Colchester Institute
Integrated quality and enhancement review

May 2007

RG 365 06/08

Report

Website for Colchester Institute

PDF version

Contents

• Preface
• Executive summary
• A Introduction and content
• B Evaluation of the management of HEFCE-funded higher education
• C Summary of findings from the Developmental engagement in assessment
• D Foundation Degrees
• E Conclusions and summary of judgements

 

Preface

The mission of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is to safeguard the public interest in sound standards of higher education qualifications and to inform and encourage continual improvement in the management of the quality of higher education. As part of this mission, QAA undertakes reviews of higher education provision delivered in further education colleges. This process is known as Integrated quality and enhancement review (IQER).

Purpose of IQER

Higher education programmes delivered by further education colleges (colleges) lead to awards made by higher education institutions or Edexcel. The awarding bodies retain ultimate responsibility for maintaining the academic standards of their awards and assuring the quality of the students' learning opportunities. The purpose of IQER is, therefore, to safeguard the public interest in the academic standards and quality of higher education delivered in colleges. It achieves this by providing objective and independent information about the way in which colleges discharge their responsibilities within the context of their partnership agreements with awarding bodies. IQER focuses on three core themes: academic standards, quality of learning opportunities and public information.

The IQER process

IQER is a peer review process. It is divided into two complementary stages: Developmental engagement and Summative review. In accordance with the published method, colleges with less than 100 full-time equivalent students funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), may elect not to take part in Developmental engagements, but all HEFCE-funded colleges will take part in Summative review.

Developmental engagement

Developmental engagements explore in an open and collegial way the challenges colleges face in specific areas of higher education provision. Each college's first, and often their only, Developmental engagement focuses on student assessment.

The main elements of a Developmental engagement are:

• a self-evaluation by the college
• an optional written submission by the student body
• a preparatory meeting between the college and the IQER coordinator several weeks before the Developmental engagement visit
• the Developmental engagement visit, which normally lasts two days
• the evaluation of the extent to which the college manages effectively its responsibilities for the delivery of academic standards and the quality of its higher education provision, plus the arrangements for assuring the accuracy and completeness of public information it is responsible for publishing about its higher education
• the production of a written report of the team's findings.

To promote a collegial approach, Developmental engagement teams include up to two members of staff from the further education college under review. They are known as nominees for this process.

Summative review

Summative review addresses all aspects of a college's HEFCE-funded higher education provision and provides judgements on the management and delivery of this provision against core themes one and two, and a conclusion against core theme three.

Summative review shares the main elements of Developmental engagement described above. Summative review teams however, are composed of the IQER coordinator and QAA reviewers. They do not include nominees.

Evidence

In order to obtain evidence for the review, IQER teams carry out a number of activities, including:

• reviewing the college's self-evaluation and its internal procedures and documents
• reviewing the optional written submission from students
• asking questions of relevant staff
• talking to students about their experiences.

IQER teams' expectations of colleges are guided by a nationally agreed set of reference points, known as the Academic Infrastructure. These are published by the QAA and consist of:

• The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which includes descriptions of different higher education qualifications
• the Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education
• subject benchmark statements, which describe the characteristics of degrees in different subjects
• guidelines for preparing programme specifications, which are descriptions of what is on offer to students in individual programmes of study
• award benchmark statements, which describe the generic characteristics of an award, for example Foundation Degrees.

In addition, Developmental engagement teams gather evidence by focusing on particular aspects of the theme under review. These are known as 'lines of enquiry'.

Outcomes of IQER

Each Developmental engagement and Summative review results in a written report:

• Developmental engagement reports set out good practice and recommendations and implications for the college and its awarding bodies, but do not contain judgements. Recommendations will be at one of three levels - essential, advisable and desirable. To promote an open and collegial approach to Developmental engagements, the reports are not published.
• Summative review reports identify good practice and contain judgements about whether the college is discharging its responsibilities effectively against core themes one and two above. The judgements are confidence, limited confidence or no confidence. There is no judgement for the third core theme, instead the report will provide evaluation and a conclusion. Summative review reports are published. Differentiated judgements can be made where a team judges a college's management of the standards and/or quality of the awards made by one awarding body to be different from those made by another.

Colleges are required to develop an action plan to address any recommendations arising from IQER. Progress against these action plans is monitored by QAA in conjunction with HEFCE and/or the college's awarding body(ies) as appropriate. The college's action plan in response to the conclusions of the Summative review will be published as part of the report.

Executive summary

A Introduction and context

1 This report presents the findings of the Summative review conducted at Colchester Institute. The purpose of the review is to provide public information on how the College discharges its responsibilities for the management and delivery of academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities available to students for programmes funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England it delivers on behalf of the University of Essex (the University) and Edexcel. The review was carried out by Mr Lawrie Walker, Mrs Clare Blanchard and Mr Alan Hunt (reviewers) and Mrs M Owen (Coordinator).

2 The Summative review team (the team) conducted the review in agreement with the College and in accordance with The handbook for an integrated quality and enhancement review (the handbook), published by QAA. Evidence in support of the Summative review included documentation supplied by the College and awarding bodies, meetings with staff, students, employers and partner institutions, reports of reviews by QAA and from inspections by Ofsted and ALI and other external bodies. In particular, the team drew on the findings and recommendations of the Developmental engagement in assessment. A summary of findings from this Developmental engagement is provided in Section C of this report. The review also considered the College's use of the Academic Infrastructure, developed by QAA on behalf of higher education providers, with reference to the Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education (Code of practice), Subject and award benchmarks, The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) and programme specifications.

3 In order to assist HEFCE to gain information to assist with the assessment of the impact of Foundation Degree (FD) awards, Section D of this report summarises details of the FD programmes delivered at the College.

4 Colchester Institute is the largest mixed economy college in Essex. The College currently operates on the main campus in Colchester, and at two sites in Clacton-on-Sea. All the higher education programmes are based on the Colchester campus. Colchester Institute has a Centre of Vocational Excellence in both hospitality and construction. In the academic year 2006-07, there are 9,269 student enrolments. Of these, there are 625 full-time and 336 part-time students, a total of 886 full-time equivalent students, enrolled on higher education programmes. They are taught by 71 full-time, 21 fractional and 65 part-time staff. There are approximately 202 HE full-time equivalent students not on HEFCE-funded programmes and outside the scope of this Summative review. The College has higher education provision in eight of its 10 centres of study.

