1. Compliance vs Quality Improvement : Moving from Quick Fixes to Data-driven Change
Ruby S. Alleyne PhD
Vice-President, Quality Assurance and Institutional Effectiveness
The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)
ACHEA Conference 2018

2. Driving force for External Quality Assurance
Satisfying consumer expectations
Meeting external requirements linked to accreditation

3. Role of External Quality Assurance
Quality Improvement
Accountability

4. Impact of Quality Assurance at the Institutional Level
CHANGE
Improvement
Accountability

5. Quality Improvement
Pre-dominant model for quality improvement globally includes self-evaluation and external peer review (Van Vught and Westerheijden, 1995).
Most appropriate model for the professional bureaucracy as it gives ownership for the quality to the institution (Mintzberg and Quinn, 1998).

6. Figure 1. Self-Study Accreditation Improvement External Dimension
Report for External Review
Recommendations
Accreditation
Self-Study
Improvement
Data Collection and Analysis
Decisions
Internal Dimension

7. Figure 1. Self-Study Accreditation Improvement Animated version
External
Dimension
Report for External Review
Recommendations
Accreditation
Self-Study
Data Collection and Analysis
Improvement
Decisions
Internal Dimension

8. Does external quality assurance really make a difference?
Burdensome processes (Harvey, 2005)
Perceived by academics as a distrust of their work;
costly;
bureaucratic exercise (Cheng, 2009)

9. Institutional Impact Improved • Transparency • Communication
• Organisational learning
• Effectiveness
(Sallinen and Panhelainen, 1994)

10. Institutional Impact Improved
Increased awareness of strategic planning
Giving staff a forum for input to decision making
(Thorn, 2003)

11. Improved
Development of policy and structure of institutional quality work
Development of student influence in quality assurance
Cooperation with stakeholders
Internal evaluations
Reviews and follow up processes
Quality assurance in internationalization
(Wahlen 2004)

12. Other studies that cited positive effects in
Chile (Lemaitre, 2004)
West Indies (Gift and Bell Hutchinson, 2007)
New Zealand (Carr and Meade 2005)
While external audits have led to improvement in systems and processes, they have not improved education outcomes and the student experience.
(Shah, 2013) Study of 30 Australian Universities

13. Can you measure the effectiveness of external quality audits?
Focus has been on quality assurance systems and processes because good processes are easier to achieve than good outcomes.
(Shah 2013)

14. Improvements noted in the Australian Universities Study
Internationalization (quality of offshore programmes)
University governance
Learning and teaching
Institutional approach to student surveys and feedback

15. Limited improvement noted in Australian Universities Study
Enhancement of student experience
Community engagement
Administrative areas
Research and research training

16. A Shift in Focus – Away from Compliance towards Improvement.
Greater emphasis on:
Quality of the Student Experience
Quality of Educational Outcomes
Quality of Graduates (Graduate Employability)

17. Shift in Focus Quality of Student Experience
Do we have a data-driven approach to:
Understanding out students
Knowing their expectations
Meeting their needs

18. Shift in Focus Quality of Educational Outcomes
Do we have a data-driven approach to:
Defining knowledge, skills, attitudes, values
Embedding graduate attributes in the curriculum
Assessing and improving student learning outcomes

19. Shift in Focus Quality of Graduates (Graduate Employability)
Do we have a data-driven approach to
Valid and reliable data on graduate employability
Alignment of curricula and assessment to employability competencies
Match between graduate output and competencies required by national, regional and international markets.

20. The “New” Quality Imperative
Systematic Collection, Analysis and Management of data
Capturing the right data
Creating diverse data sets
Integrating data sources
Using data to inform decisions
Building analytics capacity and capability

21. Institutional Data Profile – The University of Trinidad and Tobago

22. The Future of Quality lies in Data“
In God we trust. All others must bring data.”
W. Edwards Deming, Statistician
Thank You