06. Speeches & Presentations
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing 06. Speeches & Presentations by Author "Clarke-Okah, Willie"
-
PublicationCan Invitational Institutional Audits make a Cost-Effective Contribution to Quality Enhancement?( 2007-09-17)Second International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 17-19 September 2007, Can Invitational Institutional Audits make a Cost-Effective Contribution to Quality Enhancement? Willie Clarke-Okah & John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning // Most national quality assurance agencies conduct quality audits of higher education institutions in their jurisdictions. This paper draws lessons from institutional audits that were carried out on the initiative of universities themselves, either in anticipation of a future audit by the national QA agency (UNISA, South Africa) or as a catalyst for reform (University of Ghana). These audits provided useful guidance but their direct and indirect costs were considerable (at least $100,000 in out-of-pocket expenses and many hours of institutional staff time) because they involved large international teams of experts. Can such audits be made more cost-effective whilst retaining their credibility? The paper suggests four measures for doing this. // First, most QA agencies require self-assessments to be conducted prior to audit visits using set procedures. These should also be carried out before invitational audits under procedures agreed by the institution and its audit team and should include any student or graduate survey data. Where self-assessment is a novel experience, this process has the additional benefit of providing a basis for ongoing QA structures and processes. // Second, the institutional authorities (Vice-Chancellor/President; Governing Board Chair) must be committed to the audit and the audit team must understand the context for reform and any major national or institutional constraints. The institution should make experienced staff available as a secretariat for the audit team. // Third, an invitational audit will likely highlight significant issues of governance. Audit teams must be equipped to analyze them and institutional leadership be ready to address them. // Fourth, in inviting members to join the audit team, the institution must choose both local and international figures likely to be perceived within the institution as both credible and objective. The team should include (or be able to call on) expertise in academic programmes, governance & management, and infrastructure & resources. // If this model is followed it should be possible to provide the institution with a cost-effective audit on the basis of a visit of a week or less by a team of not more than six members. -
PublicationThe Commonwealth of Learning Review and Improvement Model (COL-RIM)( 2010-05-06)I am grateful to INQAAHE for giving me 15 minutes in this session to talk about the Review and Improvement Model (RIM) to quality assurance that we have developed at the Commonwealth of Learning.
-
PublicationCommonwealth of Learning: Review and Improvement Model( 2010-01-28)In countries where quality assurance systems are not well established universities can find it useful to invite external visitation panels to advise them on quality improvement and wider issues. However, these can be costly. Drawing on its experience with organising such panels in Africa the Commonwealth of Learning has developed a Review and Improvement Model that is essentially a guided, do-it-yourself approach to quality assurance that keeps cost to a minimum.
-
PublicationCreativity in Crisis: Leading the University of the Future( 2006-09-26)Our task is to bring an international perspective to our discussions. We shall do this in two ways; first by examining some of the major global trends in higher education and ask how they might apply to India, and then by sharing some experiences of leading and managing institutions. You may think that context in which the vice-chancellor of a public university in Asia must operate today is unique, but you can learn useful lessons from other countries.
-
PublicationHigher Education in the 21st Century: The Iron Triangle’s Critical Angle of Quality Assurance( 2008-02-11)I'm here today to talk about quality in higher education in keeping with the theme of Quality Assurance Week, "Promoting Quality in Tertiary Education through Leadership."// I'm going to tell you a bit about the Commonwealth of Learning and our activities around the Commonwealth, and specifically in Jamaica. I will touch on some of the trends in higher education in the 21st century and the challenges this is causing. We'll look at the Iron Triangle of higher education, and the elements of Access, Quality and Cost. Then we'll focus on quality - why it's so important in higher education, how it's achieved and how it's measured.// One of the ways quality is assessed is the institutional audit. I will tell you about COL's recent experience with institutional audits, what we learned and how we are moving forward.// Quality can be a slippery concept to manage. My goal is to help you understand why quality is a critical angle of the Iron Triangle, and why we must pay attention to quality in higher education.
-
PublicationThe Impact of Learning Management Systems in Universities( 2009-06-11)Keynote Address to the University of the West Indies Conference on Bridging the Development Gap through Innovative eLearning Environments, June 11, 2009, Willie Clarke-Okah, PhD, Education Specialist, Higher Education and Policy Development, Commonwealth of Learning // When I was first asked to consider speaking on “The impact of Learning Management Systems on Education,” I thought, wow, that’s a tall order, even for eLearning experts or software designers, neither of which I am I must hasten to add. However, I have a keen interest in the matter from the perspective of learners. They are your quintessential stakeholders. They are central to the higher education enterprise and I would like to explore how well a Learning Management System is serving them.
-
PublicationInstitutional Evaluation of the University of Ghana( 2008-01-31)I am honoured to have the opportunity of presenting two brown-bag seminars at the World Bank in two days. Today the general issue that I shall address is the renewal of African universities. I shall focus on this through the lens of an institutional evaluation of the University of Ghana conducted by a Visitation Panel that I had the honour to chair last year.
-
PublicationQuality Assurance and Cross Border Higher Education in the Commonwealth: The Work of the Commonwealth of Learning( 2006-09-21)We shall begin by looking at the current situation of Crossborder Higher Education (CBHE) in the Commonwealth and ask whether crossborder HE providers are latter-day pirates or contribute significantly to the educational needs of developing countries We will then examine quality assurance through the lens of COL's work. // Later on we shall introduce an exciting new concept, that we call 'criss-cross' border higher education, which is the basis of the new Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth.