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Changes to Chapter 9: Quality Review Framework
Introduction
At its November 2022 meeting, EdCom approved the replacement of the Annual Student Experience Review process with Department and Faculty Education Plans (DEPs and FEPs). At its 25 July 2023 meeting, it approved the regulations underpinning this new process, which are explained below.
1. Targeted Interventions vs Covering All Bases
The main difference between the ASER process and the new education planning process is one of scope and focus. You will only be expected to identify and target one to two areas where your student outcomes and satisfaction data indicates issues, rather than being asked to address every area of challenge at once. This is to enable you to focus your resources to achieve meaningful improvement.
We have also stripped out all the additional reporting that was done through the ASER, for example on engagement with peer dialogue, or updating on collaborative provision. This work will continue, but via more appropriate mechanisms.
Likewise, institutional enhancement projects will not be channelled through this process, as we want to give the departments and faculties the space and the autonomy to identify their own priorities.
2. Autonomy with Accountability
As noted above, the Department and Faculty Education Plans are, at their heart, focused on giving autonomy to decision-makers at the level that has the most impact on the student experience. This means that you have the freedom to identify your own priorities, based on the evaluation of your data, and conversations within your departments and faculties.
In return for that greater autonomy, there is a clearer accountability structure, with Heads of Departments and Deans of Faculties being responsible for the content and delivery of their education plans, supported by their relevant education teams. Prioritisation and appropriate resourcing will also be sense checked and agreed with Deans (for the DEPs) and UMC (for the FEPs) respectively.
Progress on actions will be checked on a termly basis, both to ensure that things are on track, but also to enable frank conversations about additional support that may be needed, and whether any activity needs to be reworked or halted based on new information. This will be managed through the Faculty Education Committees (for the DEPs) and Quality and Standards Committee (for the FEPs).
3. Built-In Support
One of the most important aspects of the new education planning process is that it builds in support from the Higher Education Development and Support Institute’s (HEDS) Faculty Partnership Teams. Each Faculty has a group of colleagues who are allocated to support the Faculty and its Departments with achieving progress on their education plans.
There is also a mechanism within this new structure for faculties to upgrade programmes or whole departments that appear to require additional help into the Faculty Education Plan. This will ensure that those selected programme and departments are given much more attention and support from the Faculty and the HEDS Faculty Partnership Teams to achieve their objectives.
4. Learning and Evaluation
At the end of each academic year, there will be a window of time where departments and faculties are evaluating the success of their education plans, and these evaluations will be submitted to either the Faculty Education Committee or Quality and Standards Committee as appropriate.
The evaluation process should enable departments and faculties to identify where they have made progress, and celebrate this, while also highlighting where problems may remain, and need to be fed forward into next year’s plan.
Collection of the evaluations will also enable the identification and sharing of good practice which will benefit other areas of UCL.