1. NCI Faculty Induction Day
Quality Assurance presentation
18 August 2017
Induction is a process … and not an event!
You will have questions today, so please ask them.
You will also have questions after today, so do make sure that you ask them too!!!
What you are going through now, and in the days/weeks ahead, is also what our new students go through.
Thus, a key role is asking questions … while another is providing/finding answers.
As part of a learning community, we – as academic/support staff – are also continuing to learn, to develop professionally, and to engage with various audiences (internal and external).

2. Who are we? Sinéad Maurice Director, Quality Assurance
(01)
Quality Assurance & Statistical Services Officer
(01)
The QASS officer role:
… supports the management and oversight of quality assurance processes involved in the development, delivery, evaluation and review of academic programmes, as well as supporting the development of a continuous improvement culture …
In part, it does this by assisting in the implementation of QA related NCI projects, such as the Feedback from students project, and co-ordination alongside NCI and NCI Students’ Union colleagues of our membership of the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP). As QASS officer, I report to the QA Director.
Jimmy Hill
liaises directly with Schools & Services  works with John McGarrigle (Registrar)
↖ Sinéad O’Sullivan ↗ 
Maurice FitzGerald
It is worth emphasising that QA is at the forefront of providing support to Faculty in the validation/revalidation (and accreditation) of programmes of study.

3. Where are we? QA Office (Room 4.13) Quality Assurance … this way!
we’re on the 4th floor corridor
QA – also known as QASS (Quality Assurance & Statistical Services) – is located on the 4th floor in Room 4.13.

4. What do we do?
advise on and formulate academic policies and procedures
advise on process improvement throughout the organisation
provide management information to assist in evidence-based decision-making
project manage programme development
advise on service evaluations
This office was set up to support the implementation of Quality Assurance policies and procedures at NCI.
It is also responsible for:
providing management information support to Executive Board and the Schools;
ensuring accurate information is available to assist the quality assurance process and in effective and strategic decision making; and
managing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

5. Why do we do this? legal and regulatory framework
required by law
required by QQI our main awarding body
European standards and guidelines (ESG)
simply put, it is the right thing to do!
In sum, the goal is to ensure a consistent student experience.
The National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) is a system of ten levels, and NCI mainly operates at 6, 7, 8, and 9, as well as 5 and 10.
Each level is based on nationally agreed standards of knowledge, skill and competence, i.e. what an individual is expected to know, understand and be able to do following successful completion of a process of learning. (It includes learning from the very initial to the most advanced stages; all such learning may be achieved in schools/colleges, at work, or in the home/community.) In sum, the indicators are:
Knowledge – Breadth; Kind
Know-How & Skill – Range; Selectivity
Competence – Context; Role; Learning to Learn; Insight
Awarding bodies have refined the general standards for specific disciplines (i.e. Business, Computing, etc.); our main awarding bodies are:
QQI Quality and Qualifications Ireland (cf FETAC Further Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC Higher Education and Training Awards Council, etc.)
CIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

6. How should you see QA in action?
Quality Assurance (QA)
Quality Enhancement (QE)
single module descriptor
peer review of assessment
peer review of marking
liaison with external examiners
peer review of programmes via validation/revalidation
feedback from students
participation in programme committees
feedback from peers, from external examiners, etc.
Quality Control (QC)
audit of practice
In Learning and Teaching terms, Quality Enhancement essentially boils down to the sharing of effective practice; do note that some of the literature will also speak about Quality Improvement (QI), Institutional Research (IR), etc.
In sum, we embody Quality Assurance, we advocate Quality Enhancement … but we sometimes have to exercise/support Quality Control.

7. QA project work
we use an automated online system called EvaSys to gather/share learner feedback on all modules
each spring, NCI takes part in the Irish Survey of Student Engagement (ISSE)
NCI is a founding participant in the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP)
further details regarding the Feedback from students and NStEP
projects are available on the old myncistaff portal, but they are
in the process of being moved to the new NCI myApps portal

9. Core Resources and Systems Supporting Quality
Staff Portal (in the process of moving from to
the NCI myApps portal is home for the majority of NCI applications you will use
the Information Hub app, for example, hosts “Policies, Procedures and Forms” through a ‘Document Centre’, while QQI approved schedules and documents are currently located there under “Regulatory”
N.B. it is expected that the NCI myApps portal will in due course be used as a means to host the Quality Assurance Handbook, to help manage programme development, etc., but do please note that many of these resources are – temporarily! – still on the old myncistaff portal awaiting transfer.
Quality Assurance Handbook – how we say we work in the areas of …
Quality Assurance and Standards
Programme Development, Review and Evaluation
Examinations and Awards
Research
Learner Life HR IT
Health & Safety
Learner Recruitment & Publications
Commercial Office
Residences
Alumni
Development Office
Freedom of Information
This information is all available on the Staff Portal, but it is undergoing updating as part of the Quality Assurance Review.

