plans to take to enhance quality and relevance. HERQA will ask for a report on the implementation of action on the plan.
Feedback on Institutional Quality Audits
As part of its own quality assurance system, HERQA will request feedback on each Institutional Quality Audit, including the Institutional Quality Audit Report. It is hoped that HEIs will contribute feedback so that HERQA can monitor and review its policies, procedures and practices and seek to enhance the quality and relevance of its work.
Complaints
Should a HEI have cause to complain about any aspect of anInstitutional Quality Audit, including the Institutional Quality Audit Report, then such a complaint should be made in writing to the Director of HERQA. The Director will investigate the complaint and, if upheld, will instigate appropriate action. This could necessitate changes to the auditing procedures and practices, additional training forauditors or the removal of auditors from the list of approved auditors. Where, as a result of an investigation by the Director, a complaint is not upheld, the HEI will have the right of appeal.
If a HEI considers that the Institutional Quality Audit Report has been influenced by actions that are subject to complaint then, unless otherwise agreed by the HEI, the report will not be issued until the final outcome of the complaint has been established.
Making use of Institutional Quality Audit Reports
It hoped that HERQA Institutional Quality Audit Reports will be of great value to HEIs in that they will offer commentary on their educational provision and on their systems to assure and enhance quality and relevance.HEIs should be able to use their own reports and those of other HEIs to continue to improve their practices. In this way they will help to establish HEIs in Ethiopia as a learning community that is acting to improve the relevance and to enhance the quality of higher education in the country.
Dissemination of good practice
One of the aims of the quality audit exercise is to identify good practices and to disseminate these so that all HEIs may have access to the good practices of others and consider their adoption in their own institutions. With this in mind HERQA will analyze institutional Audit Reports and publicize what it considers to be commendable good practice. This will be done through the HERQA web site, through occasional publications and possibly through updated versions of its manuals and in training courses. Where information is not in the public domain, HERQA will not identify individual HEIs without being granted their written permission to do so.
In keeping with HERQA's commitment to continuous improvement, it is intended that this document will be reviewed regularly and updated as required. Users of this document are invited to contribute to this review at any time by alerting HERQA to any perceived errors and providing constructive written feedback on its utility.
New versions of this document will be indicated by a new issue date and a change in the last character of the reference number.
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