The guidelines on quality monitoring mechanism shall be adopted by the Centre for Internal Quality Assurance for conducting institutional quality audits, to promote quality assurance and enhance as well as spread best-in-class practices of quality assurance.
Quality monitoring shall be addressed under the following broad areas, namely:—
Governance, Leadership and Management: This relates to the policies and practices of Higher Educational Institution in the matter of planning, human resources, recruitment, training, performance appraisal, financial management and the overall role of leadership, with a focus on the following key aspects:
Organisation Structure and Governance: The Higher Educational Institution shall fill all sanctioned/required positions as prescribed by the Commission and establish a credible governance system.
Management: The leadership and management of the Institution shall strive to assess and review the organisational culture to achieve its vision, mission and goals.
Strategic Planning: The Higher Educational Institution shall undertake strategic planning of its activities and implement the same by aligning those with academic and administrative aspects to improve the overall quality.
Operational Plan, Goals and Policies: The Higher Educational Institution shall have well defined goals which are realistic and measurable, well defined policies that are in sync with its strategic plan and are realistic and achievable, clearly stated guidelines for the implementation of its policies and plans, and transparent and accountable system for its policies and planning that are well communicated to its stakeholders.
Articulation of Higher Educational Institution Objectives: The Higher Educational Institution shall articulate a clear vision, mission, ethos and broad strategy consistent with the goals for offering programmes in Open and Distance Learning and Online mode.
Programme Development and Approval Processes: This area of concern relates to programme development and approval mechanism for the programme(s) to be launched, covering the following key aspects, namely:—
Curriculum Planning, Design and Development: The curriculum planning, design and development of academic programmes is a major academic activity of the Higher Educational Institution. Therefore, it shall have processes, systems and structures in place to carry out these responsibilities.
Curriculum Implementation: The Higher Educational Institution shall have specific implementation plans for identifying the time to be spent on specific components of the implementation phase. It is the basis for the effectiveness of the programme(s) and their usefulness as a whole.
Academic Flexibility: The Higher Educational Institution shall adopt proper strategies for imparting academic flexibility, which refers to freedom in the use of the time-frame of courses, vertical mobility, and inter-disciplinary options facilitated by curricular transactions for learners.
Learning Resource: The Higher Educational Institution shall ensure quality learning resources in the form of Self Learning Materials (SLMs) for Open and Distance Learning mode and e-learning material for Online mode of education as defined in these regulations. While deciding on the instructional packages, the Higher Educational Institution shall take into consideration various factors – the media and technology utilised matches the course content in order to enhance and expand learning, and to match to the learners’ needs; that these are accessible, practical and equitable, and cost effective to the learners.
Feedback System: The process of revision and re-design of curricula shall be based on feedback from all stakeholders in terms of its relevance and appropriateness in catering to the needs of the society, economy and environment.
Programme Monitoring and Review: The Higher Educational Institution shall plan and execute programme monitoring and review system to conduct periodic internal reviews and maintain the quality of academic programmes. For such reviews, the Institution shall also consider the attainments of learning outcomes that are assessed through the various tools for direct and indirect assessment.
Infrastructure Resources: The Higher Educational Institution shall have a system to elicit data on the adequacy and optimal use of the facilities – physical facilities, library (or e-library), Information and Communication Technology infrastructure, etc. – available in a Higher Educational Institution to maintain the quality of academic programmes and ensure qualitative support to each of the stakeholders.
Learning Environment and Learner Support: The learner support services including academic counselling and library services shall be a major pre-occupation of Higher Educational Institution for its Open and Distance Learning mode and Online mode learners. Additionally, Higher Educational Institution shall establish Information and Communication Technology facilities as component of the learning environment which is focused around the pedagogical use of modern educational practices to support blended learning. Learner Support Services shall be provided through the campus-wide portal and e-Learning platform. The Higher Educational Institution shall take a more sophisticated approach to the use of Information and Communication Technology and expertise in e-learning. The approach shall provide a seamless learner-centred environment.
Assessment and Evaluation: All the stated Learning Outcomes of a Programme must be part of its evaluation protocol. The Higher Educational Institution shall execute the evaluation through varied assessment tools including multiple choice questions, projects, reports, case-studies, presentations, and term-end examinations, to suit the different learning outcomes expected of the course elements. The Higher Educational Institution shall have proper assessment and moderation system for assessing the learning outcomes of learners.
Teaching Quality and Staff Development: The Higher Educational Institutions shall have a well established structure for promoting quality counselling, capacity building workshops, programmes, interactive teaching-learning and provide staff development programmes and activities to encourage academic staff to improve teaching and learning on continuous basis.
