Accreditation Reports Research Articles

Enhancing the accreditation of Indonesian private universities through the integration of EduQual and accreditation standards of the BAN-PT

Higher education institutions in Indonesia are currently facing significant challenges in maintaining public trust, requiring them to uphold autonomy, transparency, accountability, and continuously meet standards for quality assurance and improvement. This research aims to identify and address the unmet quality aspects in education to elevate the accreditation of private universities from C/Good to B/Very Good or even A/Excellent. By integrating the EduQual model with certification requirements from the Board of National Accreditation for Higher Education (Badan Akreditasi Nasional Perguruan Tinggi, BAN-PT), the research is supported by comprehensive studies of university accreditation reports, questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGD), and expert judgment through interviews and consultations. The data analysis employs gap analysis, importance-performance analysis, and quality function deployment. The study identified twenty-one priority improvement points to enhance accreditation, with six key improvements prioritized from the ninety indicators examined based on customer needs analysis. In the accreditation of private universities, the unmet aspects of education quality lie in the dimension of physical facilities, particularly human resources, as well as in the dimension of personal development, especially in the criteria for research and community service. The study recommends prioritizing investments in human resource development and strengthening research and community service initiatives, as these are critical areas where private universities fall short in meeting accreditation standards and fulfilling educational quality expectations.

NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỂ XUẤT GIẢI PHÁP NÂNG CAO HIỆU QUẢ HOẠT ĐỘNG CẢI TIẾN CHẤT LƯỢNG CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO Ở CÁC CƠ SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐẠI HỌC CỦA VIỆT NAM

The training program is a key factor that determines the quality of training, and the quality accreditation of training programs has become a “quality culture” in today's higher education institutions. In the quality accreditation of training programs, emphasis is placed on strong requirements for continuous improvement according to the PDCA cycle (Plan - Do - Check - Act) and quality improvement (Act) is the final step in this cycle to start a new cycle. Program quality improvement is the implementation of solutions to improve input conditions, quality of the process and output quality of the program. By collecting opinions from relevant parties and experts in the field of educational quality accreditation, analyzing self-assessment and external assessment reports, the article clarifies the current situation and proposes solutions to improve the effectiveness of training program quality improvement activities at Vietnam’s higher education institutions.

Design a Program to Create National Accreditation Reports using Excel

Design a Program to Create National Accreditation Reports using Excel

Internship Practices in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs: A Review of ACEJMC-Accredited Programs

The use of professional internships has long been a defining feature of journalism and mass communication programs, but the practice is also increasingly controversial for the financial burdens it places on marginalized students. This study examined accreditation reports for 120 institutions to gain a better understanding of current practices. Findings showed that almost all universities offer internships for credit, and about two fifths of the programs require them. Most programs use internship data to assess student learning outcomes.

Unsafe care inresidential settings forolder adults: a content analysis ofaccreditation reports.

Residents of aged care services can experience safety incidents resulting in preventable serious harm. Accreditation is a commonly used strategy to improve the quality of care; however, narrative information within accreditation reports is not generally analysed as a source of safety information to inform learning. In Australia, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), the sector regulator, undertakes over 500 accreditation assessments of residential aged care services against eight national standards every year. From these assessments, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission generates detailed Site Audit Reports. In over one-third (37%) of Site Audit Reports, standards relating to Personal and Clinical Care (Standard 3) are not being met. The aim of this study was to identify the types of resident Safety Risks that relate to Personal and Clinical Care Standards not being met during accreditation or re-accreditation. These data could inform priority setting at policy, regulatory, and service levels. An analytical framework was developed based on the World Health Organization's International Classification for Patient Safety and other fields including Clinical Issue (the issue related to the incident impacting the resident, e.g. wound/skin or pain). Information relating to safety incidents in the Site Audit Reports was extracted, and a content analysis undertaken using the analytical framework. Clinical Issue and the International Classification for Patient Safety-based classification were combined to describe a clinically intuitive category ('Safety Risks') to describe ways in which residents could experience unsafe care, e.g. diagnosis/assessment of pain. The resulting data were descriptively analysed. The analysis included 65 Site Audit Reports that were undertaken between September 2020 and March 2021. There were 2267 incidents identified and classified into 274 types of resident Safety Risks. The 12 most frequently occurring Safety Risks account for only 32.3% of all incidents. Relatively frequently occurring Safety Risks were organisation management of infection control; diagnosis/assessment of pain, restraint, resident behaviours, and falls; and multiple stages of wounds/skin management, e.g. diagnosis/assessment, documentation, treatment, and deterioration. The analysis has shown that accreditation reports contain valuable data that may inform prioritization of resident Safety Risks in the Australian residential aged care sector. A large number of low-frequency resident Safety Risks were detected in the accreditation reports. To address these, organizations may use implementation science approaches to facilitate evidence-based strategies to improve the quality of care delivered to residents. Improving the aged care workforces' clinical skills base may address some of the Safety Risks associated with diagnosis/assessment and wound management.

