Quality Assurance

This section is designed as a guide to, and source of reference on, the principles, procedures and administrative practice upon which the College’s academic quality mechanisms are based. The College operates in the context of continuous development in the areas of quality assurance and quality enhancement. There are a range of bodies both internal and external to which College members, individually and collectively, are accountable for the quality and standard of academic provision. Internally, quality assurance procedures are developed on the basis that each member of College has personal responsibility for the maintenance of academic standards. External quality assurance is dealt by the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education and the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth.

The College sees the definition, communication and enhancement of academic standards relating to a number of key aspects of College work:

1. The access, admission and induction of students;
2. Systems for program of study design, approval and review;
3. Program of study operation, teaching and learning;
4. Student assessment, progression and levels of academic attainment;
5. Systems for the appointment and appraisal of faculty members; and
6. Student guidance and learner support.

In relation to each of these areas, the College has defined responsibilities resting with individuals or committees within the College for the:

1. Setting of standards;
2. Communication of standards; and
3. Monitoring, reviewing, evaluation and enhancement of standards.

The quality assurance procedures in place are sanctioned by and operate through the Quality Assurance Committee, Academic Committee, Director of Academic Affairs, Department Heads and faculty members. Part of the Quality Assurance Committee’s and Academic Committee’s duties is to undertake checks, from time to time, to monitor the extent to which the College’s declared policies and procedures on academic issues are being followed. The Quality Assurance Committee and the Academic Committee are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness in practice of the declared quality control mechanisms.

What follows is a detailed description of the procedures involved in quality assurance.

Monitoring and evaluation is the process of systematically gathering and scrutinising relevant information and critical reflection on its significance. The purposes of these activities are:

1. The assessment of the quality of provision;
2. The identification of deficiencies and strategy for remedy;
3. The sharing and reinforcing of good practice; and
4. The encouragement of innovation and subsequent enhancement of good standards.

The routine monitoring of academic provision is carried out throughout the year and is the formal responsibility of individual faculty members through numerous established procedures.

A critical appraisal will normally cover a review of areas like:

1. Aims and objectives: the extent to which these have been satisfied, and of their continuing relevance;
2. Curriculum: including the arrangements for teaching, learning and assessment;
3. Staffing and resources;
4. Learning services and student support services related to the course;
5. Student views;
6. Relevant faculty members development research;
7. Views of the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education and the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth on any academic issue; and
8. Where appropriate, vocational and career aspects of relevance to a program of study through external input from employers and other bodies.

A suggestion for a new program of study may originate from a variety of sources: e.g. a faculty or administration member of the College, a student of the College or an external source and it may arise for various reasons, for example, identified niche market; student feedback; strategic opportunity; growth market. A suggestion for a new program of study is accompanied by a 2-4 page supporting report that briefly includes:

• the proposed name, aims and description of the program;
• the target market and evidence of market demand; and
• need for special resources.

The suggestion is placed on the agenda of the Academic Committee’s next scheduled meeting. The Academic Committee has to decide whether to proceed with exploring further the suggestion. If the committee is positive, it ratifies the composition of an ad hoc committee composed of a number of appropriate people that will prepare a proposal and appoints a chairperson for the committee. The appointed members of the ad hoc committee must consist of people with professional/teaching experience in the field of the program of study to be developed and people with experience in curriculum development. The committee may consist of faculty members of the College and/or of external individuals (e.g. industry experts, alumni, members of professional associations). The committee’s chairperson will have the responsibility for steering the proposal through the development process and for submitting to the Academic Committee members the developed proposal by the due date set by the Academic Committee. The developed proposal should include the following for the program of study:

1. Name
2. Final higher education qualification awarded
3. Type (academic / vocational, conventional / distance learning)
4. Duration of studies
5. Language of instruction
6. Admission requirements
7. Special provision for students’ assessment
8. Purpose and objectives (of the program)
9. Learning outcomes (of the program)
10. Curriculum
11. Course sequence (courses per semester)
12. Syllabus for each course of the program of study
13. Faculty members and their curriculum vitae (must include their qualifications and research record)
14. A list of the courses the faculty members will teach
15. Infrastructure necessary to run the program (e.g. special laboratories, software, equipment, library material)
16. Relation with similar programs
17. Relation with any external examinations
18. Relation with any recognition/membership requirements of a related professional association/body (ETEK, etc.).
19. Feasibility study for the offering of the program of study which must include, amongst others the tuition and other fees of the program, the proposed number of students and graduates’ employability prospects.

