The Academic Quality Handbook: Enhancing Higher Education in Universities and Further Education Colleges

Universities and further education colleges are under increasing pressure to provide 'quality' for their students. Quality assurance and development issues affect the staff, resources, administration and culture of an academic institution, yet there is often a lack of clear guidance available to those responsible for implementing best practice. This book provides practical guidelines for managing academic quality assurance and quality enhancement, outlining best practice from both the UK and the rest of the world. Each chapter addresses the key points, risks and good practice across a wide range of quality issues, drawing explicitly and in detail from the QAA guidance on the Code of Practice, Subject Benchmarks, Qualifications Framework and Institutional Audit. The material is presented in an accessible and straightforward style, incorporating useful features such as development questions for individual or team review. A maintained website accompanying this book (www.academicquality.com) contains further useful resources, with updates and supplementary material in this constantly changing area.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part 1: The quality infrastructure 1. The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications 2. Benchmarking academic standards: the subject benchmark statements 4. Information on quality and standards in higher education 5. Managing quality enhancement Part 2: Managing quality in the context of the QAA Code of Practice 6. The code of practice 7. Collaborative provision 8. Students with disabilities 9. External examning systems 10. Academic appeals and student complaints 11. The assessment of students 12 Programme approval, monitoring and review 13. Career education information and guidance 14. Placement learning 15. Recruitment and admission of students 16. Distance learning

About the Author :
Professor Patrick McGhee is Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire and is a subject reviewer and institutional auditor for the QAA.

Review :
'This is an excellent handbook, helpfully covering all the main topics within the area of academic quality which should concern academics ... It will sit in my place for handy books and I have no doubt that I shall be referring to various sections of it, often. I'd advise you to do likewise.' - John Cowen, British Journal of Educational Technology