Compliance vs Quality Improvement Moving from Quick Fixes

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

Driving force for External Quality Assurance Meeting external requirements Satisfying consumer expectations

Role of External Quality Assurance Quality Improvement Accountability

Impact of Quality Assurance at the Institutional Level CHANGE Accountability Improvement

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).

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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

Institutional Data Profile – The University of Trinidad and Tobago

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