Measuring the Yard Lines: A Discussion on Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment in Sport Management

Student learning outcomes and assessment of those outcomes have become standard in almost every accreditation, reaffirmation, and most annual reports for accrediting bodies. Additionally, outcomes and assessments are vital to continuous improvement of sport management programs. This interview was conducted with an expert on outcomes and assessment at the national level, who can provide insight from an expert on the “outside looking in.” The purpose of this interview is to discuss broader standards in educational assessment and how those standards can be applied specifically to sport management. This resource is most useful for those early in the process of outcomes and assessment creation, those who may not already have Commission on Sport Management Accreditation and training opportunities, or those who simply want to improve their classes.

Global assessment of FSC forest management certification auditing through analysis of accreditation reports

One important initiative to incentivise improvement of forest management that could help maintain forestry as a feasible land use while realising socio-environmental and economic benefits is forest management certification. The most prominent scheme is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) that started implementation in 1994. FSC certification relies on two mechanisms to assess conformance with its standard: auditing of management practices based on agreed-upon principles, criteria, and indicators; and accreditation to assess the quality of the audit process. Addressing the scant research on outcomes of accreditation activities, the goal of this study is to examine the findings raised against Certification Bodies (CABs) by Assurance Services International assessors during their accreditation evaluations regarding the quality of auditing FSC forest management certification around the world. The content of all 141 publicly available assessments reports elaborated between 2013 and 2019 was analysed and the 454 identified findings (i.e., non-conformities and opportunities for improvement) were categorised utilising an innovative framework based on key desirable attributes of the audit process to capture certification-related changes on-the-ground. Europe and Asia have seen the largest number of accreditation efforts through the study period, but no differences among regions were identified in terms of the mean number of findings per assessment. The results indicate a possible lesser effectiveness of the compliance assessments when compared with the witness assessments. Accreditation activities allow to capture major failures in essential audit-related activities: auditors’ decisions, ability of auditors to collect, interpret, and synthesise evidence, as well as making reports publicly accessible. Availability of information regarding accreditation processes and the analysis of the accreditation reports can assist in grounding learning processes to improve accreditation activities and the practice of forest management auditing. The accumulated experiences can have positive consequences for forests, as well as beyond forestry, due to the broad coverage of certification labels across sectors and commodities.

Evaluation of virtual accreditation of medical specialist training sites for ophthalmology in Australia and New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective To evaluate the suitability and acceptability of virtual training post accreditation visits conducted online for medical specialist training in ophthalmology in Australia and New Zealand. Methods A two-phase study (pilot and implementation) was conducted. In the pilot phase, an open-ended observation proforma was used by the authors to independently record their observations, which were later compared and discussed until consensus was achieved. All participants were asked to complete an online survey. A document analysis of accreditation documents was conducted. Observation data were broken down into themes and triangulated with online survey and document analysis results. In the implementation phase, the inspections were observed by one of the authors (SK) and the observation notes were discussed with other authors to obtain a contextual and consensual view. A document analysis of all accreditation-related documentation was undertaken. The documents included in the document analysis were planning and scheduling records, interview and inspection notes, training post inspection fact and document notices and accreditation reports. Finally, a post-inspection focus group of all inspectors was conducted. Results The accreditation interviews adequately addressed all relevant issues with high levels of robustness and reliability. Participants found it more difficult to discuss complex issues virtually compared with onsite visits. The virtual accreditation reports were not any different to what would be expected if a face-to-face accreditation visit had been conducted; however, it was not possible using the virtual inspection to determine the appropriateness of facilities and clinic layout to support and facilitate trainee learning and supervision. Conclusions Virtual accreditation of training posts in medical specialist training is viable in limited circumstances where there are no known complex training post-related issues and the site has not made substantial changes to clinic and theatre layout, equipment and facilities since the previous accreditation.

Healthcare accreditation as a tool for financial and risk management analysis

The risk management landscape for healthcare providers is growing more complex, presenting hospitals and clinics with regulatory compliance challenges. Accreditation plays an important role in providing risk management best practices, offering expertise to healthcare providers to navigate risk management demands. The current business climate makes it difficult for financial organizations to assess risk. Opportunities are lost to leverage the accreditation process including the assessment report. Healthcare providers can access accreditation standards and expertise to improve overall performance. Successfully accredited hospitals and clinics may utilize accreditation reports to negotiate more favorable financial terms and conditions. Financial organizations can use accreditation reports to help evaluate providers’ operational and financial risks. Healthcare providers and financial organizations are failing to maximize the benefits of accreditation including accessing risk-related information in the assessment report.

