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QUALITY ASSURANCE AT A DISTANCE

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QA OF BRANCH CAMPUSES

Badr Aboul-ElaDirector, CAA, UAE

Vice-President, ANQAHE

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Branch Campuses

• Definition

Establishment operated in the name of the home (foreign) institution

Qualification is awarded by the home HEI

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• Not For-Profit (few), For-Profit (Majority)• Funding Models

A. Totally funded by the institution (few)

B. External funding support From Governmental support in home country From Government or organizations in host

country

C. Facilities provided (dominating)

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BC No’s. & Distribution

• No Accurate Statistics (>100)• BC Number increased substantially in

the last 10 years. • Some are never reported• Mainly Developed to Developing

countries• Main Providers: US , UK, Australia• Recently, New providers & New hosts

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Emerging Hosts & Sources ~ TNE

UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman: major hosts

UK: major source; emerging host

USA: major source

C. America: hosts and sources

S. America: varying levels of hosts and sources

Australia (NZ): major source; emerging host

China & India: major hosts, emerging sources

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore: major hosts, emerging sources

Central Asia: emerging host

Kenya & Mauritius: emerging hosts

South Africa: declining host; emerging source

Russia: declining source; emerging host

Canada: emerging host and source

Source: Bjarnason, 2007, © Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

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Special Education ZoneEducation City (e.g. Qatar) Academic City (Dubai) Educational Free Zones

UAE Educational Free ZonesKnowlegde VillageAcademic CityDubai Health Care CitySharjah Free ZoneRas Al Khaimah Free Zone

Total No. of Branch campuses = 35

Some were established in the absence of QA regulations

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If education is offered as a Free Trade,

it should be subjected to quality checks, for

Consumer Protection.

Food cans produced in Free Zones are

inspected through Quality Control Checks to

avoid stomach poisoning, BC in Free Zones

must be inspected to avoid mind poisoning.

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• Host Country

Cover shortage in H. Ed. opportunities not met by national HEIs

Contribute to national economic development through attracting international students

May help in meeting R & D in host country

Benefits

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• Institution

Diversify revenue resources

Advance international profile

Provide international exposure of faculty

Be less dependent on recruitment to home campus

Benefits (continued)

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• Students

Access to international/ foreign Ed. system without travel & at lower cost

Overcome social, cultural & visa problems

Access to programs not available in the host country

Benefits (continued)

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RisksFinancial loss• Damage to reputation• Operational challenges

Market fluctuations & Competitiveness Inability to attract quality faculty Lack of full understanding of host environment Meeting host country regulations Changes in host country regulations

(e.g. Jordan, South Africa)

Increased volatility of BC

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QA of BC

Concerns over Quality of Ed at BC, due to differences in QA System compared to Home Campus

(Yokoyamaha, 2008)

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• Currently: Mixed Bag of HEI with different qualities

QA of BC

(continued)

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• Who Carries the responsibility?

QA of BC (continued)

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Role of QAA in the Provider Country

HEI from countries with:

a) No QAA

b) QAA of less than acceptable standards

c) QAA of “Good Standards”

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• A main requirement: Approval of QAA at Home.

The system is built on TRUST

Are all home QAA doing a “good job”?

Some DOSome have special standards & procedures for

BC, which are followed / not followed

In the UAE, Some BC were never visited by “Good” home QAA!!!

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Who judges/ follows the home QAA?

“Who watches the Watchman?” Finkin, 2009 (USA)

This question becomes more important for QA of BC

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Be ware of Accreditation Mills

• > 137 Agencies are listed as Unrecognized QAA (UNQAAHE !!)

• Possible role for INQAAHE in recognizing QAAs which align with GGP

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Role of QA in host country

Host countries need and have the right to protect their students with their own oversight process

Countries vary in their regulatory control of BC

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Austria, Denmark, FranceMalta, Russia

Netherlands, Peru, UK, Canada, USA

Singapore, Hong Kong , Israel

India

Japan, South Korea

South Africa, Jordan, UAEGreece, Belgium,

More R

estrict

ive

Less R

estrict

ive

Adopted from Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

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What to look for?

A. Before Initial Approval/ Licensure

1. Criteria & Procedures used by home QA in its approval of BC, (evidence-based with detailed report)

(Some QAAs give approval without visiting BCs)

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2. Check the institution’s fitness of purpose:

Compatibility of country’s strategic/ development plan

Suitability to serve local Ed. and research

Availability of a sound Business Plan, Feasibility Study (Student availability, financial support, market survey)

Risk Management Plan with Teach-out Provision

What to look for? (Continued)

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For Purpose:

Ability to do what it is supposed to do in the right way

Appropriate & Sound programs

Faculty & other HR

Learning resources

Control of Admission

Student Support

Internal QA

What to look for? (Continued)

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When BC is in operation

• Host QAA should have criteria & procedures for periodic review

• Host QAA has advantages over Provider QAALocation & ability to conduct more frequent visitsBetter ability to understand local environment &

culture

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Role of HEIMain Responsibility for QA lies with the HEI

itself

• HEIs need to protect their reputation

• Need to fully understand the local conditions (finance, students, local regulations…etc)

• Have a fully developed Risk Assessment Plan as Basis for deciding on having BC

• Tier 1 institutions are often more reluctant to have BC, mainly due to inability to provide faculty of similar quality

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Need for Cooperation Between Home & Host QAA

• The system is built on TRUST

• Recognized Local QAA (follow GGP) should be taken as valuable source to home QAA

• Collaborative agreements should be encouraged, Good Example: ENCA

• Needed in other regions & also between QAAs in different regions (INQAAHE’s future list of recognized QAA)

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Further Steps for cooperation

• Encourage reports & Inf. exchange

• Joint review visits

Some QAAs have Policies & Procedures for joint reviews (e.g. MSCHE, 2002)

Similar approaches are encouraged

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Joined Visits

Help alleviating pressure, time, effort & resources placed on the institution in preparing the self-study & associated site visit

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Joint Visits

Same principle applies to joint visits of host QAA & Professional Accreditation Agencies

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Conclusion

QA of BCs is a Collective Effort of

Host QAA Home QAA HEI

Collaboration should be the way forward

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Thank YouThank You Badr Aboul-Ela