Best Practices and Student Involvement in Quality Enhancement

Abstract

It is firmly believed by quality experts today that the quality of an educational institution is determined by the willingness, involvement and continued participation of all stakeholders namely students, teachers, alumni, management and public at large whose inputs can help in quality enhancement. However, the participation of students in the process of quality assurance in the capacity of being primary stakeholders has not received due importance and attention of the academic fraternity University system is fraught with a feudal and archaic administration, as faculty itself is convinced that administrative work is more important than academics. How do we bring in the ideas of responsibility, obligation, without allowing for an arbitrary administration or interference from the Government? What sort of new norms can we reinvent to generate a healthy work culture that continuously engages in experimenting with new methods of pedagogy? This is where the new universities for professional education inform us about the possible experiments that need to be emulated. Students' participation in quality enhancement begins with quality awareness. It is highly essential to estimate the quality literacy among students so that systems can be developed to harness students' potential. The level of quality literacy among students should be objectively assessed. The study of quality literacy firstly attempts to calibrate the scale of measure, evolve methods to solicit feedback and evaluate the response as per opinions. The Student Quality Literacy Index (SQL index) quantifies and measures, the level of student observation of quality systems that are part of or external to institution, individual quality perceptions and perception of one’s role in quality systems.