5 Colchester Institute has run higher education programmes for approximately 40 years, both directly funded and in association with the University of Essex, the University of Hertfordshire and Anglia Ruskin University (previously Anglia Polytechnic University). Until August 2006, provision lay predominantly with the latter institution, as part of the Regional University Partnership. In recent years, many programmes moved to franchised status, although some programmes in music and art, and those of occupational therapy and counselling ran under delegated powers.

6 Following a HEFCE-supported strategic realignment of partnership activity in the Eastern Region, a new partnership was formed in August 2006 with the University of Essex. During 2005-06, Colchester Institute invested considerable management and academic staff resource in transition activity, experiencing an institutional validation and approximately 40 programme revalidation and/or validation events. New procedures to implement the University's regulations have also been introduced.

7 Higher education at Colchester includes honours degrees, FDs, postgraduate certificates (Pg Cert) and diplomas (Pg Dip), a master's degree and Edexcel Higher National (HN) awards. The HEFCE-funded higher education provision at the time of the review, together with the awarding bodies, comprised the following programmes:

University of Essex

• BA (Hons) Art and Design - Fine Art
• BA (Hons) Art and Design - Fashion and Textiles
• BA (Hons) Art and Design - Graphic Media
• BA (Hons) Art and Design - Three Dimensional Design and Craft
• FdA Video Production
• Certificate of Higher Education (Cert HE) Art and Design
• BA (Hons) Management
• BA (Hons) Management of Sport
• BA (Hons) Management of Tourism
• BA (Hons) Management of Hospitality
• FdA Management
• FdA Management of Sport
• FdA Management of Tourism
• FdA Management of Hospitality
• Pg Cert in Management
• Pg Dip in Management Studies
• BSc (Hons) Computing Solutions - Internet
• BSc (Hons)Computing Solutions - Network
• FdSc Computing Solutions - Internet
• FdSc Computing Solutions - Network
• Cert HE Computing Solutions
• BSc (Hons) Construction Management - Site Management
• BSc (Hons) Construction Management - Commercial Management
• FdSc Construction Management
• Cert HE Construction Management
• BA (Hons) Early Years
• FdA Early Years
• Certificate in Education (Post-Compulsory)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Post-Compulsory)
• FdA Health and Social Care
• BA (Hons) Health and Social Care
• BA (Hons) Counselling
• Cert HE Person-Centred Skills
• Diploma of HE (Dip HE) Person-Centred Counselling
• MA Music
• BA (Hons) Music
• BA (Hons) Musical Theatre
• FdA Musical Theatre
• FdA Popular Music.

Edexcel

• HNC/D Business
• HNC Computing
• HNC Construction Management
• HNC Engineering.

Partnership agreements with the awarding bodies

8 The College is an Edexcel Approved Centre and offers First, National and Higher National Diplomas and Certificates and NVQ awards over a wide range of subject areas. The University of Essex and Colchester Collaboration Agreement was signed in 2006. The agreement lays out the responsibilities of Colchester Institute and the University and the governance and financial arrangements of the partnerships. The agreement is aligned with the Code of practice, Section 2: Collaborative provision, and flexible and distributed learning (including e-learning), published by QAA.

Recent developments in higher education at the College

9 Colchester Institute is planning to increase the volume of higher education provision, including non-HEFCE funded, to 1,500 FTEs by 2011.There are four new FDs, two honours degrees, two master's programmes and a PGCE and CertEd that have recently been validated for commencement in the academic year 2007-08. Colchester Institute is also considering developing FDs in the Centre of Hospitality and Food Studies and in the Centre of Hair and Beauty, a new master's in Art and Design and a BA in Education.

10 The College is at the planning stage of a new campus development on a site at Sheepen Road.

Students' contribution to the review, including the written submission

11 Students from the higher education provision at the College were invited to present a student written submission to the team.

12 Although supported and briefed by the College, the Students' Union was not able to meet with a group of students in the time available and did not prepare a submission for the Summative review. The President of the Students' Union is the only sabbatical officer and attended a further education programme. The College attempted to bring students together through the higher education Focus Group, but not many attended. However, current and former higher education students made a valuable contribution to the review, as they did for the Developmental engagement through meetings held with the team. The views of current students were also available through the results of College student questionnaires.

B Evaluation of the management of HEFCE-funded higher education

Core theme 1: Academic standards

How are responsibilities for managing and delivering higher education standards delegated within the management structure and what reporting arrangements are in place?

13 The period of transition to accommodate the significant new partnership of Colchester Institute with the University has seen accompanying developments in higher education roles, structures, processes and protocols. These new, or modified, arrangements form the framework within which academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities are managed and monitored.

14 The transition was managed through interaction with the University's Dean of Academic Partnerships and a joint management board. Membership drawn equally from the University and Colchester Institute is responsible for the overall management of the partnership. It reviews, at a strategic level, the collaborative agreement, financial matters and curricular development, and is involved in the guidance of both quality assurance and high-level operational activity as appropriate. The University is represented on the higher education subcommittee, while Colchester Institute representatives sit on University committees concerned with the development of matters such as learning and teaching and the University of Essex Partnership Planning Forum. The University of Essex and Colchester Institute Curriculum and Quality Group, has recently been introduced to oversee the development of higher education quality matters.

15 The College welcomes the partnership with the University. It has worked continuously to establish new procedures and has used the opportunity of the transition period to strengthen its overall management of higher education. Enhanced cross-college cohesion and consistency has been achieved through integrating higher education activities into college-wide arrangements and providing specialised higher education arrangements where these are appropriate and more effective. This enhancement process is continuing. Academic staff spoke positively about their increased ownership of the curricula, as well as the practical benefits of working with an institution that is located nearby and of the opportunity to enhance the higher education culture within the College. The successful management of this transition and its use as an opportunity for enhancement is good practice.

16 The Director of Learning: Higher and Continuing Education is a key role, with both curricula line management and strategic responsibility for higher education across the College, including the development of the higher education strategy and associated action plan. The recently appointed HE Operations Manager has been particularly involved in leading and developing good practice and works with the Quality Manager and the Academic Standards Office to provide a coordinated approach to higher education curricular and quality activity. The Quality Manager has responsibility for the Academic Standards Office, which organises course approvals, reviews and validations and supports course teams in preparation for these. The management roles make a significant contribution in directing and supporting College higher education strategy, policies and processes and in the evaluation of the Developmental engagement action plan.

