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 -- 1 The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) -- Use of the FHEQ 12; Implementing the precepts of the FHEQ 13; QAissues with the FHEQ -- 2 Benchmarking academic standards: the subject benchmark statements (SBSs) Aims and function 19; QA issues with SBSs 21; QE issues with SBSs -- 3 Institutional audit -- Aims objectives of institutional audit 24; Meaning -- consequences of audit outcomes 25; Discipline audit trails (DATs) -- Criteria for confidence judgements -- 4 Information on quality and standards in higher education quality and standards -- Management information 37; QA issues with information on quality and standards 41; QE issues with information on -- 5 Managing quality enhancement (QE) -- What is QE? 45; Regulatory and transparency dividends of QA for enhancement 48; Managing complex enhancements to quality -- Quality at the edge of chaos -- Part 2: Managing quality in the context of the QAA Code of Practice -- 6 The Code of Practice -- Structure of the Code’s sections -- 7 Collaborative provision -- Types of collaborative provision 64; Background to collaborative -- provision 66; How and why franchises go wrong 67; Implementing the -- precepts for collaborative provision 71; QA issues with collaborative -- provision 79; QE issues with collaborative provision -- 8 Students with disabilities -- The Code and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 -- (SENDA) 90; Comparing the Code’s precepts and the Act -- Implementing the precepts 83; QA issues with students with -- disabilities; QE issues with students with disabilities -- 9 External examining systems -- External examiners, quality and politics 106; Implementing the -- precepts 107; QA issues with external examining systems 115; QE -- issues with external examining systems -- 10 Academic appeals and student complaints -- The new culture of complaint management 119; Implementing the -- precepts 121; QA issues with student appeals and complaints

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