Preface:

Universities are seats of higher education dedicated to learning and personal development of their members, sources of expertise in various disciplines and sites for evaluation and application of new knowledge. With globalization and internationalization, the demand for accountability and transparency in higher education has increased. The biggest challenge in this regard, is to ensure that the quality of educational programs offered by a higher educational institution are meeting the local and international standards.

Sohail University has a comprehensive Quality assurance policy along with explicit processes that act as a driver to achieve excellence in higher education.

Objective:

The basic aim and objective of the quality assurance policy is to ensure that relevant and appropriate academic standards are achieved, maintained and continuous efforts are instituted to further enhance the quality of the higher education deliverables.

Policy Statement:

Sohail University is committed to continual enhancement of quality of education, training, research and service to the community and nation, through firm commitment to its vision and mission.

Some important aspects of this policy are:

• All the stakeholders are involved as partners in maintaining and enhancing the quality.
• Processes and practices are systematic, sustainable and transparent.
• There is regular monitoring and evaluation of all activities in the core areas of teaching /learning, research and service to the public.
• Decision-making is evidence-based as findings from the previous institutional audits are used to provide future directions and improvements hence closing the feedback loop.
• Outcomes from quality enhancement and assurance processes are disseminated to the concerned stakeholders.

Scope:

This policy is embedded in the university learning culture and embraces all the institutions/ faculties/centers/departments, students, faculty members and staff and all the teaching learning resources and facilities of Sohail University.

Mechanisms for implementation of QA Policy:

1. Internal Quality Assurance
2. External Quality Assurance

Internal Quality Assurance:</span

QEC undertakes internal Quality Assurance of Academic programs by utilizing Self-Assessment (SA) process and produces Self-Assessment Reports (SAR). These reports provide feedback for enhancing the quality of the programs and present them for review by External Accrediting bodies.

Self-Assessment (SA) process:

Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) is responsible for planning, coordinating and following up on the self-assessment (SA) activities. Self-Assessment is a two-year cycle and once a program completes its SAR it has to undergo a complete review after every two years.

The steps for SA are as follows:

1. QEC initiates the SA after seeking permission from the Vice Chancellor’s Office.

2. Upon receiving the initiation letter the Head of the concerned department (HOD) forms a program team (PT). The PT is responsible for preparing a self-assessment report (SAR) of the program under the guidance of QEC.

3. The department submits the SAR to QEC through the concerned HOD. QEC reviews the SAR to ensure that it is prepared according to the required format.

4. The Vice Chancellor approves a program assessment team (AT) in consultation with QEC. The AT comprises of 2-3 faculty members from within or outside the program/university. The AT must have at least one expert in the area of the assessed program.

5. QEC plans and schedules the AT visit in coordination with the concerned department.

6. The AT conducts the assessment, submits a report and presents its findings in an exit meeting that is attended by the QEC, HOD/Dean and PT and faculty members.

7. QEC submits an executive summary on the AT findings to the Vice Chancellor.

8. The Department prepares and submit an Implementation plan to QEC, based on the AT findings. The plan includes AT findings and the corrective actions to be taken, assignment of responsibility and a time frame for such actions.

9. QEC follows up on the implementation plan to ensure departments are adhering to the implementation plan. The academic department shall inform the QEC each time a corrective action is implemented. QEC shall review the implementation plan once a semester to assess the progress of implementation.

External Quality Assurance:

External Quality Assurance also known as accreditation is carried out by regulatory/professional bodies at national level to ensure the minimum performance standards of academic programs of Higher Educational Institutions and promotes public confidence that the quality and standards of the award of degrees are enhanced and safeguarded.

QEC supports and facilitates external quality assessment to ensure continuity of the processes of the Quality Assurance and Enhancement. Baseline information provided through internal review of Academic programs helps in setting the standards for external review by peers or accrediting agencies.