17 The College has a clearly defined hierarchy of committees responsible for standards and quality in higher education. The higher education boards of study report to the HE Subcommittee, which reports to the Academic Standards Committee, which in turn reports to the Academic Board. The higher education boards of study are charged with ensuring quality and consistency and, therefore, have significant roles in the management of higher education. Their membership includes representatives from the key cross-college services, another centre of study and a student representative. The higher education boards of study receive reports from course committees.

18 The terms of reference and agendas of all the committees include higher education. The minutes indicate that higher education issues are conscientiously considered. The HE Subcommittee particularly advises the Academic Standards Committee on the planning, development and operation of all higher education provision, policies and procedures. Through reports from higher education boards of study, annual monitoring reports and reports from central institutional services, the HE Subcommittee is made aware of standards and quality issues, and is able to identify issues and respond to them. For example, noted inconsistencies in tutorial provision are being addressed through the development of a tutorial policy for introduction in September 2007. The HE Subcommittee will monitor the implementation of the Developmental engagement action plan. A relevant and sufficient set of committees and forums is in place, with interlinked membership and agendas to manage the higher education provision.

19 The College has a range of policies relevant to the management of higher education and the University has engaged with the College in the adoption of the University regulations with procedures developed appropriate to the College's context. Colchester Institute Regulations and Procedures for HE includes an Assessment Policy and guidance on associated assessment processes, which are aligned with the Code of practice, Section 6: Assessment of students. Regulations also provide guidance on examinations, academic offences, extenuating circumstances, academic progress and conferment and the rules of assessment. The College's Accreditation and Approvals Panel considers all applications for accreditation of prior learning, in accordance with University regulations. The HE Regulations are issued to all new students, are referred to in student handbooks and are also available on the HE Student Portal.

20 Edexcel programmes are managed in accordance with Edexcel regulations and are subject to monitoring through external examiners. Appeals against academic decisions on Edexcel programmes are dealt with in accordance with the procedures used for other Edexcel qualifications, outlined in the College's Quality Improvement in Learning and Teaching Handbook. Although there are necessary differences in grading and other assessment regulations, some assessment practices and procedures, such as the higher education internal verification system and progress boards, are used for University and Edexcel programmes whenever appropriate.

What account is taken of the Academic Infrastructure?

21 In accordance with its HE Strategy, the College has comprehensively mapped its policies and systems against the Code of practice. This was embedded within the documentation provided for the University's Institutional Validation. The document was commended by the University and has been particularly important in identifying areas for enhancement, such as the recent Quality Audit of Assessment and associated action plan. The mapping exercise is a commendable piece of work. The College plans, as part of the Developmental engagement action plan, to review policies and update mappings with the revised Code of practice.

22 Guidance for programme validation and review is provided by the University, which expects the processes to engage with appropriate sections of the Academic Infrastructure, including subject benchmark statements and the FHEQ. Although the FHEQ was not always explicitly evidenced in validation documents, Colchester Institute Regulations and Procedures for HE are aligned to the FHEQ. They include a recently introduced college-wide grading framework, the Belfield Model, which provides level descriptor guidance on grading against assessment criteria.

23 Programme specifications are produced by the programme teams and included in the validation documents for approval and embedded in student programme handbooks. Programme specifications are required for all Edexcel provision.

24 The design of FDs shows engagement with the defining characteristics of the Foundation Degree qualification benchmark, for example, validation documents show constructive feedback from employers, which informs programme design and delivery. Programme teams engage with sector-skills councils where available, and professional or industry bodies during development; for instance, the FdA Early Years obtained sector endorsement. However, understanding of these external reference points among teaching staff appeared to be less well developed.

25 The College's use of the Academic Infrastructure is generally satisfactory. The College's self-evaluation and associated action plan recognises that staff are inconsistent in their familiarity with the term Academic Infrastructure and the majority of students are unfamiliar with it. The team welcomes the intention to continue work with the Academic Infrastructure. The College may benefit from promoting and extending the understanding and use of external reference points, including sector-skills councils and other bodies.

How does the College assure itself that it is fulfilling its obligations to ensure that the standards of higher education provision meet the requirements of validating partners and awarding bodies?

26 Proposals for new Edexcel programmes follow college procedures, and are subject to Edexcel online approval. Although the College operates validation and approval processes within awarding body arrangements for external validation, the relationship with the University effectively gives the College considerable control in the validation process and programme design, with the University monitoring and interacting with the process.

27 Validation activity can be tracked visibly on the HE Student Portal, where all programme documents at all stages of development are placed. This indicates that the process is rigorous and in line with the Code of practice, Section 7: Programme design, approval, monitoring and review. The programme development and internal validation processes have promoted a high level of curriculum ownership by programme teams. Staff reported that this validation process was strongly supported by the University and the College's senior managers.

28 No periodic reviews have yet taken take place under the new partnership. The College's quality team has the facility to carry out internal audits, though this has been used mainly within the further education arena. Annual monitoring and review take place both within academic and business support areas through the committee structure. An institutional annual monitoring report is sent to the University. The most recent report gives a thorough overview, clearly identifies matters for action at institutional level and was commended by the University.

29 The College has a clear understanding of the need for employer engagement in the design and delivery of learning and in development of assessment practice. There was clear evidence of employer involvement in a range of activities in practice supporting the curricula, and centres of study are outlining their current employer engagement for the Developmental engagement action plan. Implementation of the Draft Employer Engagement Strategy will also require inclusion of employer feedback during annual monitoring and review.

30 Retention and achievement data are considered at programme level, at higher education boards of study, and through the committee structure. Monitoring by a range of indicators, such as disability and of graduate destinations, takes place. The higher education boards of study are required to consider module performance against a normal distribution and to make recommendations concerning delivery, assessment or marking and in the light of external examiner feedback. They provide an important source of sharing information and action planning, but the College would benefit from reviewing the effectiveness of the higher education boards of study in monitoring data and other quality and standards evidence.

31 All current programmes have external examiners appointed by the University or Edexcel. Externals appointed by the University operate within its policies and regulations. Where external examiners raise issues, the Director of Quality and Development requests a report from the relevant head of centre within three weeks. The responses are tracked through the Academic Standards Office, which is also responsible for collating external examiners feedback for presentation and discussion at the HE Subcommittee. The Academic Standards Office will audit the use of the internal verification form to ensure greater consistency in its use.

