The 6As of Establishing a Quality Assurance (QA) Office

An university should consider the 6As factors when setting up a QA office to ensure the sustainability of its quality assurance system.

Alignment

In establishing a QA office, it is critical that the mission of the QA office should be aligned to the university’s vision, mission, strategies, and objectives. As the mission specifies what purpose the QA office is to achieve and what value it is to produce, a lack of alignment between the QA office mission and the broader organisation goals will create misfit and confusion. Alignment creates opportunity for the QA office to demonstrate its capabilities and activities that are critical to the success of the organisation, thereby, forging buy-in and visibility.

Approach

The approach to quality assurance practices within a university may be centralised, decentralised, or a combination of both, depending on the organisational structure, culture, strategy, and resources. The approach sets the functional activities of the QA office and its involvement in academic quality and non-academic quality. 

Adaptation

An organisation has a choice of developing its own QA model or framework; or adapting an established and recognised QA framework. The levels of quality assurance framework that an organisation can adopt and adapt to are as follows:

• International (e.g. ISO 9001)
• Regional (e.g. AUN-QA models)
• National (e.g. National Quality Model)
• Institutional (e.g. system model, PDCA model, etc.)
• A combination of the above.

The factors that determine the level and type of quality assurance framework rest on the organisation strategy as well as international, regional, and national accreditation policies and climate. For example, a university with a mandatory national accreditation regulation will have to adopt its national QA framework. A university that exports its education programmes overseas will have to adhere to accreditation policies beyond its national boundary. Developing a QA model by the university on its own should be the last resort as it is costly and time consuming. Harmonising the developed QA framework with other recognised and established framework and getting it accepted by the university community and regulators may be a challenge.

Application

Application of an adapted QA framework depends on the stage of development and maturity of a university, its faculties, and programmes. Generally, QA framework can be applied at the following various levels:

• University Level
• Faculty Level
• Programme Level
• Geographical Level
• Agency Level (franchise)

It is often difficult to have a blanket application of the QA framework to all parts of the university in one “big bang” due to the changing educational landscape and rapid advancement in science and technology. A progressive application approach is a more realistic choice in most cases.

Accountability

Accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, decisions, and policies, covering the administration, governance, and implementation of QA practices as defined within the scope of the role of the QA office, academic departments, and non-academic departments. It mainly covers the following factors: 

• Ownership and governance
• Key performance indicators
• Accreditation/certification
• Transparency of decisions and policies
• Information availability and sharing

Advocacy
Advocacy involves the pursuit of QA and educational excellence and the active support of its cause by the QA office and its advocates. The QA office should lead the university in its pursuit of QA and educational excellence and collaborating with local, regional, and international QA bodies, to harmonise and advance QA practices. Advocacy activities include:

• Leadership
• Promote best QA practices
• Stakeholder engagement
• Capability development
• Continuous development and improvement
• External collaboration