Policy Number: AUS-PA0104
Sponsor: Office of Academic Affairs
Effective Date: September 3, 2021
I. POLICY PURPOSE
The American University of Science ("AUS," "University," or "university") has defined its direction to serve and meet the changing needs of its target market and society by providing quality higher education in Palestine. Key to achieving this strategy is the development of an effective and efficient Quality Assurance (QA) system underpinned by quality teaching, learning experiences, research and community engagement, curriculum development, student progression monitoring, and activities that promote student well-being; and quality governance and administrative systems that support the teaching, learning, and research processes. To realize its vision, mission, values, and goals emanating from Catholic traditions, AUS constantly monitors and systematically evaluates the implementation of all its mandated activities to ensure continuous quality improvement. The University is committed to excellence in teaching, learning, research, community engagement, governance, and administration, ensuring all its implemented processes and operations align with standard quality-assured best practices. Therefore, each University unit, in concurrence with the propositions of the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) and Academic Standards Committee (ASC), constantly reviews all its existing policies, procedures, office manuals, practices, and regulations, and where such instruments are lacking, develops appropriate ones, to ensure that all these guidelines are in line with the functional unit’s vision, mission, and overall objectives. Moreover, each unit shall constantly monitor and evaluate all its day-to-day activities through its Internal Quality Cell (IQC). Both OAA and ASC ensure that at all times, each functional unit has well-stipulated and widely understood criteria in place for judging performance standards in all core activities of that unit.
This policy establishes the University’s general approach to Quality Assurance Management. This policy supports achieving AUS’s Vision, Mission, Values, Goals, and Strategic Plan. The policy ensures the development and implementation of specific policies, procedures, guidelines, and practices for quality maintenance across the University. It sets out the methods by which the University assures its stakeholders of the high quality of its academic and non-academic outputs and all aspects of its educational provision.
Therefore, this policy specifically aims to provide a framework for an efficient and functional Quality Management System (QMS) with enforceable rules and procedures focusing on the following:
Establishment and development of a quality assurance culture in the academic, support, and resource services.
Promotion of quality assurance and improvement actions at institutional, campus, and faculty levels.
Empowerment of employees in the development, implementation, and execution of quality assurance systems, processes, procedures, and mechanisms.
Monitoring and evaluating the quality assurance actions within the functional units of the University.
Monitoring and evaluating institutional quality assurance accountability required of the University on a statutory and national level.
II. POLICY APPLICABILITY
The policy applies to all academic and non-academic staff employed at and/or contracted to AUS. This includes Executive and Senior Management, Administrative, Technical, Professional, and Support staff members. In addition, this policy applies equally to the University’s academic operations (design and all modes of delivery of taught programs/ courses and research) and non-academic operations (design and delivery of administrative, financial, technical, professional, and support services), as well as to its formal and public community engagement services.
III. POLICY STATEMENT
Quality assurance at the University operates per the following key principles stemming from international standards and AUS vision:
The use of agreed reference points to guide the development of policies, procedures, and processes.
A risk-based process to ensure a proportionate response, while maintaining rigorous, robust review mechanisms.
Student, employer, and other stakeholder engagement through consultation, representation, and feedback mechanisms.
Evidence-based consideration with decisions underpinned by analysis of data.
Timely decision-making is taken as close to the source as possible, ensuring a rapid turnaround for the benefit of the university community.
External reviews to ensure decisions are consistent with sector best practice.
Sharing of best practices to inform effective decision-making.
A commitment to continual improvement of processes and programs leveraging the level of excellence of the University.
In light of the above, AUS adopts a systematic approach to quality management. The Quality Management System (QMS) is based on (1) the University definition of quality and (2) the implementation of the University Quality Management Framework (QMF). Together, these guide University functional units in developing internal quality objectives, standards, desired practices, and quality management mechanisms.