32 External examiners receive the assessments at the start of the academic year and samples of assessed work at the end of the year, before the meeting of the board of examiners. In subject areas such as art and design, music and performing arts, external examiners attend exhibitions, performances and recitals. They attend boards of examiners and ratify all awards. The team is assured that the College acts diligently in relation to its external examiners, and procedures are aligned with the Code of practice, Section 4: External examining.

33 Boards of examiners are conducted according to University regulations. All meetings are held at the College and chaired by the Dean of Academic Partnerships for the University. Edexcel programmes are also required to hold meetings of board of examiners, internally chaired but with the required attendance of a panel member external to the curricular area. Higher education progress boards parallel the progression boards used across the College and the Progress Committee of the University. External examiners confirmed the effectiveness of these boards.

What are the College's arrangements for staff development to support the achievement of appropriate academic standards?

34 The College offers a comprehensive system of staff development, and specific activities for higher education staff are delivered via an extensive programme of higher education practitioner sessions. These are offered both internally and externally, with staff attending events at the University, professional bodies and Edexcel development activities. Good levels of staff participation at practitioner events were noted in staff development records.

35 All new staff receive a full induction from the College, which incorporates an overview of the role of the University as the main validating partner. A number of staff development events, including the writing of programme specifications, were held to support college staff during the very intensive process of University validations in 2005-06.

36 The BTEC Forum meets once each term, to share good practice and relevant information and feedback across Edexcel programmes, although the team found that this forum focused mainly on further education provision.

37 The College has a research and scholarly activity policy. This policy is designed to support those staff wishing to undertake research to support and enhance learning and teaching, curricular delivery or development, engagement with employment and industry or other subject development. Higher education teaching staff are also encouraged to become external examiners elsewhere, so that they can import good practice, and several have done so. The College recognises the need for staff to maintain the currency of their subject expertise by promoting study for higher degrees, and most recently by inviting bids for individual research support.

38 A higher education operations forum has recently been set up to provide informal monthly opportunities for curriculum managers engaged in higher education to spread and raise good practice. The Higher Education Practitioners Group is a focus for dialogue among staff who teach or support higher education programmes, and between centres. It identifies common issues, spreads good practice and fosters the growth of an higher education ethos.

39 Higher education staff reported a range of events, which included information about University regulations and requirements, development of assessment practice and internal verification, and extending understandings of academic levels and engagement with the Academic Infrastructure. Further practitioner sessions on grading are scheduled during the summer staff development period. The team found that the Higher Education Operations Forum and the Higher Education Practitioners Group play a very significant role in building and sustaining a reflective and enhancement-focused culture among higher education staff.

The team concludes that it has confidence in the College's management of its responsibilities as set out in its partnership agreements, for the management and delivery of the standards of the awards it offers on behalf of its awarding bodies.

Core theme 2: Quality of learning opportunities

How are responsibilities for managing the quality of learning opportunities for higher education programmes delegated within the management structure and what reporting arrangements are in place?

40 The College has 10 centres, eight of which deliver higher education provision. Centre managers are responsible for the management of all programmes, including higher education ones, at operational level and are supported by management teams. They or their representatives attend a range of committees at varying levels including the Senior Leadership and Management Team, the Academic Board, Academic Standards Committee and the HE Subcommittee. There are meetings of the heads of centres, which include discussion of higher education matters, and can channel information to higher education boards of study and the HE Subcommittee.

41 Course or programme committees meet regularly and report to higher education boards of study. Minutes indicate clear action planning, but do not always report resolutions of actions planned at earlier meetings. Indeed, minutes do not always record that proceedings of the previous meeting have been received. A standard set of agenda items is under consideration at present. This would provide an opportunity to standardise practice in this area.

42 Programme monitoring works on an annual cycle, and individual courses or groups of programmes use a University format for the annual monitoring report. The annual monitoring report form is comprehensive in scope; for example, it calls for a list of staff teaching on each programme, with the levels at which they teach and confirmation of their approval by the University. A sample of annual monitoring reports demonstrated generally helpful documents, though not all annual monitoring reports give the expected level of detail. The section on employer involvement is variably used and there is variability in the depth of analysis and evaluation of the evidence, for example in the use of performance statistics.

How does the College assure itself that it is fulfilling its obligations to its awarding bodies to ensure that students received appropriate learning opportunities?

43 The processes by which the College assures itself that it is fulfilling its obligations to awarding bodies are detailed in paragraphs 26 to 31. The College has a higher education strategy, reviewed in 2006 and revised in 2007, and supporting strategies for teaching and learning and e-learning. The College sets out to give students a higher education experience based on a high level of staff support, a vocationally orientated approach to learning and teaching, and the progressive development of autonomous, self-directed learning during HE programmes. Students met by the team confirmed these features of their learning experiences. They find that their programmes have been progressively more intellectually and professionally challenging.

What account is taken of the Academic Infrastructure?

44 The College has comprehensively mapped its policies and systems against the Code of practice as described in paragraph 21. This includes a draft admissions policy, which has been aligned with the Code of practice, Section 10: Admissions to higher education and careful use of the Code of practice, Section 3: Students with disabilities. The mapping of placement policy and procedures against the Code of practice, Section 9: Placement learning and the mapping of career guidance against the Code of practice, Section 8: Career education, information and guidance have also taken place.

How does the College assure itself that the quality of teaching and learning is being maintained and enhanced?

45 Many programmes engage with small businesses and the world of work. For example, professional musicians provide workshops. Tutor/practitioners are used extensively in the College's vocationally orientated higher education provision to provide professional currency. They are involved in team meetings, and in the design and development of programmes and modules. Some employers are involved with higher education programmes as tutor/practitioners or fractional staff; others give occasional lectures, or exhibit their work in the Colchester Institute gallery. Student feedback was enthusiastic and complimentary about the use of tutor practitioners to embed employment relevance.

46 The College is rapidly developing its provision for e-learning, and this development is led and supported by the E-learning Manager. A learner interaction policy is being developed. All students are given college email addresses, which give access to the Higher Education Student Portal, when they enrol, but not all make use of them. Some subject areas, such as computing, already make use of the College's virtual learning environment, or the Portal, and through these vehicles some staff and students are already becoming familiar with e-learning. As part of the Developmental engagement action plan, a pilot in the use of electronic personal development portfolios is being established.

