79th AUN-QA Programme Assessment at University of Santo Tomas

The 79th AUN-QA Programme Assessment at University of Santo Tomas was held from 20 - 22 February 2017 in Manila, Philippines. Four study programmes were assessed by AUN-QA Network and the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy Programme (BSA) was assessed by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin (AUN-QA Expert, Singapore) and Dr. Ornsiri Cheunsuang from Chualongkorn University, Thailand.

16th AUN-QA Workshop for Accomplishing Programme Assessment

The 16th AUN-QA Workshop for Accomplishing Programme Assessment was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 14 - 17 February 2017.

The 4-day workshop aims to introduce the AUN-QA framework and enhance quality assurance practices based on the latest version of AUN-QA framework at programme level (3rd version). The content of the workshop encompasses:

• Introduction to quality assurance in higher education 
• AUN-QA framework and criteria at programme level 
• AUN-QA quality assessment process 
• PDCA Approach to self-assessment 
• Self-assessment report (SAR) writing 
• Change Management 

The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin, AUN-QA Expert together with A/Prof. Tan Kay Chuan from the National University of Singapore. The workshop was attended by 35 participants from universities in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

AUN-ADB Documentation Project (2014 - 2016)

The AUN-ADB documentation project (2014 - 2016) was initiated as part of Phase 3 of the AUN-ADB project on "Strengthening Capacity of University Quality Assurance System towards Uplifting Higher Education Quality in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar (CLM Countries)". The objectives of the project were:

• enhance and strengthen the basic QA management system at the programme level;
• establish a documentation system for existing QA at programme level based on AUN-QA Framework; and
• provide a common reference for QA.

At the end of the project, a bilingual QA manual was developed and distributed to all universities of each CLM country. The manual was the fruit of collaboration between AUN-QA Network and participating universities namely; Royal University of Phnom Penh and Royal University of Law and Economics of Cambodia; National University of Laos and University of Health Sciences of Lao PDR; and Myanmar Maritime University of Myanmar. The 3-year project was facilitated by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin, AUN-QA Expert and Principal Consultant of Education Quality International.

Living Better 5th Anniversary

Living Better is 5 years old. 5 years ago today, Living Better was born with a singular purpose to make people happier by raising the quality of life. The Happiness DNA was created out of this conviction to educate individuals and organisations about happiness. In this endeavour, more than 550 people have been educated to be happier through more than 20 workshops and a seminar.

Along the journey, the conviction of "Quality Education Quality Life" gets stronger and stronger. This motivated me to establish "Education Quality International" with the purpose of helping higher education institutions and universities to raise the level of quality of higher education in ASEAN and beyond. The accomplishments are 25 quality assurance assessments, 11 conferences and seminars, authored or co-authored 8 AUN-QA manuals and trained more than 1,500 professors and QA practitioners in quality assurance in higher education.

All these achievements cannot be realised without the unwavering support from my family, colleagues and friends. My gratitude goes to each one of you in believing in my convictions and a vision of a happier world.

It is not the accomplishments that motivate and encourage me but the purposes and meanings behind them.

Cheers for the next 5 years and beyond!