2. 10 October 2007 Pete Zacharias Acting Vice Chancellor
Campus Forum Report to the University Community on progress with the Institutional Audit
10 October 2007
Pete Zacharias
Acting Vice Chancellor

3. Purpose of audits
to allow the Council for Higher Education (CHE) to gauge standards of quality in HE
to provide a structured process for SELF evaluation managed by the HEQC
determine areas of best practice within universities and across the sector
to allow for constant improvements
gives us an opportunity to improve our systems

4. Purpose of audits (2)
audits are not PUNITIVE and they are not for accreditation
we have more to learn than the CHE does
this is not an opportunity for constituencies within the University to argue for more resources!
the Audit Panel is of peers (also outside SA) and have no operational jurisdiction so they can't close us down

5. Purpose of audits (3)
however, failure to respond with an improvement plan will not be wise

6. Process CHE identifies when the audit will take place
this is negotiated with the institution
members of the University attended workshops at CHE to prepare us for the audit and a lot of guidance is available
networks are formed of institutions already audited to allow peers to guide us
several meetings are held with the University and the CHE about 15 months before the visit
a self evaluation report is produced before the visit
we must agree on the Audit Panel

7. Process (2)
we prepare the Self Evaluation Report (SER) over 15 months and submit this three months before the visit
The HEQC sends us their analysis a month before
the audit panel then determine their ‘lines of enquiry’
ALL sectors of the university are under review in the process, but it concentrates on teaching, learning and research
process and practice in all areas are viewed in terms of how they contribute to the core business of teaching, learning and research

8. Process (3) the visit lasts a week
they interview about 800 people across the University!
they review and study all policy, processes and practices and cross reference this to the interviews
they visit areas of special interest to them
we can not control their approach in any way
they evaluate against 19 criteria

9. Who is doing it?
we have an Institutional Audit Coordinating Committee (IACC) chaired by the VC
it has seven task teams covering the entire University
they match our seven strategic goals
they have been working for nearly a year
the TTs, Faculties and Schools have all done self reflection reports or are in this process
a draft SER will be produced by the IACC
workshops will be used to get inputs from all of us where necessary

10. So what should we all do?
there is no doubt that this is to our benefit
we should all learn as much as we can about it
we should all participate in events that contribute however minor these may seem
please pay attention to the regular bulletins put out by the VC about the audit
we should all be familiar with the self evaluation report (SER)
we should have expert knowledge of the SER for the areas we are responsible for in our work place
respond positively by changing our practice in those areas we learn we need to improve

11. So how do we respond? take the exercise very seriously
do not get anxious about it
learn as much about ourselves as we can
be proud of what we have achieved and fix those things we are not doing well
respond to things we must fix before the panel gets here
be realistic!

12. Where to get more details?
We have an Audit Website at:

13. Thank you for listening We will know where we stand on:
Audit visit: October 2008