Regular internal quality assurance checks, inspections, sampling, data gathering, and surveys analysis will be conducted to ensure that the Academic Quality Assurance Policy is implemented properly and that the right mechanisms are selected to assess the following areas:
Quality of programs and courses.
Quality program review process.
Quality of academic and non-academic staff.
Quality of teaching and learning experience.
Quality of research.
Quality in student assessment.
Quality in support services.
Quality of resources and facilities.
Furthermore, to ensure that high quality standards are maintained, external quality assurance reviews shall be conducted by any of the following bodies:
External Examiners.
External Professional bodies.
External accreditation agencies (for professional programs that have recognized, credible professional accreditation agencies).
The University is also committed to periodically reviewing its quality policy, its quality management framework and the functioning of its quality management system to ensure their continued relevance and effectiveness.
Any faculty member, staff member, or student at AUS may, without fear of prejudice, submit any idea or proposal for quality improvement to the OAA at the following email address: Academics@TheAUS.us. All proposals shall be studied and any changes or improvements to be introduced are subject to the approval of the University management bodies.
A. Definitions
Quality: refers to quality in higher education as a multidimensional concept that can be defined as the level of excellence entailing the following elements:
Exceptional - reaching high standards.
Adherence to high standards- refers to the University’s ability to consistently meet agreed service standards and/or apply best practices in its delivery of academic, professional, technical, resource, or support services and communications with internal and external stakeholders.
Fitness for purpose - refers to the University’s ability to fulfill its stated objectives and mission at both institutional and program levels. It assesses an institutional process or program against indicators and standards derived from its basic mission and stated objectives.
Fitness of purpose - refers to the University’s ability to define objectives relevant to its stakeholders’ needs and pursuant to its mission in alignment with the national goals of higher education, as well as taking into account international developments in this regard.
Transformative development - refers to the University’s ability to contribute to enhancing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of its employees and students.
Value for money - refers to the University’s ability to efficiently and effectively use its human, estate, technological, information, and financial resources.
Benchmarking – comparing and learning from good practices in other similar institutions or specialized bodies.
Quality Culture: is an attitude supporting a set of shared values that guide how continuous improvements are made to everyday working practices, thus leveraging the levels of quality in the outputs; it is a collective responsibility for all employees of the University.
Quality Assurance (QA): This is a developmental process of providing evidence needed to establish confidence among all concerned that quality-related activities are being performed effectively and efficiently. It is an all-embracing term referring to an ongoing, continuous process of evaluating (assessing, monitoring, guaranteeing, maintaining, and improving) the quality of a higher education system, institutional processes, programs, and services.
Quality Control (QC): involves developing systems to ensure processes or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed stakeholders’ requirements.
Quality Evaluation: is the systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of subjects of interest.
Quality Management: This is a method of ensuring that all the activities necessary to design, develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate a process or service are practical and efficient with respect to the system and its performance.
Quality Management System (QMS): is a system that outlines the policies and procedures necessary to control and improve the various processes that will ultimately lead to improved institutional performance.
Quality Enhancement: is an ongoing process of quality augmentation in the various institutional processes.
Internal Quality Cell (IQC): a small group of employees in each University functional unit or doing similar work who voluntarily meet regularly once every two weeks for non-academic divisions and twice a semester for academic divisions to identify, analyze, and resolve work-related problems. The objective is to improve the quality, productivity, and total performance of their unit and also to enrich the quality of work and life of employees.
Internal Moderation is when a unit regularly samples and evaluates its assessment practices and decisions, and acts on the findings to ensure consistency and fairness.
