2021 Institutional Quality Audit
The Council on Higher Education (CHE) will be conducting institutional quality audits (IQA) of all public and private universities in South Africa, commencing immediately. QMD will coordinate the preparation of the University for participation in the IQA. This memo therefore requests your participation in this audit.
In keeping with its legislated mandate, the HEQC will be reintroducing the institutional quality audits (IQA). The letter from the CHE, dated the 24th March 2021, to the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) serves to inform the university that the (CHE) will be conducting its third cycle of quality assurance, the institutional quality audit, across all public and private universities in South Africa, commencing immediately. Central to the IQA is the HEQC’s approach in finding the balance between accountability and improvement. In this regard the HEQC requires institutions to critically reflect on and account for the quality of provision with a view to improving student success. To this end the internal quality assurance of the university at levels will be assessed. The CHE will engage with the University and avail the requisite documents to understand the University context, mission, vision and strategic goals to ensure the university is adequately prepared for constructive participation in the IQA and a fair and transparent audit process.
Participation in the IQA provides the opportunity for MUT to reflect on its practices and identify good practice as well as areas of development, which will ultimately lead to enhancement across the university. This can only bode well for the University’s goal to achieve excellence in teaching and learning, research and community engagement and will have a positive impact on its reputation as a credible higher education institution.
The IQA will involve participation of the entire University community, the outcomes of which will be used for enhancement of University processes and will feed into the new Quality Assurance Framework (QAF). The University as a whole will benefit from the process as the approach taken for the IQA requires and will enable the University community to develop a holistic understanding of quality assurance which will in turn lead to the improvement of the university’s quality of provision.
We will continue to keep you updated as we receive information and will endeavour to prepare the University for constructive and meaningful participation in the IQA. We look forward to working with you all.