Institutional Audits constitute one of the mechanism through which the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) carries out its responsibilities for quality assurance. The audit will focus on an institution’s policies, systems, procedures, strategies and resources for the quality management of the core functions of teaching and learning, research and community engagement, including the relevant academic support services. More specifically, institutional audit will seek to assess an institution’s capacity for quality management of its academic activities in a manner that meets its specified mission, goals and objectives, and engages appropriately with the expectations and needs of various internal and external constituencies.
Quality management entails a number of elements of institutional planning and action to address issues of quality. These include institutional arrangements for:
- Quality assurance – the policies, systems, strategies and resources used by the institution to satisfy itself that its quality requirements and standards are being met;
- Quality support – the policies, systems, strategies and resources used by the institution to support and sustain existing levels of quality;
- Quality development and enhancement – the policies, systems, strategies and resources used by the institution to develop and enhance quality; and
- Quality monitoring – the policies, systems, strategies and resources used by the institution to review, monitor and act on quality issues.