B. Roles and Responsibilities
The Director of Academic Affairs is responsible for:
Promoting a quality culture across the University;
Overseeing and facilitating the quality assurance activities, processes, and mechanisms in University functional units, and assisted by the Academic Quality Assurance Coordinator in regard to the academic side;
Implementing the Quality Assurance Management System (QAMS) throughout the University's functional units;
Promoting personal and unit responsibility for quality among employees;
Ensuring that University policies, procedures, practices, and sound work mechanisms are effective and in place;
Managing the development and implementation of the University’s QA policies and procedures in association with the University’s senior management team;
Monitoring the outcome and evaluating the efficacy of policies, procedures and systems put in place to support quality management;
Identifying imminent or longer-term threats to the assurance of quality and standards and leading discussion about how to address them;
Monitoring changes to the national regulatory framework and more general developments in the Higher Education sector, advising senior faculty and staff, and proposing action to be taken by the University in response;
Promoting and facilitating the formation of Internal Quality Cells (IQC) within University functional units to undertake the task of identification, implementation, and promotion of best practices as quality improvement and enhancement measures;
Ensuring the adequate ongoing preparation for external reviews and inspections; receiving copies of all external examiner reports, analyzing and chasing up issues arising, and commending good practices;
Ensuring the implementation of approved improvement actions by University functional units.
Academic Standards Committee (ASC) emanating from the Academic Senate and headed by the Chair of Academic Standards appointed by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Standards is responsible for:
Overseeing quality and standards of the University’s taught programs and courses;
Developing and enhancing policies and procedures in the areas of academic quality and enhancement and advising the Senate on all aspects of such policies and procedures both within the University and between the University and its partners;
Monitoring performance on actions in the FIQC and DIQC;
Sharing knowledge, expertise, ideas, and information with FIQC and/or DIQC;
Instilling a culture of continuous quality improvement throughout the academic units;
Developing reliable and consistent quality mechanisms and assessment criteria to stimulate and improve the academic performance of the University;
Developing and applying quality benchmarks/parameters for the various academic activities in the University;
Disseminating information on the various academic quality parameters of higher education;
Maintaining a complete and organized record of the academic quality-related activities in all areas of its operations.
Internal Quality Cell (IQC) is responsible for:
Working closely with all colleagues in their respective functional units to ensure quality through the planning, implementation, evaluation, and improvement of all processes, operations, practices, and outputs executed within its area of work;
Soliciting feedback consistently and systematically from its stakeholders (i.e., students, academics, alumni, employers, suppliers, community) in all areas of its operations and concurrence with OAA and cooperation with the Institutional Research Unit (IRU), through questionnaires and other research and information gathering instruments, and use the outcome of this feedback to continuously improve quality (for the academic side, this task rests with the ASC);
Establish and apply effective procedures for regular critical self-evaluation and for preparing for external evaluation in its functional unit, according to a specific cycle. This
is done in concurrence with the prescripts and policies for which OAA is a custodian (for the academic side, this task rests with the ASC);
Ensuring appropriate records of meetings are maintained;
Maintaining a complete and organized filing system for quality-related activities in all areas of its operations.
Chairpersons of academic departments report to the FQAC on the outcomes of their departments’ quality-related activities and evaluations twice a semester.
Deans of Schools and Chairs of Faculties are responsible and accountable for monitoring quality and quality assurance within their areas of jurisdiction and report to the ASC on the outcomes of their faculties’ quality-related activities and evaluations twice a semester.
An annual summarized report covering all academic quality-related evaluations and/or reviews to be submitted to the University Senate by ASC, with a copy to OAA.
Leaders of non-academic IQC are responsible and accountable for monitoring quality and quality assurance within their areas of jurisdiction and report monthly to the OAA on the outcomes of their units’ quality-related activities and evaluations.
Overall responsibility for quality assurance rests with the Vice Provost for Academic Standards, who will report on the quality assurance status to the Executive Council and the Board of Governors.
C. Procedures
The Quality Management Framework (QMF)
The University shall embrace the provisions of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the implementation of this Policy. This entails a holistic approach that views continuous improvement in all aspects of the University operations underpinned by progressive changes in attitudes, practices, structures, and systems. Therefore, this calls for commitment and diligence by every employee to maintain high work standards in every aspect of the University's operations.
The University has in place a range of systems and procedures that combine to provide a Quality Management Framework (QMF). The QMF is based on the Deming Quality Cycle, which comprises four stages: Plan, Do, Check, and Act (PDCA).
