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Quality Assurance

Departmental Academic Advisor (DAA) Scheme

Terms of Reference of DAA

The DAA review cycle dovetails with the cycle of Academic Consultation Panel (ACP) Visits as the DAA Scheme serves as a mid-term evaluation of the work and development of the Department between two ACP Visits.  Accordingly, the DAA will:

  1. provide mid-term formative feedback on the work and development of the Department and, preferably in the capacity of an external member of the preceding ACP, help the Department follow up on the recommendations and suggestions of the preceding ACP on areas for improvement as well as the preparation for the next ACP visit; 
  2. facilitate the identification of appropriate improvement actions at the Department level; 
  3. help benchmark the Department and its programmes against standards of overseas institutions leading in the field; and 
  4. visit the Department and submit a report on the progress of the Department in its follow-up to the recommendations and suggestions of the preceding ACP.

 

Implementation Cycle

The appointment of the DAA will occur in the middle of two ACP Visits (i.e., the 3rd year) following the same arrangement as adopted for the appointment of ACP members.  The DAA visit and submission of the DAA Report should be made in the 3rd year after the preceding ACP Visit of individual Departments.

 

Nominations

The DAA should:

 

  • preferably be an overseas member of the preceding ACP Visit; and
  • must be at least at the rank of Associate Professor but preferably Professor or Chair Professor.

 

Appointment

With the endorsement sought, the Department will proceed to appoint the DAA nominee who will make a visit to the Department in the 3rd year after the preceding ACP Visit.

 

Scope of review

The DAA will make a holistic assessment of the Department and its development, and evaluate its quality with reference to international standards.  The DAA Report should cover a subset or the whole of the focal areas listed in the scope of review below as deemed fit by the DAA and the Department:

 

  1. Scope of activities and strategic direction of the department/programme(s)
  2. Staffing
          .      Resources
          .      Recruitment
          .      Development
          .      Achievements
  3. Teaching and learning
          .      Academic programmes
          .      Pedagogical design
          .      Academic standard and student achievement^
          .      Quality assurance mechanisms 
  4. Research and scholarly activities 
  5. Community Impact 
  6. Internationalisation 

 

compulsory item for follow-up and reporting

 

DAA Visit

The DAA should conduct a visit to the Department during the 3rd year after the preceding ACP Visit (preferably during the 1st semester of the academic year). After the Visit, the DAA Report should be submitted to the Department in the 2nd semester of the same academic year.

 

The following documents should be provided to the DAA as references prior to the Visit:

  1. Terms of Reference
  2. Scope of Review
  3. DAA Report Proforma
  4. DAA Review Guidelines
  5. Latest ACP Report
  6. Annual Programme Quality Assurance (QA) Reports
  7. Samples of final year project / Honours Project / assessments / examination scripts (at different grades)
  8. Other references as deemed appropriate for the review
  9. Follow-up to comments of previous ACP

 

DAA Report

After the DAA Visit, a DAA Report should be prepared using the DAA Report Proforma, which consist of:

 

  1. Evaluation comments of the DAA
  2. Response of the Department
  3. Endorsement/Recommendation of the Faculty/School Board

The DAA Report, duly endorsed by the Faculty/School Board or General Education Committee (for General Education programme), should be submitted to the Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) for scrutiny within 1st semester of the academic year following the DAA Visit.

 

 

Last updated on 2 December 2022

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