47 A significant budget has been allocated to support and promote e-learning, although not all staff are yet aware of it. All higher education teaching staff have access to desktop computers, but the College expects that future estate developments will include extensive wireless networking and provision of laptops or individual personal computers for all teaching staff. This will enable much wider and more effective use of electronic communications. The College has commendably ambitious aspirations and plans for e-learning as a central part of its higher education provision, but this is still in an early stage of development in many areas, and the pace of development is likewise variable across centres. Careful monitoring of the many and varied developments connected with e-learning would ensure coherent implementation of its revised e-learning strategy and maximise its potential to enhance learning opportunities.

48 A team of 24 staff is trained to observe learning and teaching, and all staff are observed at least once a year. Outcomes of teaching observation are fed into the Professional Development and Review process. Heads of centre follow up inadequate teaching performance developmentally. This observation process, while beneficial for teaching and learning, does not systematically focus on higher education teaching. Peer observation is also carried out as a developmental measure, but this process has been suspended temporarily while it is revised.

49 The College regards student evaluation of higher education provision as a key part of quality enhancement. Where students have found difficulty in attending higher education boards of study, the Higher Education Subcommittee has encouraged more flexible timing of meetings and recommended that more than one student may attend. The Business and Management Centre has introduced student forums, which the College has recognised as good practice, and have introduced them in other centres. College-wide higher education student fora are held twice each year and report to the Higher Education Subcommittee with clear action plans. These forums are effective channels of student representation, for example, in expressing students' views on library resources.

50 Students met by the team felt that the higher education student voice was heard effectively, through student representation and module evaluation. The Students' Union arranges student representatives on course committees, although students do not always attend training. Student representation at course committees is effective, and students reported examples of changes in response to student feedback.

51 Learner Perception of College surveys are carried out across the College for both higher education and further education students, though not all questions are applicable to higher education. The data show generally high levels of student satisfaction and summaries and trends from survey data are reported to higher education boards of study, and thence to the Higher Education Subcommittee, all of which report trends in Learner Perception of College feedback.

How does the College assure itself that students are supported effectively?

52 The College has a draft admissions policy, which has been aligned with the Code of practice, Section 10: Admissions to higher education, and guidelines to implement its equal opportunities and widening participation policies. Customer services coordinate all higher education admissions. Entry requirements vary from programme to programme, but are within parameters established through the validation process. Most candidates are interviewed and in some areas, such as art and music, all are interviewed or auditioned. Tutors make admission decisions, supported by the Admissions and Guidance Office.

53 Centres give inductions for UK students and Admissions and Guidance provides induction and orientation for international students. Appropriate diagnostic testing and support is provided at induction. Student surveys indicated that students generally find induction helpful.

54 There is a learning support policy, and the Widening Participation Manager monitors learning support. All students have personal tutors. Students reported that all aspects of academic and personal support were effective, and that staff were attentive and caring, although communication between staff and students was sometimes variable. Some staff made use of email to communicate with students, but others did not.

55 The College has extensive provision for students with disabilities, and has made careful use of the Code of practice, Section 3: Students with disabilities to evaluate it. Support for dyslexic higher education students was increased in 2006. Students confirmed that this provision for additional learning needs, provided through Learning Services, is effective. Careers guidance is provided by the Careers Service and by tutors, and students find both sources effective.

56 Work-based learning is embedded in all FDs, albeit in differing ways. The management of placements in higher education programmes has been strengthened recently, in the light of the College's mapping of placement policy and procedures against the Code of practice, Section 9: Placement learning. A placements officer and a contracts and placements supervisor are now in place. Students reported that staff support placements effectively, to the extent of finding alternative work-based learning opportunities if placements proved unsuccessful.

What are the College's arrangements for staff development to maintain and/or enhance the quality of learning opportunities?

57 In addition to the arrangements detailed in paragraphs 34 to 39, there are biannual higher education planning days and intensive staff development activity every summer and a comprehensive programme of staff development events throughout the year. This programme includes regular higher education practitioner events and sessions of the Learning and Teaching Unit aimed particularly at those new to teaching, but open to all. These cover aspects of the teaching role, such as classroom management, session planning, use of information technology and assessment.

58 Activity undertaken through the Learning and Teaching Unit supports interdisciplinary dialogue and the sharing of good practice across higher and further education. All higher education staff from partner colleges are included in the University programme of developmental and training activities. There are also many leadership and management meetings and away days, which promote good practice and effective management of higher education.

59 The annual Professional and Development Review meeting for all higher education staff includes the setting of individual objectives based on departmental development plans, and the setting of training and development targets, which in turn feed in to an annual training plan. All higher education staff have the opportunity to professionally update themselves both industrially and commercially by going out into their respective industry to harness the latest thinking in their field and bring it back into the classroom. There is considerable support for tutor/practitioners. They receive mentoring where this is necessary to establish their capacity to teach and assess at appropriate academic levels. They also take part in higher education practitioners' activities when they can fit them into their schedules.

How does the College ensure the sufficiency and accessibility of the learning resources the students need to achieve the intended learning outcomes for their programmes?

60 There are 25 full-time staff, and other fractional or part-time staff, who teach solely on higher education programmes, although the majority of staff also teach on further education programmes. Heads of centres manage staff workloads and remissions for higher education teaching. Remission is given for higher education teaching, research and scholarship. Amounts vary between centres and programmes, but are set within parameters established in college guidelines.

61 Proposal forms for new programmes include space for centres to indicate additional staffing needs, although these are not always given or quantified. Approval of this proposal signifies the College's intention to provide the required resources. The College may wish to promote a more consistent use of these sections of the proposal form. Additional support for the development and delivery of FDs, which centres may use for additional staffing, is available through the College's Foundation Degree Support Fund.

62 The approval of the University's Dean of Academic Partnerships is required before any member of college staff, whether full or part-time, can teach or assess on higher education programmes leading to the University's award. In a few cases, this approval has not been given or has been limited in scope, pending provision of appropriate mentorship and staff development.

63 Continuing resource allocations are managed through the budget planning cycle. The annual monitoring report process identifies resource requirements at programme level and there is evidence that resource needs are met in this way. Each curriculum area has a learning resources adviser, who is made aware of learning resource needs in programmes through involvement in all validations and attendance at higher education boards of study meetings. These advisers also work with students to enable them to make more effective use of available resources. The Head of Learning Resources attends Higher Education Subcommittee meetings and is made aware of resource needs.

