Introduction
1 This is the report of an audit of the quality assurance arrangements for a partnership between the University of Bradford and Albanna International, entered into for the purpose of offering in Dubai taught postgraduate programmes of study leading to the University's award of Master of Business Administration. The audit was carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). It forms part of a series of audits which involved visits to UK universities and their partners in the Gulf States in the period September to November 1997.2 In this case the academic programme is entirely taught by staff of the University of Bradford Management Centre who visit Dubai frequently to deliver lectures to two cohorts of students. Administrative support is provided locally. The first module commenced in March 1996. At the time of the audit visit there were 39 students in the first cohort and 51 in the second.
3 The general quality assurance arrangements of the University were the subject of academic quality audit in May 1992, leading to a report published by the Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) in July 1992.
4 A general description of the University's current procedures for the assurance of quality of its collaborative teaching and learning provision is contained in the University's document providing guidelines for Quality Assurance for Overseas Collaboration and other Off-Site Activities (abbreviated in this report as QA Guidelines), which was approved by the University Senate in March 1997. The audit team noted the University's caveat that many of the collaborative arrangements in operation at the time of the current audit, of which this MBA programme is one, began before these latest procedures were in place.
5 The Agency is grateful to the University and to Albanna International
for their assistance and co-operation.
Abbreviations used in the report
6 The following abbreviations have been used throughout this report:
1992 Report - Quality Audit Report, University of Bradford, HEQC, July, 1992
The University - The University of Bradford
HEQC - The Higher Education Quality Council
MBA
- Master of Business Administration
EMBA - Executive Master of Business Administration
QAA
- The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
QA Guidelines
- Quality Assurance for Overseas Collaboration and Other Off-Site Activities, (University
of Bradford, March 1997)
The audit process
7 Prior to the audit visit, the University submitted documentation outlining its aims and implementation strategies in relation to the collaboration it has established with Albanna International. This briefing material was mainly drawn from existing papers. Following its reading of this documentation, the audit team proposed a programme for meetings in Dubai, and sought additional contextual materials to help it to understand and verify the structure and processes of the University's collaborative quality assurance arrangements as they applied to this partnership.8 To prepare for the visit to Dubai, members of the audit team visited the University on 22 September, 1997, and held discussions with a number of individuals at the University, including the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic); the Director of the Management Centre; and the Director of the International Office.
9 In Dubai the audit visit took place on 9 October 1997, following a preliminary visit on 7 October when some members of the audit team met the recently appointed administrator for Albanna International and an administrative assistant. On 9 October 1997 the full team met the Programme Director and students from both the first and second cohorts. The administrator was unavoidably not available on 9 October.
10 After returning to the UK subsequent enquiries were pursued with the University by correspondence.
11 The audit team comprised Professor J Cowan, Dr PAJ Easy, and Professor J Rear, auditors, and Dr K Clarke, audit secretary. Dr DS Law, QAA Assistant Director, accompanied the team to Dubai and co-ordinated the audit for the Agency.
The University context
12 At the time of the HEQC's audit of 1992, the University had adopted a multi-tiered approach to the development and detailed consideration of individual degree programmes, and to the consideration and approval of new taught programmes. A description of this process is set out in the 1992 Report. In 1990 the University established its Courses and Teaching Standards Committee and gave it a major role, both in determining procedures for the maintenance of academic standards and in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. The arrangements set in place by this Committee took effect from academic year 1992-93, when the cumulative information from the annual review of programmes and from quinquennial reviews was drawn into the Committee's remit.13 In recent years the University has sought to establish a clear and comprehensive strategic framework within which to address the evaluation of current collaborative activities and the desirability of new proposals. In so doing, it has recognised that the previous practice of considering proposals on an ad hoc basis, rather than relating them to the institution's strategic plans, had been less than ideal. The University has drawn on the HEQC's Code of Practice for Overseas Collaborative Provision in drafting its own QA Guidelines. It has articulated a policy which favours collaborative links with an academic framework based upon existing programmes currently delivered at Bradford. As a matter of policy, the University is willing to authorise only minor differences in programmes proposed for overseas delivery and expects 'identical standards' to be set for such programmes. All programmes are delivered and assessed in English. University staff would set assessments, and for all new partnerships, the first marking is undertaken by University staff.
14 The QA Guidelines set out procedures for departments wishing to form collaborative links. Before a department enters into discussions with a prospective partner it is required to register this fact with the Vice-Chancellor, thus enabling the University to be aware of such proposals at the earliest possible stage in the planning, to comment on such proposals, and to give advice. Thereafter the department has to submit brief documentation to the Vice-Chancellor outlining the suitability of the proposed partner and the rationale for the proposed collaboration. The audit team was told that these new regulations for the approval of centres overseas had been drafted because the University has always been concerned to give careful consideration to the approval of the overseas activities of its departments.
15 A protocol now exists for the purpose of processing proposals for approval, but it was not in use at the time when the University was considering partnership with Albanna International. The audit team was therefore interested to know what information had been obtained from Albanna International, and how the partnership had been approved within the University. In this case, reference was made to the Arab Management Conference, to personal contacts of the Head of the Management Centre, and to the British Council. The organisational and financial basis of the proposed partner was established during visits by representatives of the Management Centre to the prospective partner. The team judged this account to conform with the advice and recommendations on such matters which are contained in HEQC's Code of Practice for Overseas Collaborative Provision in Higher Education (1996).
