Review and Recommendations on African Union Breakout Group Report
Positive impressions were noted on the work done in the African Union Breakout Group Report, with recommendations for editing consistency in numbering and structuring. Suggestions include clear language in standards and guidelines, and specific explanations in key areas like governance, human resources, and financial resources.
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AFRICAN UNION Report from Breakout Groups Report from Breakout Groups
General Comments Overall, positive impression of the work done. Standards were considered well thought. Need to engage Professional Editors to handle the final editing of the document Language: Transliteration Vs. translation
Comment on the structure: Inconsistency in numbering (Numbers, letters, Bullets). Need to be more consistent on the presentation. Bullet points to be avoided. Should have levels of compliance, e.g. criteria, indicators and weights to allow for a qualitative assessment
Part A Part A
Standards 1: Vision, Mission and Strategic Objectives Document should not prescribe to the institutions that quality should be described/reflected in their vision or mission. Conflicting statements in the guidelines should be edited. All standards and guidelines should be simple and clear so that the institutions do not struggle as to what they mean Visions and missions should not be repeated throughout the document.
Standard 2: Governance and Management 1stLine under the standard clearly articulated find a more clear term than articulated Guideline (b) Has relevant organs of governance and management (add this) (e) speaks about autonomy should explain it clearly as autonomy means something else equate autonomy with management policies and procedures which is not what autonomy is about
Standard 3: Human Resources 1st Line under the standard What is meant by inclusive policies? Be clear on this inclusive should be in terms of gender, race, etc. need to refer to specifics
Standard 4: Financial Resources Can standard 4 and 5 be combined? Keep them separate as ICT infrastructure nowadays stands on its own Formulation of standard the institution shall have adequate financial resources this will not always be possible for the institution as its not in the institution s power to receive resources unfair measure for the institution to use shall have
Standard 5: Infrastructure and Facilities 2ndLine under the standard: to support teaching, (add this) learning and research It s important to include the quality of accommodation facilities/hostels for students
Standard 6: Student Recruitment, Admission, Certification and Support Services There s a repetition of guidelines (e )and (f) There is nothing about graduates do they track the graduates (tracer studies)? There should be added something about graduates Numbering is not clear after (i) we start with (a) again Last paragraph The institution supports and develops appropriate strategies for the creation and functioning of cultural, artistic and sports structures (facilities) and associations.
Standard 7: Design, Approval and Monitoring of Study Programmes (add evaluation to the title) Guideline (a) - nothing about evaluation of the programme usually you do an evaluation/a review of the programme
Standard 8: Teaching, Learning and Assessment 1stline of the standard is repeating ? delete in a way that is consistent with its vision and mission Guidelines assessment is not mentioned as a core guideline does not really emphasise assessment, e.g. guidelines (a) and (c) teaching and learning and assessment (to be added) Emphasis should be placed on life-long learning There should be a statement about assessment in the standard? the 2nd paragraph has it
Standard 9: Research, (postgraduate programmes?) and Innovation Research and innovation are two different things guidelines only talk about innovative research (c) and not innovation alone should perhaps be the other way around? 2nd standard talks about postgraduate programmes this should go to the title? Not all postgraduate programmes have a research component so why single out postgraduate ? Postgraduate should be a stand- alone standard Guidelines (a) (g) do not say anything about postgraduate studies) The guidelines say nothing about innovation need to incorporate innovation
Standard 10: Community Engagement Guidelines (b) and (c) do not refer to community engagement To add something about respect for the local community s knowledge
Standard 11: Information Management Have to refer to learning management systems/(HE) information management systems (e) to add alumni in this guideline students and alumni satisfaction
Standard 13: Collaboration, Staff and Student Mobility Uneasy about the way the standards are written, e.g. the institution shall have mechanisms 3rd Line under standard replace the words in order to with and
Part B Part B
Standard 2: Designing External Quality Assurance Mechanisms Fit-For-Purpose Add and/or between the 2 types of accreditation since it is not a must to have both programme accreditation/audit and institutional accreditation/audit.
Standard 4: Independence of Evaluation There was debate about involvement of students in in External Review Panel, but resolved in favour of student participation. In section b) iv, separate independent from conflict of interest. In section b) iv, what is Declaration of Independence Form? In section b) iv, conflict of interest is difficult to avoid in countries with just a few universities and where academic staff number is limited. Recommended that such countries should draw peers from other countries.
Standard 5: Decision and Reporting of External Quality Assurance Outcomes In the Standard, end at accessibility? Debated In section e), decisions of external review are of the QAA Board and not the Panel, amend accordingly.
Standard 6: Periodic Review of Institutions and Programmes In section a), add or on a needs basis , or rephrase to reflect defined validity of accreditation period.
Standard 7: Complaints and Appeals In the Standard replace process with procedure. Include handling complaints from the general public , between sections b) and C), to read, There is a process to address complaints raised by the general public . In section d), appeals should be handled within agreed period of time. In section d), there is some redundancy with section c) in respect to appeals processes being consistently applied . Consequently, section d) should be revised to read, Appeals and complaints are professionally handled, within an agreed period of time .
Part C Part C
Standard 1. Legal Status Repetition of the word autonomous in standards 1 and 2. Remove the one in standard 1 the to be replaced with a The guideline is a statement and should be rephrased e.g The legal mandate, power and authority should be clearly stated/defined
Standard 2. Independence of QAA The word autonomy in the standard should be reflected in the guideline. c) Expunge he phrase even if experts/peers are involved in the quality assurance activity
Standard 3. Vision and Mission Statement Shouldn t standard 3 come before standard 2 (to be determined) a. Should read Quality assurance of HEIs is a major activity of the agency d. Should read . The custodianship and oversight of the QAA s mission, vision and objectives are at the appropriate level of governance for the agency ** * Governance should be a standard immediately after Vision and Mission statement
Standard 4. Policies, Processes and Activities There was the opinion that Part B and Part C could be merged. The Standard for Standard 4 should be moved to the proposed Standard on Governance . Stakeholders should be replaced with peer and expert driven TWG should take a look at this standard with a view to either expunging or moving it to a later part of the document.
Standard 5. Internal Quality Assurance Criteria and Processes Expunge the 2nd paragraph of the of the standard. The narrative should be converted to guidelines and numbered or removed. The word integrity should be replaced with the appropriate word because it has a wide range of applications.
Standard 6. Financial and Human Resources Delete the introductory statement a) should be . The QAA should be adequately funded to realise its vision, mission and objective
Standard 7. Benchmarking, Networking and Collaboration Expunge the 2nd paragraph of the standard Collaboration with relevant bodies should be included in the standard. a) competent bodies should be replaced with relevant bodies. e) at the international level should be removed
Standard 8. Periodic Review of QAAs The standard should read: The QAA shall undergo periodic internal and external reviews for continuous improvement b) Periodic review should replace every 5 years .
Thank you Thank you