The University functional units are committed to:
Planning: designing institutional process or operation components and establishing targets/ objectives;
Doing: implementing the plan, monitoring and measuring its performance;
Checking: assessing the measurements and reporting the results to superiors; and
Acting: deciding on changes needed to improve the process, operation or output.
D. The University Approach to Quality Assurance Operates under the following Scheme of Management:
Planning and Implementation Processes
Strategic & Operational Planning:
AUS’s vision and mission establish its overarching aims for the long- and medium-term, while its strategic planning process produces a five-year Strategic Plan that establishes key strategic themes, goals, and objectives. These are implemented through programs set out in University functional units as operational plans.
All operational plans should include measurable targets related to one or more of the seven elements listed in the University’s definition of quality as stated in article (2) of this policy.
Development, Documentation, and Implementation of Policies and Procedures:
In addition to the strategic planning process, the University provides detailed guidance on planning and implementation in relation to the quality of specific aspects of its human, physical, technological, information, and financial resources; internal academic and administrative operations; and communications through approved and documented policies and procedures. Such policies and procedures must be easily accessible for reference by employees and other stakeholders, as relevant.
All policies and procedures must be based on the following:
Consultation with all relevant stakeholders;
Consideration of any applicable statutory or accreditation requirements;
Reference to best practices at higher education institutions or other relevant entities;
Reference to the University’s definition of quality as stated in this policy; and
Adherence to the University’s “Formulation, Review and Approval of Policies”.
The University is committed to providing adequate resources and support to enable the implementation of its approved policies and procedures.
Evaluation and Improvement Processes:
The University has instituted processes to facilitate evaluation and enhancement of the quality of its academic and non-academic operations and outputs. These include processes for continuous monitoring and periodic review of the operations of a specific University functional unit or a specific operational process that may span multiple University functional units. Evaluation processes must emphasize the value of soliciting and considering the views of external stakeholders.
Recommendations emanating from internal and /or external quality reviews shall be transformed into Self- Improvement Plans (SIPs) for implementation by the University functional units under review as far as possible in order to re-initiate the PDCA quality cycle, and subsequent periodic reporting/ follow-up on the implementation of SIPs shall be monitored and evaluated by the Quality Assurance Office.
Internal and External Quality Assurance Reviews:
The University’s approach to evaluation and review underscores both self-reflection and external reference. Review processes may include a stage during which a University functional unit prepares a self-assessment of its performance in relation to its quality objectives (previously established, either during its planning processes or by University policy). Reviews of the quality of outputs and operations of a specific unit, or the implementation and outcomes of a specific process, will be undertaken or coordinated by the Quality Assurance Office.
Institutional Evaluation:
The University regards self-evaluation as a cornerstone of quality improvement and the primary mechanism for quality assurance. Formal quality evaluation at the University is not a one-off procedure but forms part of a cyclical process on the various levels of academic, resource and support activities. Since quality assurance, quality evaluation, and quality promotion are interlinked, the terms quality assurance and quality enhancement are used by the University in an embracing sense.
The University will undertake internal periodic quantitative and/or qualitative assessments of the quality of its processes, operations, and outputs through quality assurance checks, inspections, and research studies, including data gathering and survey analysis involving students, employees, and other stakeholders as deemed necessary.
Capacity-Building:
The University will support the implementation of corrective actions and improvement initiatives arising out of its evaluation exercises and the results of the employee's appraisals. Based on this, an annual employee development plan will be developed, and this support will include in-house as well as external training or consultancy to develop and enhance the competencies of employees where appropriate.
E. Compliance
The Vice Provost for Academic Standards is entrusted with this policy, and, in coordination with the Director of Academic Affairs, is responsible for implementing this policy and reporting in writing to the Office of Human Capital of any breach of the policy by any AUS user, stating the breach details, action to be taken and recommending any disciplinary measures as per AUS policies in this regard.