Once the proposal is ready, a copy of the developed proposal is given to each member of the Academic Committee. At the same time, the committee’s chairperson finds two external people with professional/teaching experience in the field of the program of study (external stakeholders). The stakeholders are provided with the developed proposal and other necessary information and they are sked to provide their feedback, opinions and comments (in the form of a written report) concerning the following within 15 days:

1. Curriculum and Syllabi
2. Alignment with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
3. Institution’s Quality Assurance Policies
4. Student Admission, Progression, Recognition, and Certification
5. Adequacy of Program Information on the College Website
6. Industry Trend Analysis
7. Alignment with Market Needs
8. Potential Employability of its Graduates

Once the external stakeholders’ reports are prepared, the Academic Committee, following a thorough evaluation of the proposal and the external stakeholders’ reports, meets within 10 days in order to decide one of the following courses of action:

1. To approve the developed proposal (with or without requesting any minor changes that the ad hoc committee will be asked to implement);
2. To refer back the developed proposal to the ad hoc committee chairperson for further consideration (pointing out serious issues that must be considered);
3. To defer consideration of the developed proposal until a later date; and
4. To have no further consideration of the developed proposal.

It is important that the proposal is initiated in sufficient time for all stages of the procedure for approval to be completed before the proposal is due to take effect. Therefore, the Academic Committee will receive proposals no later than the 30^th of June (15 months before the start of offering the program of study).

Once the proposal is approved, the College prepares the application for evaluation – accreditation of a program of study and any other documents and submits them to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

Every 2 years since the day a program of study started being offered is reviewed and evaluated by the Quality Assurance Committee based on a report prepared by the program’s coordinator. The purpose of the review and evaluation is to examine if the program is being offered adequately or if it needs to be revised or discontinued. The program’s coordinator report provides information on the following:

1. A review of the program’s of study aspects (see aspects considered when developing a new program of study);
2. A review of the students’ admission, withdrawal, progression and graduation rates;
3. A review of students’ facilities and services satisfaction and faculty and course satisfaction;
4. Information related to the employment of graduates;
5. Aspects of good practice;
6. A critical appraisal of the operation of the program of study; and
7. Suggestions, if necessary, for revising anything related to the operation of the program of study and the rationale for any proposed revisions.

Once the report is prepared, a meeting of the Quality Assurance Committee is scheduled and the report is provided to the Quality Assurance Committee members. The committee will then meet and discuss the particular program’s review. In the meeting, following a thorough examination of the report by committees’ members, the Quality Assurance Committee decide one of the following:

1. the program is being offered adequately;
2. the program needs to be revised (in such a case the revision of an existing program procedure is initiated); or
3. the program needs to be discontinued (see the discontinuation of an existing program of study section).

Prior to the submission of an application for re-evaluation – re-accreditation of a program of study to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education, the Academic Committee ratifies the composition of an ad hoc committee composed of a number of appropriate people that will review and evaluate the program’s curriculum and syllabi. The ad hoc committee consists of the Program Coordinator (chairperson) and people with professional/teaching experience in the field of the program of study to be reviewed. For example, faculty members of the College and/or of external individuals with relevant experience/studies (e.g. industry experts, alumni, members of professional associations). The committee’s chairperson will have the responsibility for steering the proposal through the review process and for submitting to the Academic Committee members the review report by the due date set by the Academic Committee.

