Results of the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA), 2008 have been published on the 9th of September, 2009. The grade acquired was 2.40 (Good).
Quality Assurance in Higher Education
Global movement in educational reform has brought Quality Assurance into focus especially in higher educational institutions. The introduction of Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Thailand began in 1996 when MUA announced the policy and guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. The announcement of National Education Act in 1999 had further promoted the quality movement among Thai institutions. According to the Act, quality assurance in educational system comprises of i n t d and external systems.
Internal Quality Assurance (IQA)
It is the responsibility of the institution and its governing agency to establish a system and ensure the continuing operation of such a system.
External Quality Assurance (EQA)
This is the responsibility of a newly established public organization, Office of the National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA).
As for private higher education institutions, programs approval and accreditation are very much under the supervision of the MUA (now the Commission on Higher Education or CHE under the Ministry of Education) as a quality control and consumer protection systems.
The underlying concept of the quality assurance framework proposed by the MUA was based on three basic cornerstones of quality, namely:
- Quality Control
- Quality Audit, and
- Quality Assessment
The framework consists of 9 aspects of quality factors:
- Philosophies, Commitment and Objectives
- Teaching and Learning
- Student Development Activities
- Research
- Academic Services
- Preservation of Art and Culture
- Administration and Management
- Finance and Budgeting
- Internal Quality Assurance System and Mechanisms
Although the framework specifies some key items considered to be essential factors in the quality management system, there is no specific directive instruction as how to establish such a system within the context of each institution. The idea is for each and every institution to develop their own system which is most suitable to institutional environment and uniqueness. Implementation process, audit procedures and review cycles are also depend on the policy makers in each institution. This was not easy a task for any academic institution since the quality audit process and self-reflection concept were both new to Thai culture.
STIU has set up IQA Committee since 2003 to establish quality management system, and issued a University QA Manual. The University Report for Academic Year 2003 was compiled according to the QA Manual in the form of Self Study Report (SSR) and Self Assessment Report (SAR) on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of each department. The Report was audited by the EQA Committee which, resulted in feedback of useful recommendations for further development.
The University is now compiling reports for Academic Years, 2008 and 2009 for EQA auditing in 2010. All faculty members follow the QA Manual for submitting SSR and SAR reports ta their departments. Each Department contributes KPI assessment reports for the University reports.
