League tables may have been given the thumbs down by people working in the second-level sector (see story, page 9), but at third level there's widespread agreement that performance and quality indicators are the way forward. Indeed, the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) is considering the development of a list of quality indicators to enable students - and their parents - to make informed decisions about course and college courses.

One of the problems about choosing a course or opting for a particular college is that students have very little information available to them, explains the NCEA's academic registrar, Liam Ryan. Institutions could include quality-information portfolios on their websites, he suggests.

A major problem for students making up their minds about college is the fact that every prospectus invariably paints a rosy picture of college life, but gives little of the very useful information that students need to help them make up their minds. Far from being privileged, much of this information is, in fact, available - it's just that it is very difficult for outsiders to access. "For example," says Ryan, "a student may be considering a computing course in a particular college. The college prospectus says that it offers well equipped, state-of-the-art computer labs. But that doesn't help the student, who needs to know the type of equipment available and the availability of access to it and the Internet, the number of access points and what the charges are, if any. People can't find out this information from the prospectus, but it's very relevant."

Similar information should also be available about the library facilities, the range of support services and social and recreational facilities on offer, together with descriptions of the specialised provision of equipment, labs and workshops for particular courses. Recent research shows that lack of information about courses is a major contributor to third-level drop-out. "We need more information on courses to be available. Sometimes students embark on a course without realising the range of subjects included and a possible emphasis on a certain area which the student is uncomfortable with - more maths, say, than expected."

Employers, too, would be interested in knowing more about course content, he notes. Ryan suggests that colleges should also include details of assessment and exam requirements for each course.

A college prospectus includes very little information about the academic staff and their qualifications. This becomes more important as institutions move up the academic ladder and increase their postgraduate intake. At this level, information on staff qualifications and their research interests and recent activities is vital. "Students need to know how much research is going on in a particular department and whether it's recent work, rather than 20 years old," Ryan says. When Ryan talks about academic staff, he stresses he's referring to full-time staff. "We want to know what the core of the academic faculty is. It's great that colleges bring in experts on a part-time basis, but they shouldn't sell the the product on the basis of highly qualified but largely transient academics." Ryan notes, however, that as part of the NCEA's conditions of approval, it often requires institutions to bring in part-time specialists for specific areas of the curriculum.

Colleges, too, should publish information on their quality-assurance mechanisms and include copies of recent relevant reports. Institutions which are NCEA-designated undergo institutional reviews every five years.

"For some time the NCEA has been encouraging institutions to publish institutional review reports, to inform all stakeholders of the outcome of the review process and thereby promote greater awareness of quality issues in the institutions," Ryan says. "We don't feel that the NCEA should be doing this, and so far, most of the institutions have been reluctant to go public." Tallaght IT is the only college to do so and gets full marks for publishing, on its website, the full texts of its internal institutional self-study report, the institutional review report and the follow up action taken by the college (see www.it-tallaght.ie).

It would be a mistake to leave quality assurance solely to the individual institutions, Ryan asserts. "A college could have its own quality-assurance system, it could invite someone in to assess the college or an external organisation like the NCEA can assemble a team of experts to conduct an institutional review."

This last strategy is the most effective, he argues. "You need it for credibility and accountability." It's vital, though, to set up a system that avoids people becoming defensive and where the emphasis is on satisfying certain requirements. "That's a recipe for stagnation," Ryan observes. "You need a system which encourages improvement."

AN ESSENTIAL ingredient of the NCEA review process is that it begins with an institutional self-study. "The institutions examine themselves. They see where improvements are needed and changes take place." The study is sent to the NCEA which then sends in an external review team. "They look at the self-study, talk to people in the college and then make recommendations. There are no prescribed hoops which the college must jump through." The downside of this review process is that some institutions engage in a massive effort to collect information only every five years.

"Institutions should be collecting, analysing and acting on quality feedback data on a continuous basis by the institution and routinely used as apart of the institution's quality management system. "There is a case for saying that the NCEA institutional review should consider only data collected on a routine basis by the institution and routinely used as part of the institution's quality management system."

Other information vital to a comprehensive quality information portfolio includes details of the student intake, the quality of the premises (to include interior and exterior photographs), student throughput and success rates and details of graduate employment and further studies, Ryan suggests.