Healthcare Accreditation as a Tool for Financial and Risk Management Analysis

The risk management landscape for healthcare providers is growing more complex, presenting hospitals and clinics with regulatory compliance challenges. Accreditation plays an important role in providing risk management best practices, offering expertise to healthcare providers to navigate risk management demands. The current business climate makes it difficult for financial organizations to assess risk. Opportunities are lost to leverage the accreditation process including the assessment report. Healthcare providers can access accreditation standards and expertise to improve overall performance. Successfully accredited hospitals and clinics may utilize accreditation reports to negotiate more favorable financial terms and conditions. Financial organizations can use accreditation reports to help evaluate providers' operational and financial risks. Healthcare providers and financial organizations are failing to maximize the benefits of accreditation including accessing risk-related information in the assessment report.

Chiropractic program changes facilitated by the European Council on Chiropractic Education Accreditation reports.

The European Council on Chiropractic Education (ECCE) currently accredits 10 programs throughout Europe and South Africa. It is assumed that ECCE evaluation activities lead to changes to the chiropractic programs but no systematic evaluation as to whether this is true, and the extent of changes has previously been done. The purpose of this study was to obtain feedback from program heads as to whether ECCE evaluation reports facilitated changes/improvements to their programs and to identify their reported changes. This was a mixed methods audit study using questionnaires with 2 sections. Closed statements requesting the degree of change to each section of the "Standards" based on ECCE evaluation reports (substantial, some, none) were analyzed using frequencies. Written responses identifying the specific changes made based on previous evaluation reports were evaluated independently by 3 researchers using a modified "thematic analysis" approach. All 10 accredited programs responded. Seven of the 10 programs (70%) reported "some" or "substantial" changes to ≥ 6 sections of the ECCE Standards. The most common section with reported changes was "Educational Program" (8 of 10). "Educational Resources" had the largest number of programs reporting "substantial changes" (4) and was the second most common section to have reported changes. The main themes identified emphasized changes in "infrastructure, equipment and faculty," "increasing evidence-based practice," and "instilling a research culture in faculty and students." ECCE accreditation processes facilitate changes to the chiropractic programs, particularly in the areas of improved infrastructure and faculty, research, and evidence-based practice.

Assessing how QAA accreditation reflects student experience

ABSTRACT This article develops a machine learning methodology to analyse the relationship between university accreditation and student experience. It is applied to 98 university accreditations conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK in 2012–2018, and 263,025 university ratings in three categories posted by students on the website whatuni.com. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is used to extract features from the accreditation reports. These features are explanatory variables in automated linear regression models where the dependent variable is the student experience, as measured by the student ratings. It finds that the Institutional Reviews in 2012–2014 and the Higher Education Reviews in 2014–2016 misinform the public about the student experience, while the Enhancement-Led Institutional Reviews in Scotland in 2014–2018 provide sound guidance. These findings should lead to a deep reflection on how the university accreditation system functions in the UK. They also contribute to the ongoing debates on student engagement in HE quality assurance and whether student experience is a reliable measure of university quality. Finally, it is shown that machine learning models are useful tools to compare accreditation reports and can assist prospective students in choosing the university.

A Full Spectrum of Interpretation: A Discourse-Historical Analysis of One Community College’s Mission Statement

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the internal and external forces that led to the creation and revisions of a community college’s mission statement over the course of its 53-year history. We used discourse-historical analysis to examine published college mission statements, transcripts of interviews with the founding dean of the college, and the college’s archives (including meeting minutes, accreditation reports, and other internal correspondence). Emerging findings were further contextualized through additional primary sources. We found that the college’s founders were influenced by the humanistic education movement and crafted a mission statement that reflected humanistic ideals of self-actualization and positive growth for the betterment of humanity. This original mission statement was nearly unaltered for the first 15 years of the college’s existence. However, external forces, including the rise of neoliberalism within education, led to a complete rewrite of the mission statement. The revised statement, reflecting a neoliberal understanding of the purpose of community college education, remains in place. This study demonstrates the influence of external forces, including those contrary to the college’s founding principles, on its mission. Given the fact that community colleges serve a vast majority of disadvantaged students, the impact of neoliberal policy is particularly concerning.

