Quality Assurance in Staff Development

1
Quality Assurance in Staff Development

• Dr. Patricia Georgieva,
• NEAA- Bulgaria
• University of Tuzla,26 January, 2007

2
One purpose of a quality assurance system at the
university is

• To enable stakeholders to have confidence in the
  true value of the degrees held by university
  graduates

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To enable stakeholder confidence means

• To certify that the graduate has achieved the
  learning outcomes appropriate for the award
  received
• To make transparent how the delivery of programme
  concerned supports student learning
• To ensure undisputable integrity between the
  assessment and certification procedures.

4
Bergen Standard 1.4 Qualified and competent
teaching staff

• If you insist that your teaching staff is
  competent and qualified for the job, you have to
  find ways to prove that.

5
New challenges to academic staff competences in
Bergen standards

• To design their teaching in a way that allows to
  identify achievement of intended learning
  outcomes and other programme objectives
• To understand the role of assessment in the
  progression of students towards the achievement
  of knowledge and skills associated with their
  intended qualification

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Quality Assurance Aspects of Staff Development in
Bergen standards

• Full knowledge and understanding of the subject
• Skills and experience to transmit knowledge and
  understanding effectively to students in a range
  of teaching contexts
• Staff recruitment, selection and appointment
  procedures guarantee the necessary level of
  competence
• Opportunities for development and improvement of
  teaching capacity
• Arrangements for Staff appraisal by peers and
  students

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How your institution satisfies itself that staff
involved in students teaching is competent to do
so?

• What is the effectiveness of your processes and
  procedures for staff recruitment, appointment,
  career development and appraisal?

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Universities are expected to have in place
procedures for the recruitment and selection of
staff

• Recruitment, selection and appointment procedures
  provide for transparancy, non-discrimination,
  clear performance requirements to the applicants
• All staff with involvement in the recruitment and
  selection of teachers are offered training in all
  aspects of current employment legislation

9
University staff appraisal policy is expected to

• Be approved by a legitimate body (e.g.,
  University council)
• Initiate procedures for selection and appointment
  of appraisers
• Define appraisal processes (e.g., Appraisal
  Interview) and outcomes
• Introduce appeal procedure.

10
Universities are expected to have in place staff
development and training policy and strategy

• To reflect the importance of staff competence,
  commitment and capacity to change for the
  successful achievement of the institutions
  current and future goals
• To recognize the vital importance of staff
  development and support as investment in
  organisations future.

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Staff development and training policies usually
involve

• General policy statement (how the institution
  views the development of its staff?)
• Scope of staff development and training (all
  staff or only selected members will be involved,
  at what levels and forms, in what aspects they
  will be trained?)
• Facilities that will be provided
• Areas of particular importance (e.g., induction
  of new staff)

12
Variety of Staff development structures

• The Staff Training and Development Unit
  (University of Sheffield)
• Academic Staff Training Center (South-West
  University, Blagoevgrad)
• Staff Development Atelier in some French and
  Swiss institutions
• The University of New England's Teaching and
  Learning Centre

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Examples of good practice- 1

• The University of New England's Teaching and
  Learning Centre (TLC) produces a range of
  academic staff development publications. The aim
  is to provide a range of reader-friendly
  resources that will assist staff to develop their
  skills in the areas of
• appropriate teaching techniques
• educational technology
• learning management systems
• principles of distance education.
•  
• These publications are based on active research
  by TLC staff and close collaboration with
  academic staff from the faculties.
• complete list of current TLC publications can be
  accessed at www.une.edu.au/tlc/pub/index.htm

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Examples of good practice- 2

• Educational Design and Development for Quality
  Learning (Southern Cross University)
• The goal of this practice is to provide teaching
  staff with a template for an integrated support
  system. The system helps them to develop the
  skills, capacities and knowledge required for
  sound curriculum design and effective teaching
  across the range of teaching settings. It
  recognises the importance of curricula built on
  the alignment of desired learning outcomes with
  assessment tasks and learning and teaching
  activities, in any mix of flexible learning
  options on offer.

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Examples of good practice- 3

• Foundations of University Teaching Course
• The University of Wollongong (UOW) Foundations of
  University Teaching course, Introduction to
  Tertiary Teaching (ITT), is a key initiative
  supporting the ongoing development of a high
  quality learning and teaching environment. Newly
  appointed academic teaching staff are required to
  participate as part of their employment contract
  and sessional teaching staff are encouraged to
  attend. The course offers immediate practical
  support for university teachers as well as a
  framework for long-term reflective practice and
  continuous development.

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To summarize, university staff development
strategy should

• Affirm the importance and value of staff
  development activities by allocating resources
• Ensure that staff are able to progress in line
  with performance and achievement
• Improve levels of staff teaching and management
  skills so that university remains competitive in
  order to meet current and future challenges

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Conclusion

• In the face of rapid change within the higher
  education sector, the success of any university
  will depend on its ability to recruit, retain and
  develop high quality staff at all levels and
  across all functions

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Thank you!

• Further contacts are most welcomed at
• pgeorgieva_at_mail.orbitel.bg