Quality Assurance And Accreditation In Australian Higher Education

Australian universities are all self-accrediting. In the absence of a system of external examiners or an independent quality assurance authority, how can anyone know how good the degrees are? New Zealand, Britain and the USA have agencies of different kinds which examine the quality assurance processes of their universities and the quality of students' work. Professional bodies in such fields as medicine and engineering assess the curriculum and standards in their fields and accredit professional schools and faculties. In the face of increasing international competition, can Australia continue with its present system unchanged? This study proposes a Modern Australian Model which builds on the self-examination processes now common in Australian universities. It proposes a national agency which shall be minimally intrusive within universities but which is still able to proclaim to the world that Australian degrees are of a good standard, carefully scrutinised. The agency will also be able to represent Australia in discussions which are beginning to take place on international accreditation.

This seminar was sponsored jointly by three agencies: the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs; the OECD's Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) programme; and the University of New England's Centre for Higher Education Management and Policy (CHEMP). The seminar succeeded in its purpose of consolidating knowledge and experience drawn from a variety of national and international sources; and facilitating informal debate and discussion of current policy directions and initiatives designed to strengthen Australia's system of quality assurance in higher education.

This title was first published in 2001. Universities in developing countries have followed their counterparts in developed countries and adopted quality assurance to improve the quality of their activities. This text examines the wisdom of such a move when many of the conditions necessary for its success are not present. It concludes that quality assurance can be useful in developing countries because it shows how a university's seemingly disparate activities are related to one another to serve a common goal and how the quality of these can best be improved by using an integrated approach. Quality assurance also provides more focus and direction to the work of the traditional university system. However, it must be modified to suit the conditions prevailing in developing countries by being simple in design, modest in expectations and realistic in requirements.

This edited volume examines the importance of quality issues in contemporary higher education systems in the Asia Pacific. Part One foregrounds relevant discussions of ‘quality’ within today’s globalized, interconnected, and complex higher education systems while Part Two focuses on selected universities in the Asia Pacific region. Chapter contributors discuss how quality issues and quality assurance mechanisms are implemented in their situation-specific systems. Part Three extends the research of higher education quality assurance in Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) and the diverse international student body in the Australian higher education system. The conclusion chapter discusses a typology of methods used by higher education systems in establishing effective quality assurance mechanisms.

First Published in 1992. This is a collection of the Proceedings of an International Conference Hong Kong, July 1991. The Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA) hosted an invitation conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Over 100 senior representatives from accreditation bodies and from higher education attended and spent three days in discussion of quality assurance issues. Delegates came from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Edited versions of the formal presentations appear in this publication; together they offer a review of international developments in quality assurance in higher education.

University league tables at national, regional, international levels are increasingly complex, influential and controversial. In spite of criticisms on robustness of methodology and bias of indicators, higher education institutions continue to have an appetite for them and use or misuse them in their planning, policymaking and promotion activities. This publication will contribute to the much needed analysis of the implications, benefits and unintended consequences related to rankings and the broader issues of quality assurance in the Asia Pacific region.

This title was first published in 2001: An edited collection of essays from experts in the field of quality assurance in higher education. Each contributor provides a summary of recent developments in the respective countries centred on specific themes. They include an outline of the nature of higher education in the various countries, a description of recent developments in higher education quality assurance mechanisms together with discussions of the role of government, funding, the implications of emerging new trends such as distance learning, and non-traditional modes of delivery and assessment. The book should be of use to those working in higher education - both academics and policy makers - because of its comparative focus and ability to compare strategies and structures from one country to another. Similarly those working directly in assuring quality issues should also find the volume valuable.