Are rankings and accreditation related? Examining the dynamics of higher education in Poland

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the relationship between two measures of university quality, the outcome and other characteristics of a mandatory accreditation and the university position in the national ranking.Design/methodology/approachNatural language processing (NLP) models are used to calculate the sentiment indicators for 1,850 accreditation reports from the Polish Accreditation Agency. The sentiment indicators, accreditation frequency and outcomes for 203 HEIs are used in correlation analysis, automated linear regressions and quantile regressions with the university position in the Polish Perspektywy rankings as the outcome variable.FindingsHigh/low frequency of accreditation visits, excellent/poor accreditation outcomes and low/high frequency of negative inclination words in the accreditation report are followed by high/low university rankings. Quantile regressions reveal that these relationships vary with the quality of the university.Practical implicationsPublishers of university rankings may consider adding the accreditation features to the set of indicators used in such rankings. The machine learning methodology presented allows cross-country inconsistencies to be identified in the approaches used by accreditation agencies in Europe. The authors of the accreditation reports should be aware they can be mined by machine learning models and this should be considered when the reports are drafted.Originality/valueThis is a novel application of NLP models for analysing the relationship between the accreditation and rankings of universities. In other research, the author has applied NLP models to test whether quality assurance agency (QAA) accreditation in the UK can predict how students rate their university on whatuni.com website.

The contribution of electronic health records to risk management through accreditation of residential aged care homes in Australia

BackgroundThe Australian government has implemented a compulsory aged care accreditation system to guide and monitor the risk management approach in registered residential aged care (RAC) homes. This research assessed the contribution of electronic health records (EHR) to risk management in RAC homes in relation to the extent that aged care accreditation fulfils its role.MethodsA convenience sample of 5560 aged care accreditation reports published from 2011 to 2018 was manually downloaded from the Accreditation Agency web site. A mixed-method approach of text data mining and manual content analysis was used to identify any significant differences in failure to meet accreditation outcomes among the RAC homes. This took account of whether EHR or paper records were used, year of accreditation, and size and location of the homes.ResultsIt appears that aged care accreditation was focused on structure and process, with limited attention to outcome. There was a big variation between homes in their use of measurement indicators to assess accreditation outcomes. No difference was found in outcomes between RAC homes using EHR and those using paper records. Only 3% of the RAC homes were found to have failed some accreditation outcomes. Failure in monitoring mechanism was the key factor for failing many accreditation outcomes. The top five failed outcomes were Human Resource Management, Clinical Care, Information Systems, Medication Management and Behavioural Management.ConclusionsSub-optimal outcomes have limited the effectiveness of accreditation in driving and monitoring risk management for care recipient safety in RAC homes. Although EHR is an important structure and process component for RAC services, it made a limited contribution to risk management for accreditation in Australian RAC homes. Either EHR was not effective, or the accreditation process was not robust enough to recognize its influence. Aged care accreditation in Australia needs to develop further outcome-based measures that are supported by robust data infrastructure and clear guidance.

Análisis interpretativo del proceso de acreditación en función del diseño de recomendaciones de gestión académica y directiva en la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia sede Manizales

Este artículo expone el análisis de los informes de acreditación de la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia sede Manizales, de acuerdo a sus modelos de evaluación y al proceso de la evaluación institucional desarrollado por los programas curriculares que la conforman. Además, presenta las estrategias que posibilitan la articulación entre la gestión directiva y académica en el marco del mejoramiento continuo. Este proceso de autoevaluación comprendido como un ejercicio permanente de reflexión y de acción se enmarca en los lineamientos dispuestos por parte del Consejo Nacional de Acreditación de Colombia (CNA) en la “Guía para el mejoramiento institucional”, cuyo propósito es obtener una visión de la situación actual de los programas curriculares respecto a los criterios de calidad. Esto garantizó la obtención rigurosa de datos para lograr un diagnóstico de los procesos de gestión y administración académica, permitiendo extraer conclusiones y proponer recomendaciones que buscan consolidar una cultura de la autoevaluación y el mejoramiento de los procesos académicos y administrativos. Para este análisis se partió de un estudio inicial exploratorio descriptivo de los factores planteados por la guía del CNA: misión institucional, procesos académicos, organización y gestión, que dan cuenta del estado en que se encuentran los programas curriculares, estableciendo una relación con los procesos de gestión directiva y gestión académica, referentes planteados por el Ministerio de Educación Nacional de Colombia. Desde esta relación se ofrecen recomendaciones académicas y de gestión en el marco del proceso de autoevaluación.

