Paper Presented at the Standing Conference for African National and University Libraries in East, Central and Southern Africa (SCANUL – ECS), 1st and 2nd June 2012 at Kenyatta University.

What is External Quality Assurance External quality assurance is performed by an organization or quality assurance agency from outside the institution. The organization assesses the operation of the institution or its programmes in order to determine if it meets the agreed upon or predetermined standards (CHE 2008:8; Sanyal & Martin 2007:5).

Purpose of External Quality Assurance  Quality control: Ensures that higher education provision is in line with minimum quality requirements  Accountability: Reassure external stakeholders of the levels of quality, high standards and international comparability of both public and private providers  Guidance and improvement : Improvement of the existing practices by establishing self-assessment procedures in higher education institutions (Martin & Stella 2007:41; UNESCO 2006:22 – 24)

Methods of External Quality Assurance  Quality Audit The process of quality assessment by which an external body ensures that the institution of programme quality procedures or that the overall (internal and external) are adequate and actually being carried out  Quality Assessment The actual process of external evaluation (reviewing, measuring, judging) of the quality of higher education institutions and programmes.  Accreditation The process by which an external body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific programme in order to formally recognize it as having met certain pre-determined minimal criteria or standards.

Methods used during accreditation  Self-assessments  Document analysis  Scrutiny of performance indicators  Peer visits  Inspections  Specially constituted panels  Stakeholder surveys

External quality assurance of university libraries  Kenya first in Africa to set up an EQA agency for higher education in 1985  Method of EQA is accreditation  Compulsory for private universities  Accreditation for licensing – award of status – LIA, Charter and Re-inspection certificate  CHE uses standards, self-assessment, quality audit  Main reasons for setting up EQA agencies in Africa has been regulation and not to enhance accountability and improvement (Materu 2007:iv)

Impact Assessment?  Complicated due to the varying views on what specific indicators of high quality are;  Given the variation of institutional objectives and priorities;  No agreed performance indicators for university libraries;  This paper does not attempt to assess the impact of the quality of the university library systems but to analyze how university librarians perceive the effects of accreditation on their institutions

Methodology  Open and closed ended questions  Likert scale format used respondents asked to strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree  A total of 22 (92%) out of 24 potential respondents completed and returned the questionnaire.  Private universities – 11 chartered, seven with LIA and four registered

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Purpose and Strength of Accreditation  Purpose of Accreditation  Quality assurance 19 (86%) out of 22  Award of Status 18 (82%) out of 22  Public accountability 5(24%)  Funding 3(14%)  Strengths of Accreditation  Conformity with standards 21 (95%) out of 24  Quality Assurance 13 (59%)  Increased funding 6(27%)  Public Accountability 5(23%) and Enhanced reputation of library staff 5(23%)  Improvement of library services 4 (18%)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Improvement of the Accreditation Process  More time should be spent in the library during the inspection visits 19(86%) out of 22  Regular follow-ups 9(41%)  Consider changing information environment 3  Avoid conflict of interest by peer evaluators 2  Appreciate efforts of institutions1

Results and Discussions Opinions towards the process of accreditation Positive perceptions  Staff participated in preparing for the visit/inspection (95%)  Led to physical development of the library (90%)  Recommendations of visiting team usually valid (87%)  Participation of peer reviewers stimulates the achievement of self-determined goals (86%)  CHE provided guidance and support after the inspection (81%)  Enhanced the quality of library/information services (78%)  Led to improvement in the work environment for staff (72%)  Led to professional staff development (68%)

Results and Discussions Opinions towards the process of accreditation Negative perceptions  Preparation for the accreditation visit/inspection is time consuming (86%)  Institutions are not adequately trained prior to the site visit/inspection (64%)

Effects of accreditation on university libraries  Promoted the physical development of the university libraries  Assisted university libraries to achieve self- determined goals  Involved peer reviewers during site visit/inspection  Enhanced the quality of library/information services  Improved staff work environment  Professional development of staff

Conclusions  CHE should create new mechanisms for EQA  CHE should promote accountability and quality improvement  CHE should improve the process of site visit/inspection  CHE should advocate for self-evaluation  Libraries should develop internal quality assurances structures

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