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What is AUQA?
The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) is the national quality audit body responsible for auditing all universities and other higher education institutions. It was formally established by the Ministerial Council on Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in March 2000, as an independent national agency that is owned and funded by the Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for higher education.
AUQA is responsible for assuring the quality of Australia’s universities and assisting in enhancing the academic quality of these institutions. It achieves its objectives by promoting quality assurance, conducting in-depth audits of institutions, and issuing reports on audit outcomes.
The Quality Audit Cycles
In 2002, AUQA commenced its first round (cycle 1) of a five-yearly cycle of institutional audits of Australian universities. The cycle 1 audit of The University of Queensland was undertaken in June 2003. This was a whole of institution audit, with a focus on the extent to which policies and procedures were in place to ensure UQ was meeting its own stated objectives.
AUQA is currently engaged in the second round (cycle 2) of audits of Australian universities, and conducted an audit of The University of Queensland in March/April 2009. The cycle 2 audit has built on the cycle 1 audit with a shift in focus from process to outcomes. The Audit Panel also conducted an in-depth audit of two key themes – Quality of Teaching and Academic QA: Curriculum and Assessment.
The purpose of the cycle 2 audit is to:
- assess UQ’s performance against stated objectives
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test and validate the effectiveness of UQ’s quality processes in achieving strategic objectives
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review procedures in place to monitor and achieve those objectives
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assess the extent to which UQ’s quality assurance processes and outcomes meet best practice
The AUQA Audit is based on:
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the submission of a Performance Portfolio
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a site visit by an external Audit Panel
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interviews with staff, students and external stakeholders
A draft report will be submitted to the University in late May 2009.
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