MEASURING CLIENT EXPERIENCE IN RESIDENTIAL AGED CARE TO INFORM AND SUPPORT CONSUMER CHOICE

The Australian Government Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (prior to January 2019 known as the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency) is responsible for accreditation of Australian aged care services which are audited against the Australian Accreditation Standards. Accreditation reports are publicly available. Prior to 2017, some clients were interviewed about their experiences, but the resulting information could not represent the client experience within a service due to low numbers, biased sampling, and an unsystematic approach to asking questions. La Trobe University was engaged to develop and pilot an interview tool to measure client experience for use in accreditation. Potential questions were identified through a literature review, mapped against the Accreditation Standards, and workshopped with an expert reference group. Twenty-four questions and a visual analogue were then piloted. Consumer groups and groups of Indigenous and culturally diverse clients in residential aged care homes were consulted. The perspective of Quality Agency surveyors was sought on the questions’ usability. Statistical analyses sought to identify questions that minimised missing data, were responded to similarly by residents and their representatives, and elicited stable responses on retest. Twelve questions were identified as optimal. The 10 quantitative questions proved to reflect a single underlying dimension (consumer experience) and, when summed and explored through regression analyses, differentiated services significantly. The consumer experience interview tool is now used in all accreditation audits in Australia. Results are then used to generate consumer experience reports, which are published online and can support consumer choice of a residential aged care home.

Shoes for the Shoemaker’s Children: Providing an Accreditation Process for Programs Offered by Educational Developers

Educational developers in universities and colleges design, develop, and deliver courses and programs for professors and teaching assistants (TAs) to support teaching and learning in postsecondary institutions. While courses that professors and TAs teach are often accredited by the institution or a professional body, courses offered by educational developers are often not accredited at all. With this anomaly in mind, the Educational Developers Caucus (EDC) created a working group to first explore the appetite for a Canadian accreditation process, and then to design and implement a framework. This article describes the process and product of the accreditation working group and reports on an initial evaluation of its impact, arguing for its valuable contribution to enhancing the quality of faculty and TA development programs and courses and thereby of teaching and learning.

LO36: The state of advocacy in postgraduate medical education: a literature review

Introduction: Health advocacy training is an important part of emergency medicine practice and education. There is little agreement, however, about how advocacy should be taught and evaluated in the postgraduate context, and there is no consolidated evidence-base to guide the design and implementation of post-graduate health advocacy curricula. This literature review aims to identify existing models used for teaching and evaluating advocacy training, and to integrate these findings with current best-practices in medical education to develop practical, generalizable recommendations for those involved in the design of postgraduate advocacy training programs. Methods: Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed searches combined both MeSH and non-MeSH variations on advocacy and internship and residency. Forward snowballing that incorporated grey literature searches from accreditation agencies, residency websites and reports were included. Articles were excluded if unrelated to advocacy and postgraduate medical education. Results: 507 articles were identified in the search. A total of 108 peer reviewed articles and 38 grey literature resources were included in the final analysis. Results show that many regulatory bodies and residency programs integrate advocacy training into their mission statements and curricula, but they are not prescriptive about training methods or assessment strategies. Barriers to advocacy training were identified, most notably confusion about the definition of the advocate role and a lower value placed on advocacy by trainees and educators. Common training methods included didactic modules, standardized patient encounters, and clinical exposure to vulnerable populations. Longitudinal exposure was less common but appeared the most promising, often linked to scholarly or policy objectives. Conclusion: This review indicates that postgraduate medical education advocacy curricula are largely designed in an ad-hoc fashion with little consistency across programs even within a given discipline. Longitudinal curriculum design appears to engage residents and allows for achievement of stated outcomes. Residency program directors from emergency medicine and other specialties may benefit from promising models in pediatrics, and a shared portal with access to advocacy curricula and the opportunity to exchange ideas related to curriculum design and implementation.

Text Data Mining of Aged Care Accreditation Reports to Identify Risk Factors in Medication Management in Australian Residential Aged Care Homes.

This study aimed to identify risk factors in medication management in Australian residential aged care (RAC) homes. Only 18 out of 3,607 RAC homes failed aged care accreditation standard in medication management between 7th March 2011 and 25th March 2015. Text data mining methods were used to analyse the reasons for failure. This led to the identification of 21 risk indicators for an RAC home to fail in medication management. These indicators were further grouped into ten themes. They are overall medication management, medication assessment, ordering, dispensing, storage, stock and disposal, administration, incident report, monitoring, staff and resident satisfaction. The top three risk factors are: "ineffective monitoring process" (18 homes), "noncompliance with professional standards and guidelines" (15 homes), and "resident dissatisfaction with overall medication management" (10 homes).