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Number	CL01/03
Subject	Nomination of institutional auditors for England and Northern Ireland; institutional reviewers and review secretaries for Wales; and reviewers and review secretaries for Scotland
Publication date	29 May 2003
Recipients	Heads of Higher Education Institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Of interest to	Potential nominees
Further information	Nicola Channon/Ailsa Crum/Janice Ross
Response date	Ongoing
Respond to	See appropriate section
Attachments	None

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Dear Colleague

Nomination of institutional auditors for England and Northern Ireland; institutional reviewers and review secretaries for Wales; and reviewers and review secretaries for Scotland

As you may know, the first institutional audits in England have now been completed and we are able to evaluate the demands of the new process. It is clear that to ensure we can provide teams with suitable discipline experience for all the audits in the transitional period, we will need to recruit some additional auditors.

We are also now planning the first round of the new institutional reviews and enhancement-led institutional reviews to be introduced in Wales and Scotland respectively in 2003-04 and wish to appoint reviewers and review secretaries to conduct them. Some information on the differing requirements for these processes is given in this letter and further details are available on our web site.

I am writing to you to ask for your assistance in nominating suitable people for these roles.

Institutional audit in England and Northern Ireland

For institutional audit in England and Northern Ireland we wish to appoint, in the main, senior serving members of institutions' staff, including those with appropriate experience in teaching, student support, management, administration or other similar posts. We will also be appointing auditors who, in addition to their institutional experience, have current subject level expertise. There will still be a number of opportunities for auditors with no current subject experience, but these will be very limited. All prospective auditors will be appointed in the light of the published details in Annex F of the Handbook for institutional audit.

Auditors will initially be appointed for a period of two years, and may be invited to continue for a further period. During the period of appointment, auditors will need to be available to participate in up to three audits and will be expected to attend a three-day residential training course. We cannot guarantee to offer a particular number of audits during a two-year appointment, but auditors will not be expected to undertake more than two activities in any year.

On this occasion we will not be seeking nominations for audit secretaries as we are very fortunate, at present, in having sufficient numbers on the register to support all the planned audits. We will, though, be reviewing this situation in the future and will inform you when further opportunities arise.

Enhancement-led institutional review in Scotland

The process of enhancement-led institutional review (ELIR) has been developed jointly by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, Universities Scotland and the Agency. Although ELIR will apply to Scottish institutions only, it is important to the success of the process that the pool of reviewers and review secretaries, from which review teams will be formed, should be drawn from across the UK.

The process includes a strong focus on the steps which institutions have taken to improve the quality of the student experience. Within the process, consideration will also be given to the effectiveness of the institutional arrangements for the assurance of quality and standards. ELIR teams will include four reviewers, one of whom will be a student reviewer, and a review secretary. Unlike the audit process in England, ELIR does not involve discipline audit trails, which means that teams do not have to represent specific disciplines. Individuals will be selected to act as reviewers and review secretaries according to the criteria which are available on the Agency's web site in Annex 3 of the Handbook for enhancement-led institutional review.

A two-day initial induction and training programme will be provided for all those selected to act as ELIR reviewers and review secretaries. All successful applicants will initially be appointed for a period of two years, and may be invited to continue for a further period. During the period of appointment, reviewers and review secretaries will need to be available to participate in up to three audits. We cannot guarantee to offer a particular number of reviews during a two-year appointment, but no one will be expected to undertake more than two activities in any year.

Institutional review in Wales

We are still consulting on the method of institutional review for Wales. The operational description is on the Agency's web site and the draft handbook should be available for comment by the end of July 2003. However, we already know that we will be conducting a round of reviews in Wales in 2003-04 and would like to have indications of interest from suitable individuals to be both reviewers and review secretaries. As the details of the role are not yet available it is not appropriate for individuals to complete application forms, but we would welcome a written indication of interest so that further details can be forwarded as soon as they are known. Please email contact details to Angela Tetstall a.tetstall@qaa.ac.uk

Existing institutional auditors and audit secretaries

We have written to all existing institutional auditors and audit secretaries asking them if they would like to be considered as potential team members for the processes in Scotland and Wales.

Appointment criteria for all roles

We will appoint people whose characteristics indicate that they will be able to fulfil their responsibilities effectively. All applications will be assessed against the relevant descriptions and appointment criteria. First and foremost, nominees should have a demonstrable commitment to the principles of quality assurance and enhancement within higher education. It is our aim to achieve a balance that takes account of geography, range of experience, age, ethnic origin, disability and gender. We currently have a diverse range of people who provide these services for us, but would particularly welcome nominations from groups that are typically not well-represented.

The effectiveness of any quality assurance process depends crucially upon the quality of the people who undertake it, and we rely on HEIs to let us know of people who are, or have the potential to be, good institutional level team members. I hope that you will wish to nominate suitable colleagues of a high calibre who are able to bring the necessary qualities to these tasks.

Next steps

May I thank you in advance for your help in this way, which will assist in ensuring that our processes command the respect and support of the academic community.

Nomination forms are available on the web site. It would be helpful if nominations could be with us by 16 June 2003, although applications after that date will also be considered.

Any queries you may have should be directed in the first instance to Nicola Channon (01452 557104) for the processes in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and Ailsa Crum or Janice Ross (0141 572 3420) for the process in Scotland.

Yours sincerely

Peter Williams

Chief Executive

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