The Quality Assurance Office, set up only in October 2018, is currently run by its Director under the supervision of a Vice-Rector; it is expected to expand along its growth and development.
The Director of QAO leads, directs, organises, manages, and administers the work of the Quality Assurance Office and QAE, including their systems and procedures, ensuring that items (i) to (xxi) set out in the Terms of Reference of the Quality Assurance Office are addressed, operative, efficient, effective, efficacious and impactful, on a routine basis.
The Director of QAO reports to the Rector, directly or through the Vice-rector to whom responsibility for quality assurance has been entrusted.
The duties of the Director of the QA Office are:
1. Leadership and management
- To design, develop further, and implement QAE policies, strategies and systems, with ongoing monitoring, review and evaluation of their fitness for purpose.
- To lead the understanding of QAE and the development, monitoring, implementation, review and updating of the University’s QAE systems, operations, procedures and processes in all its units (academic, administrative, service and support), maintaining oversight of the assurance of quality and standards across the University.
- To ensure that there are effective, efficient, efficacious and impactful quality management processes and procedures operating consistently and securely across the University and all its units.
- To ensure that policies and procedures are effective, efficient, efficacious and impactful in promoting QAE and excellence.
- To ensure the integration of institutional and unit level QAE through working collaboratively within and across the units of the University, establishing and leading cross-unit networks and groups.
- To ensure that formal QAE requirements for academic programmes are met in every academic unit, and that the approval mechanisms for new and modified programmes are fully operational and efficacious.
- To participate in the development, planning, administration and operations of internal and external monitoring, periodic reviews, audits, accreditation with reference to QAE.
- To manage the Quality Assurance Office website and web pages.
- To oversee the budget and resourcing of the Quality Assurance Office.
- To collect, review, store and disseminate, as appropriate, the key performance indicators, evidence and reporting for every unit of the University.
- To liaise, work with, and advise senior University officers to ensure that there are appropriate structures, policies, procedures in place and working to ensure that the University’s reputation is protected and complies with external QAE, regulatory and legal requirements and frameworks.
- To contribute to the development and operations of the External Examiner system and practices.
- To identify immediate, imminent or longer-term risks or threats to quality and standards, and lead discussion about how to address them.
2. Implementation of QAE
- To ensure that QAE is planned, implemented, monitored, reviewed, evaluated, reported and acted upon across the University and its units, ensuring that all parties are aware of and know the University’s and the units’ requirements of, and developments in QAE.
- To ensure that the University’s QAE processes and requirements are up-to-date, reviewed and updated periodically to incorporate any changes in requirements by the University;
- To organise, administer and conduct QAE-related surveys, monitoring targeted data (e.g. theme-based, topic-based) and reports, including, but not limited to, their design, data collection, processing, analysis, interpretation and reporting.
- To liaise with unit heads developing QAE policies.
3. Documents
- To lead and manage the preparation, production, collection, storage, organisation, referencing, archiving, retrieval, and dissemination of QAE documents, policies, codes, data, manuals, reports, reviews and literature from all the units of the University.
- To ensure the security of documents and their access and disclosure in accordance with the regulations and procedures of the University.
- To ensure that handbooks for students and staff are complete, comprehensive, up-to-date and available.
- To develop and produce guidance documents, policy documents, consultation papers, etc. on QAE, as appropriate.
- To store the guidance and administer the compilation and updating of the QAE-related information/data procedures across the University and its units.
4. Reporting
- To provide reports to the senior officers of the University, Deans and Heads of units, and, where appropriate, to external parties, on a formal basis and on request, on the operations of QAE and the Quality Assurance Office, and on QAE matters, data, surveys, etc., as appropriate.
5. Representation and participation
- To participate in University councils and committees at the request of the Chair.
- To attend, representing the University where appropriate, meetings, conferences, workshops, fora, etc., concerning QAE, and the protection of academic standards and quality.
6. Development, training and support
- To organise and, where relevant, provide training, development and support – formal and informal – on QAE for members of the University and its units.
7. External parties
- To direct, administer, review and develop the involvement of external parties and agencies in QAE review and monitoring, at University and, where appropriate, unit levels.
- To develop and maintain awareness of external quality agendas and requirements, drawing these to the attention of the University and proposing appropriate responses at the University and unit levels.
- To liaise with external parties in matters concerning QAE work, including their requirements for documents and feedback from the University and its units.