64 While students were generally satisfied with the learning resource provision, some noted that library resources, particularly online learning resources, were insufficient to meet the needs of their programmes, and rehearsal space for performance-based programmes was not adequate. Access to information technology facilities was said to be adequate, but computers in the library were not always available when students needed them.

65 However, the College's spending in this area is increasing annually and there are plans to make more use of resources on the University campus. Higher education students already can become associate members of the University library and the College is exploring increased access to the University's library resources. Higher education students asked for additional quiet study facilities and the College has provided additional facilities in their library, and in a small quiet area reserved for higher education and mature students. The College has informed students of this, but not all students were aware of it.

The team concludes that it has confidence in the College's management of its responsibilities for the quality of the learning opportunities as required by the awarding bodies to enable students to achieve the intended learning outcomes.

Core theme 3: Public information

What information is the College responsible for publishing about its HEFCE-funded higher education?

66 The College, in partnership with the University as indicated in paragraphs 67, 70, 72 and 73, is responsible for marketing information, promotional materials, published data and the information sets listed in paragraph 74, student handbooks, college policies, meeting minutes, and the recording of assessment marks.

What arrangements do the College have in place to assure the accuracy and completeness of information the College has responsibility for publishing. How does the College know that these arrangements are effective?

67 The External Relations Office at the University works with the College's marketing team to ensure the accuracy of public information. Development of publicity, including that available through prospectuses and on the college website, is the responsibility of the Marketing Manager, working in liaison with the College Leadership and Management Group, which includes centre, quality, customer services and management information managers. The College Leadership and Management Group approves each stage of the development of prospectuses to ensure accuracy at both programme and institutional levels.

68 Academic staff are responsible for ensuring that the information regarding their programmes including entry requirements is accurate and that they check all promotional materials. For 2006-07, the HE Course Proposal form has been used as the starting point for data to be published in any media.

69 The Internet Steering Group supports increasingly effective coordination between management information systems, developments recorded through the Academic Standards Office and published data, whether on the website, UCAS or the HE Sharepoint Portal. Programme specifications and the course catalogue are held on the Sharepoint database. It is intended that these will be fully integrated, allow information to be downloaded for inclusion in other publications and that managers will be able to check and update curricular data themselves. Guidance is being produced as to how often and when data should be checked.

70 Information about applicants and enrolments is held on the college database and is accessed only by those with appropriate permissions. The College is responsible for producing the final Higher Education Statistics Agency returns, which are checked by the University for accuracy.

71 All students are issued with a higher education student handbook, which contains comprehensive and consistent college information, including regulations and procedures. Handbooks are designed from a college template with college, centre and programme sections, including the programme specifications. These are audited and approved by heads of centres and the Higher Education Operations Office. Plans are currently being drawn up for updates to the higher education handbook to be implemented during the summer 2007. Students are informed of the requirements for each module through module guides, which are written by module staff and approved by internal verification.

72 As well as hard copy, students have electronic access to all programme documents, including programme specifications on the Higher Education Portal. Students confirmed that they received comprehensive and accurate information. The University's Partnerships Manager also checks all documents through the Higher Education Portal.

73 The Senior Leadership and Management Team centrally check the College's policies, such as equal opportunities, to ensure that they comply with institutional guidelines. The higher education policies are also checked by the University to ensure they meet its guidelines. These policies are available to all staff and students in both hard copy and on the Portal.

74 The Higher Education Operations Portal is an effective resource for the dissemination of information and good practice, supporting the management of academic standards and of learning opportunities. It has clearly well-organised information sets, which include higher education boards of study minutes, validation documentation, programme handbooks and specifications, policies, regulations and procedures, annual monitoring reports and action plan updates. It also includes regularly updated data, such as enrolment, retention and attendance summary reports.

75 The Portal also has interactive features, which can be used for surveys, consultation and enhancement, including live discussion. The Portal has recently been extended to include records of the Higher Education Operations Forum, decisions of progress boards and University regulations and procedures, and to obtain feedback from students. The Higher Education Operations Manager is responsible for the Higher Education Operations Portal and operates a graded permissions system for its use.

76 The greater autonomy within the new partnership arrangements supports a single data source within the College and the development of the Assessment Tracking System has continued since the Developmental engagement and is on course for use as the reporting system for the summer examination boards. Students will be able to access the results of their coursework, examination and overall module results after the examination board. The University, or Edexcel, produce all award certificates. The College has already started to collate and monitor information about the range and volume of assessment instruments used on higher education programmes through the Assessment Tracking System, and will also be able to monitor the timeliness of assessment feedback. The internal verification form provides an effective audit trail for the checking of assessment instruments and of marks at the progress boards.

The team considers that reliance can be placed on the accuracy and completeness of the information that the College is responsible for publishing about itself and the programmes it delivers.

C Summary of findings from the Developmental engagement in assessment

77 The Developmental engagement in Assessment was undertaken in March 2007. There were six lines of enquiry, within the broad theme of the development and design of assessment. The lines of enquiry were:

• Do the range and types of assessments used support the development of skills and knowledge and enable the student to achieve intended learning outcomes?
• How do practitioners and employers contribute to the design of assessment?
• Is the scheduling and amount of assessment appropriate for the achievement of the intended learning outcomes?
• Does staff development support staff in the development and design of assessment?
• Is the feedback to students appropriate and timely to support learning?
• What arrangements are in place to assure the accuracy and completeness of assessment information?

These covered the range and types of assessments in supporting the development of skills and knowledge; the contribution of practitioners and employers to assessment design; the scheduling and amount of assessment; feedback to students and the accuracy and completeness of assessment information

78 The Developmental engagement report identified a number of areas of good practice. These included matters relating to assessment policies, regulation, systems and procedures, such as mapping against the Code of practice, the closer alignment of University and Edexcel assessment procedures where appropriate, and the College's Regulations and procedures for higher education. The development of systems for assessment tracking, the internal verification form, mechanisms for the scheduling of assessment and for feedback to students were all highlighted. The higher education student handbook and the Higher Education Portal provided effective dissemination of information and there were effective mechanisms for the dissemination of good practice across teaching, learning and assessment. The role of reflective practice, the input of professional and industrial bodies, the use of and support for tutor practitioners, and work-placement activity in some centres of study also contributed to assessment good practice.

