AUDITS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE

SYSTEM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

INSTITUTIONS (HEIs)

Agency for Science and

Higher Education
Zagreb, July 2006
 Development of the Quality Assurance
System in HEIs
National network for quality assurance in HEI
National Council National
for Higher Agency Council for
Education (NCHE) Science (NCS)

Center for Center Center Center Center Center Center Center

quality for for for for for for for
assurance quality quality quality quality quality quality quality
UniZg assuranc assuranc assuranc assuranc assuranc assuranc assuranc
e e e UniRi e UniZd e UniDu e e
UniSt UniOs Polytechni Scientific
cs institutes

Units for Quality

Assurance
Faculties

Units for Quality

Assurance
Departments/Units

Network for quality improvement of the universities

Framework of National network for
Quality Assurance in HEI

Agency for Science

and Higher Education

Centre Centre for Centre for

for quality quality quality
assurance assurance assurance
at the at the at the
universities polytechnics scientific institutes

Units for quality assurance

at the
university’s structural units
 Tasks of the Agency for Science and Higher
Education
Evaluation
- Evaluation of HEIs (self-analysis and audit visits)
- Development of indicators for assessing quality of HEIs
- Evaluation of study programmes
National Council for
- Evaluation of the fields of study at the university courses
Higher Education
(thematic evaluations) (NCHE):
- Organizing consultations on development of the
evaluation procedure - Using ENQA standards and
guidelines for quality
assurance
Setting up of a national network for quality assurance and
continuous improvement - Plan of audit visits
- Training of staff employed within the centres for quality assurance - Proposal for accreditation
- Training of staff involved into the quality assurance system
- Development of evaluation and self-evaluation procedures for looking into
various aspects of quality in education
- Transfer of good practice to the HEIs, the government and civil service

Internationalization
- Joining the ENQA network
- Establishing international
relations with reference to
evaluation
- Translation and
- Distribution of the manual “Quality publishing of a number of
Assurance in Higher Education”, developed reports in English and
within the project CARDS 2002, to all HEIs other foreign languages
 CARDS 2002 Project “Higher Education
Mobility: Diploma Recognition Policy and
Legislation”
Quality Assurance in Higher Education
A Manual
 Chapter
 Introduction
 Quality, Learning Outcomes, Standards and Levels
 The Design of a Programme of Studies
 The External Evaluation of a Programme of Studies
 Managing the Quality of a Programme of Studies
 The Certification of Student Achievement
 Institutional Responsibility for the Quality of Provision
 Institutional Self-Evaluation, Planning and Quality
 Quality Assurance at a National Level

 Appendices
 Extracts from ‘Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the
European Higher Education Area'
 Academic administration as a support to the academic process
 List of Abbreviations
 AUDIT PROCESS CHART

Audit planning Define the audit area and method

Additional checks for the audit

report

Define the audit scope and Approval by the chair of

objectives the audit team

- 3 weeks Collecting the audit material Approval by the

before the audit chair of the audit
team
Introductory meeting between Proposal of a contract for
- 2 weeks the audit team and the auditee audit of an institution
before the audit
Signed contract – chief of the
Final version of the audit audit team and representative of
material the auditee
-Preliminary Mission Statements
review Collection of basic information Information about the HEI
Previous audit
Processes/Procedures
-Audit Interviews with the representatives of
implementation the HEI’s
Approval by the chair of the
Prepared Audit plan audit team
(Audit control program Checklists)
- Completing the risk assessment
Risk/control audit - Implementation process

Documenting all audit working

material (in electronic format and
hard copy version) Reporting
Checking
Merging all audit documents into an Correspondence
Audit File Planning
Meeting with representatives of HEI
Evaluation
and audit team

Preparing the audit report proposal

Issuing the audit report proposal

AUDIT FOLLOW-UP PROCESS
Up-date of audit findings and
recommendations with the purpose of
completing audit/assessment

Feedback from the auditees management on

the conclusions and recommendations of the
audit group contained in the audit report (at Quarterly reports on
the end of each quarter)
the actions taken

Status of the follow-up data updates

Semi-annual reports
on the actions taken
Confirm Implementation of the
recommendations

