Irish universities have taken an important step to assure recognitionof teaching quality, writes Seamus Smyth
In his parody of a Cambridge college, Tom Sharpe constructed Porterhouse Blue as emblematic of an inward-looking institution resolutely defiant of the demands of the external world.
So perfectly self-regulating was that fictitious college that change was thwarted and balanced governance was restored only when its academic council acclaimed as master of the college the semi-comatose former porter. In Sharpe's parody, there would have been no opportunity, or perceived need, for quality review and improvement.
Universities however have long since departed from the introspection of socially elite colleges, cloistered walks and campuses shielded from the public gaze by high walls and portered gateways. The issue of quality, objectively assessed and publicly reported upon, has become a central issue not only in universities in Ireland but throughout Europe.
This focus is symptomatic of a new Europe in which mobility of staff and students, course credit transfer and credit accumulation require an effective system in which equivalent value of courses can be determined and exchanged. Engagement in such a trans-European process is required by the Bologna agreement to which Ireland is a signatory.
In addition, the fact that universities are heavily dependent on public funding carries with it a statutory responsibility for accounting for the deployment of resources in a transparent way.
Traditionally, universities have ensured the quality of their graduates by reference to a system of extern examiners - peers appointed from similar disciplines in other universities.
In Irish universities, these examiners have most frequently been appointed from British universities, with a small number from continental Europe and North America. The contribution of this system over the years has been significant and it certainly helped to break down the isolationism which could so easily have befallen Irish universities in the half-century or so after Independence.
However, its focus has, in the main, been concentrated on establishing the international quality of the graduating class. With increasing numbers of students and growing sub-disciplinary specialisms, the effectiveness of that system in evaluating the full operation of an academic department has been constrained in recent years. It now requires supplementation.
Irish universities have, since 1995, supported the activities of an inter-university quality steering committee. Under its guidance, each of the seven universities has established robust quality review procedures which extend not only to academic departments but embrace the service departments.
On a routine basis, each department is evaluated by a process which includes a formal self-evaluation which, in turn, is subjected to a peer-group assessment. The peer-group assessment involves external specialists visiting the department, typically for a three-day period, conducting interviews with staff and students and evaluating the accuracy and completeness of the self-evaluation document. The assessors subsequently submit a formal report to which the institution must respond.
Over almost a decade, this process - which is based upon an inclusive, bottom-up approach yet is subject to the objectivity of an external review - has been refined and extended to virtually all departments. The universities have agreed that the process should now move to a more public stage. As a result, next month a dedicated board, the Irish Universities Quality Board, will be established.
This board will be charged with overseeing the processes in each university and verifying that they meet best international practice. Only if such affirmation is objectively provided will the board be eligible for membership of the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
Membership of the board includes an independent chair, two university presidents drawn from the US and continental Europe, nominees of the ICTU and IBEC, a representative of professional bodies accrediting university courses, a representative of the Union of Students in Ireland, together with three Irish university presidents and four registrars.
The board's operation will be paralleled by the publication in full on university web pages of the peer-review reports on each department.
The participatory nature of the Irish quality review process is aimed at creating a culture of quality through the implementation of a system which still retains key principles of individual and collective ownership, inclusiveness, public accountability, transparency and autonomy.
These principles accord with the statutory requirements of the Universities Act 1997 and form part of the overall strategic planning by institutions. Throughout the process there is a clear emphasis upon searching and honest self-assessment by the department as a means to fostering effective change and improvement.
The transition to a culture in which quality assurance and quality improvement are routinely and objectively assessed and publicly disseminated represents a major shift in how universities have hitherto conducted their business.
It does, however, extend in its influence and significance beyond the level of institutional responsibility.
Quality in all universities is a function of culture and resourcing. In an Irish university system in which undergraduate funding still lags behind levels in other jurisdictions and where general campus infrastructure requires significant capital expenditure, the responsibilities for quality improvement extend beyond the campus boundaries to the Government and its funding agencies.
At a conference to be held in Cork on February 7th and 8th, the Committee of Heads of Irish Universities will launch its most recent publication, A Framework For Quality In Irish Universities: Meeting the Challenge of Change. Simultaneously, the Irish Universities Quality Board will come into operation, bringing the constructive engagement of the Irish universities with the issue of quality to a new and self-sustaining stage.
Dr Seamus Smyth is president of NUI Maynooth and chairs the Committee of Heads of Irish Universities