10. Core Resources and Systems Supporting Quality
Coursebuilder (accessible via the Information Hub app)
official source of module descriptor and programme schedule information
Quercus (accessible via the Information Hub app)
this is used to manage the student record system, including all academic performance
Moodle (accessible via the main NCI myApps portal)
hosts Teaching, Learning & Assessment resources, including those supporting non-contact hours
Coursebuilder is where programmes/modules are developed and housed before they are signed off and validated; in turn, they are then made public.
Quercus is the central student records system.
Moodle is the College VLE – Virtual Learning Environment – and it is NCI’s equivalent of Blackboard.

11. Programme Committee Each Programme Committee …
… has responsibility, under the overall guidance of the Head of School/Director of Centre, for developing and operating a programme
… ensures the quality delivery of the academic programme and that: learners are well informed that their progress is being monitored; a reasonable balance of work is offered to the learner; and that assessments are appropriate, consistent and fair
… ensures the relevance and quality of the programme by a process of periodic evaluation
Your role on Programme Committee is vital.
Thus, you need to ensure that ongoing contact is maintained with colleagues (e.g. face-to-face, via , phone, etc.), as well as attending the formal meetings.

12. Programme Director
responsible for day to day management of a programme
ongoing development of that programme
monitoring learner feedback, learner performance, etc.
delivery in accordance with approved documentation and schedules
bringing examination results to exam board
reviewing academic content of documents for publication
as chair, co-ordinating the activities of the Programme Committee
supporting Programmatic Review/Revalidation

13. Faculty Member
delivery of assigned module according to the module descriptor/approved course schedule
as a Module Convenor
be responsible for a module, its development and review
act on feedback from learners, reviewers (internal or external), etc.
be part of Programme Committee
give us feedback on what works – academically and administratively – but also what doesn’t work!
Module Convenor is a key role required of NCI Faculty and Associate Faculty.
You may well be the subject specialist and, thus, we rely on you to feed into the overall development of the module and, in turn, the programme(s).

14. Module Descriptor the Module Descriptor outlines:
learning outcomes; syllabus; assessment structure; etc.
you may not deviate from this
you should contribute to proposals for change as part of the Programme Committee review process
information regarding modules/programmes is accessible via – copy is automatically provided to Faculty and Students via Coursebuilder
remember you may be sharing this module with someone else – ‘it’s good to talk!’
make it your own by building on this – electronically through Moodle, manually via case studies, etc.

15. Practical items …
Class Deferrals (extract taken from the Faculty Information Booklet)
If a lecturer for whatever reason cannot make a scheduled class, the following steps much be taken by the lecturer:
As soon as you can, advise the CTO [Central Timetabling Office] and the Programme Co-ordinator on the same of the problem
As a priority, update your Moodle page so that students are informed
CTO will liaise with you regarding a new suitable time for the make-up class
CTO will book the room and publish the class on the staff and student timetable
CTO will then confirm the change with you and ask you to notify the students on Moodle about the rescheduled time/location
Programme Coordinator will be cc’d on final confirmation correspondence for their reference only
Contact
Existing agreed policy regarding the ‘Postponement of Lectures’ states that:
Only in the case of absolute emergency should a class be postponed
Missed lectures must be made up
Please try to swop with colleagues rather than postpone
In the case of emergency, illness, unavoidable delays, etc.
Teaching between 9am and 1pm – asap and before 9.30am
Teaching between 1pm and 5pm – asap before 11.30am
Teaching between 5pm and 9.30pm – asap before 1pm
This allows us to contact students/rearrange slots
CONTACT – Programme Co-ordinator
(e.g. by telephone ... and, in turn, ensure that you Cc the Programme Co-ordinator into your to the CTO)

16. Practical items … your NCI email address
this is the one electronic location to which we can guarantee your – one of NCI’s primary means of staying in touch with you – is delivered
please see the Faculty Information Booklet for answers to questions such as “How do I access my NCI s?”
correspondence regarding exam papers, assessments, communication around student results, etc., from any address other than your NCI address is not acceptable – please see the Faculty Information Booklet for the protocols regarding exams in the School of Business and/or the School of Computing
when communicating with students, ensure that you know the assessment structure, the length of a paper, etc., before you communicate it to the students
N.B.
s from hotmail, gmail, etc., can often be caught up in our security, but regular use of your NCI address will counteract this.
it is critical that our processes run to time, e.g. the need to get exam papers turned around to external examiners – so, draft the exam paper now!
remember that exam papers provided via any other address will be required to be rewritten.
incorrect information or conflicting communications can cause students distress at exam times and undermines confidence.

17. Quality Assurance agenda for 2017-18
ensure recommendations from Services Reviews and Programmatic Reviews are implemented
prepare landscape for next Institutional Review
review of academic policies and their implementation
continue to support programme development
complete the record management project
Communication will be made throughout the academic year informing colleagues regarding progress on these, as well as other, QA initiatives.

18. Q&A re: QA
for more information regarding QA at NCI, please do get in touch our homepage is located at Depts/Other- Departments/Quality- Assurance we run a blog and have a Twitter as well as maintaining a comprehensive presence on the Staff Portal
A blog posting regarding “Faculty Induction Day, 18 August 2017” is scheduled to be published at 5pm today.