Public Providers Forum Murisi Auditorium CHE 21 February 2012

Demonstrating quality in higher education Public Providers QA Forum Council on Higher Education Dr Mark Hay Executive Director: Quality Assurance 21 February 2012

Quality assurance and what is ‘higher’ about higher education Outline  Update on CHE activities  Demonstrating quality and academic standards

Update on CHE activities  CHE’s QA and QP mandate  Defining quality and its achievement  The national and institutional contexts  What’s to be done?  Available tools in the QA toolbox

Our higher education system  Maturing HE system, public and private  Institutions at various levels of quality maturity  Some public institutions are struggling  Need for both accountability and development tools  Next period of quality assurance

CHE’s QA tools QA and the public good: society, students and staff  Accreditation  National reviews  Institutional audits/reviews  Quality promotion and development

Some thoughts on demonstrating quality – 1  Quality, integrity and accountability  Transparency  QA that ensures best service to society, students and staff  Moving beyond the status quo (asking the right questions and doing the right things?)  Positioning HEIs -21st century global institutions

Some thoughts on demonstrating quality – 2  How institutional quality is managed and assured: Systems (quality management, support, administration) Staff qualifications Academic programmes (approval and review) Teaching and learning, and assessment Research Community engagement EQA (HEQC, professional bodies, reviews …)

Some thoughts on demonstrating quality – 3  Academic standards that are transparent, e.g. Staff qualifications, prof development Student learning and student experience Programme Quality of teaching Assessment/ formative feedback Use of (external) reference points (NQF, professional, research…)

Some thoughts on demonstrating quality  What if… institutions had agreed metrics and data on the website (that can be understandable!) [one place, location and site] Snapshot of the institution - data Programme information Accreditation history (who accredits you, when and history) Contact information (with names and titles) (including who to phone for complaints)

Some thoughts on demonstrating quality – 5 Staff qualifications/credentials What a programme will enable a student to do What is in place to support student learning Clear overview of (all) costs to students Pass rates … Staff to student ratios (disaggregated).  Do we need a discussion on what information HEIs should disclose?

Conclusion Demonstrating quality on the way to system maturity and greater self-regulation.