79 The report identified that it would be desirable to achieve greater consistency in the use of the internal verification form and in the timeliness of student feedback.

D Foundation Degrees

80 The FDs are a key part of the higher education strategy to provide vocational programmes, largely to meet local and regional needs but also national needs when this is identified through the Sector Skills Councils or other external bodies. The development of FDs will make an important contribution to the planned growth in higher education provision of approximately 40 per cent by 2011.

81 The current 14 FDs are located across seven of the eight centres of study where there is higher education provision, with a particular focus on a wide range of management programmes, computing, construction, early years, health and social care as well as performing arts and media. There are approximately 200 students enrolled on these programmes. The four programmes which have been validated for a September 2007 start are FdA Technical Theatre, FdA Art and Design (Professional Practice), FdSc Engineering Practice and FdA Creative Performance (Acting).

82 Programmes are under consideration in two other centres of study to provide suitable progression routes for students. These are FdA Advanced Professional Practice in the Centre of Hospitality and Food Studies for chefs and FdA Complementary Therapies in the Centre of Health and Beauty.

E Conclutions and summary of judgements

83 The Summative review team identified a number of features of good practice in the College's management of its responsibilities for academic standards and for the quality of learning opportunities of the awards the College offers on behalf of its awarding bodies. This was based upon discussion with staff and students and scrutiny of evidence provided by Colchester Institute and its awarding bodies, the University and Edexcel.

84 In the course of the review, the team identified the following areas of good practice:

• successful management of the transition to the University of Essex partnership and its continuing development as an opportunity for enhancement, such as greater ownership of the curriculum and greater consistency in assessment practice (paragraphs 14; 15; 19; 27)
• the use of a dedicated higher education infrastructure of management roles and committees, especially the HE subcommittee, in developing, supporting and reviewing HE strategy, policies, processes and action plans (paragraphs 16; 17; 18)
• comprehensive and effective mapping of policies and systems with the Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education, and its continuing updating to identify areas for enhancement across the College (paragraph 21)
• employer engagement and the use of tutor practitioners to provide vocational relevance to the curriculum and its delivery (paragraphs 29; 45)
• a comprehensive dedicated higher education staff development programme to spread good practice and develop a higher education ethos, including scholarly activity, across the Centres (paragraphs 34; 35; 37 to 39; 57 to 59)
• continuing development and use of the HE Portal by higher education staff and students for the dissemination of information and good practice, including its interactive features (paragraphs 74; 75).

The team also makes some recommendations for consideration by the College and its awarding bodies.

The team agreed upon an area where the College is advised to take action:

• monitor carefully the many and varied developments connected with e-learning, so as to ensure coherent implementation of its revised e-learning strategy (paragraph 47).
• The team also agreed the following areas where it would be desirable for the College to take action to:
• promote and extend the understanding and use of The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Foundation Degree qualification benchmark and Sector Skills Councils' frameworks as reference points (paragraphs 24; 25)
• review the effectiveness of higher education boards of study and the extent to which they effectively monitor data and other evidence of quality and standards (paragraph 30)
• standardise practice in the minuting of course committees, and in the reviewing of minutes at later meetings (paragraph 41)
• ensure the consistent completion of annual monitoring reports (paragraph 42)
• develop a specific strategy for the observation of higher education teaching (paragraph 48).
• promote more consistent use of the proposal form for new programmes, particularly the sections which indicate resource needs (paragraph 61)

85 Based upon its analysis of the College's self-evaluation, and other documentary evidence and from its meetings with staff and students, the team concludes that it has confidence that, in the context of this Summative review, the College discharges its responsibilities effectively, as set out in the relevant partnership agreement for the management of the standards of the awards of its awarding bodies.

86 Based upon its analysis of the College's self-evaluation, and other documentary evidence and from its meetings with staff and students, the team concludes that it has confidence that, in the context of this Summative review, the College discharges its responsibilities effectively, as set out in the relevant partnership agreement for the management of the quality of learning opportunities to enable students to achieve the intended learning outcomes.

87 Based upon its analysis of the College's self-evaluation, and other documentary evidence and from its meetings with staff and students, the team concludes that, in the context of this Summative review, reliance can be placed on the accuracy and completeness of the information that the College is responsible for publishing about itself and the programmes it delivers.