The committee’s chairperson finds two external people with professional/teaching experience in the field of the program of study (external stakeholders). The stakeholders are provided with the program’s curriculum and syllabi and other necessary information and they are asked to provide their feedback, opinions and comments (in the form of a written report) concerning the following within 15 days:

1. Curriculum and Syllabi
2. Alignment with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
3. Institution’s Quality Assurance Policies
4. Student Admission, Progression, Recognition, and Certification
5. Adequacy of Program Information on the College Website
6. Industry Trend Analysis
7. Alignment with Market Needs
8. Potential Employability of its Graduates

Once the ad hoc committee’s report and the external stakeholders’ reports are prepared, a copy of the reports are given to each member of the Academic Committee and a meeting of the Academic Committee is scheduled. Following a thorough examination of the reports by the committees’ members, the Academic Committee will meet, discuss the particular program’s curriculum and syllabi review and decide one of the following:

1. the program’s curriculum and syllabi do not need to be revised; or
2. the program’s curriculum and syllabi require minor revisions (e.g. change in the syllabus of a course, change of main book); or
3. the program’s curriculum and syllabi need to be revised (in such a case the revision of an existing program procedure is initiated).

If the Academic Committee decides not to revise the program of study, then the College prepares the application for evaluation – accreditation of a program of study (along with any other necessary documents), gives it to the Internal Quality Assurance Committee for approval, and then the College submits the application to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

If the Academic Committee decides that the program of study requires minor revisions, then it asks the Program Coordinator to implement the revisions in cooperation with related faculty members. Once this is done, the College prepares the application for evaluation – accreditation of a program of study (along with any other necessary documents), gives it to the Internal Quality Assurance Committee for approval, and then the College submits the application to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

If the Academic Committee decides that the program of study requires major revisions, then the revision of an existing program of study procedure applies.

A report suggesting the revision of an existing program of study may originate following the Program of study review and evaluation or following the Curriculum and syllabi review and is dealt by the Academic Committee.

During the meeting, the committee ratifies the composition of an ad hoc committee composed of appropriate people that will prepare a proposal regarding the revision of the program. The ad hoc committee consists of the Program Coordinator (chairperson) and people with professional/teaching experience in the field of the program of study to be revised and people with experience in curriculum development. The committee may consist of faculty members of the College and/or of external individuals (e.g. industry experts, alumni, members of professional associations). The committee’s chairperson will have the responsibility for steering the proposal through the revision process and for submitting to the Academic Committee members the revised program of study report by the due date set by the Academic Committee. Any information/report related to the revision is provided to the ad hoc committee. The developed proposal should include the following for the program of study:

1. Revision(s) suggested;
2. Reasons for requesting these revision(s);
3. Benefits from proceeding with these revisions(s); and
4. Drawbacks from proceeding with these revision(s).

A copy of the developed proposal is given to each member of the Academic Committee. The academic committee following a thorough evaluation of the proposal meets within 15 days in order to decide one of the following courses of action:

1. To approve the proposal (with or without requesting any minor changes that the ad hoc committee will be asked to implement); and
2. To refer back the proposal to the ad hoc committee chairperson for further consideration (pointing out serious issues that must be considered).

Once the developed proposal is approved, the College prepares the application for evaluation – accreditation of a program of study (along with any other necessary documents), gives it to the Internal Quality Assurance Committee for approval, and then the College submits the application to the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

Occasionally, there may arise a need to discontinue a program of study. This need may arise for the following reasons:

1. The program of study has become obsolete or irrelevant, either academically or professionally;
2. Student demand for the program of study does not justify its continuation; and
3. Major concerns in relation to the quality of the program of study, identified over time have not been adequately addressed.

The decision to discontinue a program of study may only be taken by the Academic Committee.

Where a staff member suggests to discontinue a program of study, a written suggestion should be submitted to the Academic Committee setting out the reasons for the recommendation and indicating any necessary arrangements to protect the status and choice of existing and potential students. The committee may consider such recommendations following consultation with the relevant faculty members. The Academic Committee may itself initiate consideration of the discontinuation of a program.