Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Higher Education: Perspectives & Experiences

Program Overview:
The development and utilization of effective mechanisms for quality assurance and improvement are critical to the success of higher education everywhere, and is strongly linked to the ability of institutions to achieve national and international accreditation. Accreditation is perceived as one of the most critical and challenging aspects of higher education because it touches almost every aspect of the institutional system. Accreditation should be seen as a mean for continuous improvement that looks beyond only meeting some minimal standard measures of inputs; it is instead a comprehensive, planned and systematic review process of an institution, its programs, services and resources to determine whether or not acceptable standards of education, scholarship, and infrastructure are being met, maintained and enhanced on a continuous basis. It is an ongoing process which must be built into the day to day practices of institutions of higher education.
With the emergence of external quality assurance agencies and quality frameworks in the region; higher education institutions are placing more and more emphasis on implementing quality at all levels and ensuring continuous improvement. The program aims to introduce participants to the principles of quality and continuous improvement as an institutional concern that links to the process of accreditation; it also addresses the role of executive leadership in creating a culture of excellence. The program will be tailored to expose participants to the accreditation process or approach of their national EQA ; it will provide insights on how to conduct self-assessment and interpreted these standards into practice. It will familiarize participants with the processes of writing ‘self –study’ reports, prepare for the external review visits and how to address comments from the external review team, close the gaps and make the most out of the process.

Target Audience:
This program is intended at Directors and Staff working in QA offices as well as Deans of Schools/Colleges, Heads of Departments, Program Leaders, and faculty members involved with accreditation.