Colchester Institute action plan relating to the Summative review: May 2007
Good practice	Action to be taken	Target date	Action by	Success indicators	Reported to	Evaluation
In the course of the Summative review the team identified the following areas of good practice that are worthy of wider dissemination within the college:
Successful management of transition to the UoE partnership and its continuing development as an opportunity for enhancement, such as greater ownership of the curriculum and greater consistency in assessment practice.(paragraphs 14, 15, 19, 28)	Oversight of both existing and developing partnership structures and interactions through effective use of meetings Maintenance and publication of Regulations, policies and procedures with associated HE Practitioner Activity Introduction of structured and supported internal programme review cycle and associated processes	Review June 2008     September 2007 and ongoing as necessary   Spring 2008 with first reviews Autumn 2008	CI/UoE Curriculum and Quality Group   HE Operations and Academic Standards Office HE Operations and Academic Standards Office	Continued evidence of quality enhancement activity   HE Practitioners and students demonstrate awareness of regulations, policies and procedures HE Practitioners actively engage with review processes	Partnership Management Board   HE Subcommittee (HESC)     HESC	CI/UoE Curriculum and Quality Group   HE Operations Forum     HE Operations Forum
the use of a dedicated higher education infrastructure of management roles and committees, especially the higher education Subcommittee, in developing, supporting and reviewing higher education strategy, policies, processes and action plans (paragraphs 16, 17, 18)	Establish structure as good practice model through interaction within the University partnerships and through regional and local fora	May 2007 and ongoing	Director of Learning, HE Operations Manager	Provision of support on request for colleges regionally and locally in the establishment of appropriate HE management infrastructures	HESC	Feedback from ACER HE in FE Forum and The Mixed Economy Group
comprehensive and effective mapping of policies and systems with the Code of practice and its continuing updating to identify areas for enhancement across the College (paragraph 21)	Revisit Mapping to include engagement with new Codes of practice Extension of mapping activity to include Colchester Institute policy statements on engagement with the wider Academic Infrastructure Use mapping as a good practice example regionally and locally	From June 2007   From Autumn 2007     From May 2007 and ongoing	Director of Learning, HE Operations Manager	Updated and published demonstration of the way in which the College engages with the Academic Infrastructure     Provision of support on request for colleges regionally and locally in the establishment of appropriate HE management infrastructures	HESC	Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education       Feedback from conference attendees, ACER HE in FE Forum and The Mixed Economy Group
employer engagement and the use of tutor practitioners to provide vocational relevance to the curriculum and its delivery (paragraphs 29, 45)	Extend the use of tutor/ practitioners where ever possible to ensure currency of assessment	Ongoing	Centre Teams	Increased use of tutor/ practitioners in appropriate curriculum areas	Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education	By HE Operations Manager
a comprehensive dedicated HE staff development programme to spread good practice and develop an HE ethos, including scholarly activity, across the Centres (paragraphs 34, 35, 37 to 39, 57 to 59)	Further develop and utilise the practitioners sessions, the HE Operations Forum and the CI Portal as the key web-based mechanism for the dissemination of the described good practice Develop the profile of and support for the Research and Scholarly Activity Policy		HE Operations	The HE Practitioners schedule, HE Operations Forum notes, Portal content, Learning and Teaching Unit activities   Increase in recorded scholarly activity, publication and seminar activity	HESC	By Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education
continuing development and use of the HE Portal by higer education staff and students for the dissemination of information and good practice, including its interactive features (paragraphs 74, 75)	Continue to make use of the Portal as a repository of key resources and as a medium for academic discussion, debate and collective decision-making Enhance the design, structure, awareness and content held   Extend the portal technology to provide targeted student groups with content, resources and mechanisms for communication and collaborative activities Provide mentoring and support for Curriculum Managers in the establishment of programme related portal-based activity	Summer 2007 and ongoing           December 2007     September 2007 onwards	HE Operations Manager     HE Operations, E-learning Manager   HE Operations Manager	Emergent use by student groups     The volume of web pages created, content updated and pages accessed (hits) and the extent of use made by HE staff and students. Feedback from Practitioners and Students	HESC	By Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education Through HEBoS and the HE Operations       Forum   Through HEBoS and the HE Operations Forum

 

Colchester Institute action plan relating to the Summative review: May 2007
Advisable	Action to be taken	Target date	Action by	Success indicators	Reported to	Evaluation
The team agreed a number of areas where the College should be advised to take action:
monitor carefully the many and varied developments connected with e-learning, so as to ensure coherent implementation of its revised e-learning strategy (paragraph 47)	Continued development and maintenance of the Assessment   Tracking System Sharepoint Development (College Portal): Evaluation of structure   Research into the use of eLearning/tools in teaching and learning and developing supporting training for all   SharePoint Development (College Portal): Development of MySite with associated staff training E-Portfolios: Investigate and identify needs of college Development of infrastructure to support e-portfolios	Ongoing Summer 2007 for December 2007 Spring 2008       Autumn 2008	E-learning Manager, HE Operations   E-Learning Manager   E-Learning Manager, LTU       E-Learning Manager   HE Operations. E-Learning Manager E-Learning Manager, HE Operations Manager, Pilot Programme Team	Effective crosscollege management information and assessment tracking system for HE Identification of correct methodology to ensure building for sustainable and robust interface to deliver the needs of the college both for business support and for teaching To enhance use of learning technologies to support HE and Learning & teaching Strategies     Provision of personalised access to Portal for staff and students   Evaluate possible solutions in order to action plan developments. Pilot use of e-portfolios	HESC     Curriculum & Quality development Group (CQDG)   CQDG       CQDG     CQDG   CQDG	HE Operations Manager   E-Learning Manager     E-Learning Manager, LTU     E-Learning Manager, LTU

 

Colchester Institute action plan relating to the Summative review: May 2007
Desirable	Action to be taken	Target date	Action by	Success indicators	Reported to	Evaluation
The team agreed the following areas where it would be desired to take action:
promote and extend the understanding and use of the FHEQ, the Foundation Degree qualification benchmark and sector-skills councils' frameworks as reference points (paragraphs 24, 25)	Extension of existing Mapping against Codes of Practice to include engagement with FHEQ as part of mapping to wider Academic Infrastructure Establish HE Practitioner events with regard to SSC frameworks (as they become available) Establish internal peer review of Foundation degrees against defining characteristics and external benchmarks	Autumn 2007       Spring 2008   Summer 2008	Director of Learning:Higher & Continuing Education and HE Operations Manager         HE Operations Manager and Academic Standards Office	Updated and published demonstration of the way in which the College engages with the FHEQ     Development of wider understanding of Foundation Degree benchmarks and the expectations of external agencies	HESC	HESC
review the effectiveness of HEBoS and the extent to which they effectively monitor data and other evidence of quality and standards (paragraph 30)	Apply the principle of supportive checklists to ensure consistency in the preparation for (papers and statistics presented) and the minuting of HEBoS	Autumn 2007	Academic Standards Office	Utilisation by all HE teams of the checklist approach and standardised format for statistical analysis improving HEBOS paperwork, recording and associated procedures	Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education HESC	Director of Learning: Higher & Continuing Education HESC
standardise practice in the minuting of Course Committees, and in the reviewing of minutes at later meetings (paragraph 41)	Review of Guidance on Course Committees as part of update of Quality Guide: Learning & teaching	Summer 2007	Quality Manager	Consistency in minuting and response to action points relating to Course Committees	HESC	HESC
ensure the consistent completion of annual monitoring reports (paragraph 42)	Provision of mentoring and monitoring during development of Programme AMRs	Autumn 2007	Quality Manager and HE Operations	Consistently comprehensive and evaluative approach to annual monitoring	HESC	HESC
promote more consistent use of the proposal form for new programmes, particularly the sections which indicate resource needs (paragraph 61)	Provision of mentoring and monitoring during development of Programme AMRs	Summer 2007 Autumn 2007	Quality Manager	Enhancement of understanding of principles of completion of proposals	HESC	HESC
develop a specific strategy for the observation of higher education teaching (paragraph 48)	Establish HE Peer Observation process as both a college process and as part of wider Partnership activity	for Autumn 2008	Quality Manager	Strategy for the Observation of HE teaching	Academic Standards Committee	Academic Standards Committee

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