Management’s report on implementation of

recommendations contained in the proposal
of the audit report

Meeting between auditee and an audit

team; discussion of the actions taken

Final audit report

Quality Assurance System should
include the following:
 Responsibilities defined for all stakeholders in the
Quality Assurance System;
 Evaluation of the study programmes and HEIs
including internal and external audit which includes
students’ participation and publishing of the results;
 Accreditation, certification or comparison of
procedures system;
 International relations with the ENQA network, CEE
network
Indicators of the quality assurance
system
 Legal framework of the QA system;
 Transparent structure of the QA system organization;
 The relationship between the management /state
bodies/operational managers;
 Involvement of all institution's activities into the QA system;
 Mechanisms/measurement of the QA system (internal self-
analysis, self-evaluation, research policy, teaching policy,
recruitment of teaching staff and professional development,
international activities, resources and results);
 Involvement of students and managers at all levels in
development and implementation of the QA system process;
 Information on the QA system/results;
 Method of publishing results of the QA system review;
 Efficiency of the QA system mechanisms (quality criteria for
the institution's units/departments) – the QA system should
set mechanisms for pinpointing pure quality as well as give
an initiative for programme innovation.
 The objectives of the audits of quality
assurance systems
 to evaluate how well the quality assurance system works
as a tool for quality management and enhancement
 whether the HEI’s quality assurance system promotes
the achievment of national higher education policy
objectives, as well as those set by the HEI itself
 whether the HEI’s quality assurance system produces
useful information for the improvement of its
operations and improvement measures
 to evaluate the quality assurance system in terms of the
audit criteria, to highlight strengths and best practices, to
put forward recommendations for the development of
quality assurance and to determine whether the HEI
passes the audit or needs to undergo a re-audit at a later
date.
 Quality audit system
 Mission includes
 Vision
 Objectives
 Quality policy
 Definition of the role of participants in the system and their responsibilities for
implementation of the system (organizational chart)
 Plan of system development and improvement
 Institutional self-evaluation based on SWOT analysis
 Description of the academic awards
 R&D
 Analysis of the social impact and contribution to the regional development - environment
 Analysis of student support and other types of services available to students
 Plan of training and continuous improvement of staff
 Participation of staff, students and other stakeholders in the QA system
 Introduction of QA system into the managerial and other HEI’s activities
 Definition, approach and information of the QA system within the HEI
 Definition, approach and information of the QA system for the external partners
 Implementation of the QA system and its efficiency for the development of activities within
the HEI
 Application of QA system information in the HEI’s management and quality improvement
 Monitoring, evaluation and continuous development of the QA system
 Audit process

 I phase: Planning
 II phase: Execution of audit
 III phase: Preparation of the audit
report.
 IV phase: Follow-up process
 I phase - Planning

 Annual audit agreement with the

institutions
 Appointment of the Audit team
 Auditor training
 Audit method
 Basic audit materials
 Collecting audit materials
 Review of materials and audit procedure
 Meeting to prepare the audit visit
 Audit visit
 II Phase - Execution of
audit
In order to successfully execution of the audit, the audit team shall:
In order to successfully execution of the audit, the audit team shall:

1. Develop the audit plan along with the detailed plan of activities in
relation to the following elements:
 audit objectives
 audit criteria
 audit procedures
 collection of supporting evidence

2. Take necessary actions to review all the activities including:

 looking for evidence in order to evaluate implementation of the QA
in according to criteria;
 define the problems

3. Analyse the audit results including:

 evaluation of the HEI management efficiency in providing QA;
 propose the optimal solution for resolving the problems

4. Develop and implement the recommendations to improve the QA in

the HEI
5. Prepare the working documents
 III phase - Audit report

1. Previous report
2. Final report
 Each report includes:
 Description of audit process
 Description of the institution and QA
system
 Audit result
 Approvals
 Recommendation for improvements
 Assessment of quality assurance system
 Date of the next audit.
 IV phase - Follow-up
process
Upon receipt of the last reports and plan of activities, the HEI shall
develop a detailed plan of corrective activities to be taken by the
responsible persons (state who and the scope of responsibility), as
well as the detailed plan of implementation of those activities. A
minutes should be kept to record each completed action and its
efficiency. The representative of the audit team, who works
closely with the HEI during the follow-up process, should receive a
report (on weekly, monthly or/quarterly basis).

Responsibilities of the audit team representative are:

evaluation and measuring efficiency of the actions taken by the
HEI;
assessment of results achieved by corrective activities;
discussion of findings with the HEI staff;
collection of all reports on actions taken, and on such basis,
develop a report on satisfactory implementation of the follow-up
actions and submit such report to the audit team for approval
 Basic audit materials
 objectives of the audit team;
 schedule of the audit team activities during
the audit process;
 method of implementing the audit plan;
 expected audit results;
 analysis of the pre-planned objectives and
their achievement thought the audit
process – results of the analysis.
 Institutional’s
documentation for audit
All audit materials are collected by the HEI and are as follows:

 a chart, a table or other brief description of the organisation of the institution and
the number of students and staff (one page)
 a brief description of the quality assurance system (max. three pages)
 A Manual of Quality Assurance in HEIs or other quality documentation
 a short history of the quality assurance system (one page)
 a brief description about link between quality assurance system and the
management system (one page)
 the HEI’s SWOT analysis of its quality assurance system (one page)
 the HEI’s summary of major development targets indicated by the quality
assurance system, and projected measures (one page)
 report on the internal audit of the QA system – summary (4 pages).
 Review of audit materials
includes:
 Assessment of all procedures and monitoring of
academic awards and other activities;
 Assessment of the way of using evaluation results
in the process development;
 Assessment of the present development of the
QA system (progress) and acceptance of the
audit results by the institutions and other
partners;
 Assessment of the impact of the QA system on
the development of education system
Thank you for your
attention!