ABSTRACT
I am working with colleagues in an English language program in Australia to develop a quality assurance system for the center. We begin by identifying the different functions of the center, from course design and delivery to teacher selection and development to student movement from marketing to graduation. For each function, we have staff responsible for the function delineate what the process of that function is, creating a reiterative process map or fl ow chart. So, the for example, the course design and delivery function includes: market research, academic research, choice of delivery modes, curriculum development, materials development, assessment and testing, accreditation, syllabus and lesson planning, course delivery, continuous improvement, and back again to market research and so on. Process maps for all functions include continuous improvement. Within each aspect of the function are listed its component parts around which decisions are made, including who is responsible for that particular component. So, for example, delivery mode includes internal, external, onshore, offshore, online, on campus, and multi campus. We are discussing continuous improvement for course design and delivery and have agreed that it should include student feedback, stakeholder feedback, convener (the person who coordinates multiple sections of the same course) reports, Academic Coordinator reports, tracking studies of students after they leave the program, selfassessment by teachers, all of which are currently conducted. Our next step will be to develop quality standards for these activities. We are guided to some extent by our external accreditation body. However, we also engage in some additional quality control activities, such as the moderation of student assessment. All student fi nal examinations/projects are graded by two teachers, and the grades are compared. We wonder how we can measure improvement in this activity. How great should be the variation between teachers? How can we achieve this moderation more effi ciently without increases in teachers’ workloads? [Murray, research notes]
Task: Refl ect
1. Why do you think it is important to delineate the functions and processes of an organization?