The programme
16 The original approval of the University's Executive MBA (EMBA) programme was in June 1988. The Dubai programme is regulated by the University's confirmation, in September 1992, of the course regulations for the EMBA. Permitted changes were made in the form of a more limited range of options, and modifications to the specified modules to meet particular needs in the country of delivery, following the due processes of the University.
17 The University and its Management Centre have had considerable experience of programmes of this type, which offer face-to-face teaching at the distant location of the learning group. The University emphasises that the learning experience which it provides, in Dubai and in other locations, is equivalent in both standard and delivery to that which is offered at the University of Bradford. Management Centre staff provide the teaching face-to-face, with contact hours comparable to that of the Management Centre's on-campus provision; correspondence is in the name of the University, and is often sent directly from Bradford; and the students are registered with the University. Accordingly the promotional materials in Dubai stress these features, and the award certificate for the Executive MBA makes no mention of the place of study.
18 The audit team was told that the EMBA scheme is large and complex, and that individual programmes within it may take many different but acceptable forms. The team learned from the Management Centre that the format used in Dubai replicates formats common elsewhere. The EMBA scheme in its entirety includes arrangements for remote learners who may be supported by mentors and even with tuition resourced by corporate clients. The term 'shell agreement' was used to describe the overall scheme. The University thus treats the Dubai programme as one possible and acceptable variation within a modest continuum.
19 The University categorises its overseas collaborative arrangements as either direct income-generating or recruitment-oriented. The audit team was told that the Dubai scheme is in the former category, without direct intent to recruit students to existing courses in Bradford. Nevertheless, the team was assured by the Management Centre that such transfer within this modular scheme would present no problems, and found evidence that it was possible, for example, to commence study in Dubai and transfer first to Bradford and then to The Netherlands within the international modular course structure utilised by the EMBA.
20 The QA Guidelines require the University to pay particular attention to ensuring identical standards for on-campus and off-campus programmes. The University stated that it uses the monitoring process for checking that this is achieved. The team was told that the Dubai student population is similar in spread of nationalities and experience to that of the Bradford groups on the EMBA; and that, given the use of the same staff, programme, and assessment standards, with an overall oversight by the same external examiners in which the work of students from one location or another was not separated, equivalence of programmes was a natural feature of the scheme. The team found this reassurance convincing and satisfactory.
Background to the partnership
21 From 1993 onwards the Management Centre has promoted its full-time MBA at an international education recruitment fair held annually in Dubai. As a result of this experience and other contacts with the region, staff of the Management Centre came to the decision that a market opportunity existed for local delivery and began discussions with prospective partners.22 During its meetings with Management Centre staff and students, the audit team learnt that the programme had not initially been planned as a partnership with Albanna International. It appears that significant problems had arisen in the early months of the programme, before the current arrangements were established, and that standards of administrative support had, in several respects, proved unacceptable both to the Management Centre and to its students. The team was not able to meet those who originally managed the programme in the UAE because they no longer have any connection with the Management Centre. After enquiry to the Management Centre about the early difficulties which had been experienced, the audit team reached the conclusion that the University had acted promptly and commendably to discontinue its original arrangements for delivery of the programme.
23 The current partnership is with Albanna International, a company with diverse and extensive business interests. Albanna International is responsible for non-academic administrative support for the Executive MBA in Dubai. It provides, within its premises, administrative support and some office accommodation for Management Centre staff, students and resources, and makes arrangements to provide suitable accommodation and equipment for lectures, tutorials, seminars and examinations, and publicity events.
24 A foreign institution of higher education may only operate in the United Arab Emirates with a local partner. For that reason the agreement which the University eventually concluded with Albanna International necessarily contains a reference to the 'provision of educational services' which relates to that company's registration as a local provider of educational and consultancy services (see also paragraph 27, below).
25 Albanna International therefore employs staff who work on the University's behalf in Dubai. Although the University cannot directly employ the administrative staff, the audit team, having met the persons concerned, was satisfied that they were and are accountable to the University. Their reporting lines lead directly to the appropriate member of Management Centre staff, and their work is managed by the Programme Director based in Bradford. Thus Albanna International acts as the agent for the University, to arrange bookings, function as a post-box for applications, and maintain record systems for the students in the various cohorts. To this end, a routine review of IT systems within the Dubai office is currently leading to enhanced provision for communications and record keeping.
26 The University's QA Guidelines (dated prior to the signing of the agreement with Albanna International) require that particular attention be given to ensuring that a formal written agreement is produced incorporating all commitments. The agreement with Albanna International, signed in May 1997, covers the scope and limits of the partnership, the responsibilities of both parties, the financial arrangements, the procedures for the resolution of differences between the parties, and the provision for possible termination of the link, all as suggested in the HEQC Code of Practice. Because the programme is not a franchise but an off-site delivery by University staff, there is no mention of quality assurance procedures related to course development and monitoring. Control of publicity and promotion is also not referred to in the agreement. The audit team was told by the University that this function, in practice, remains under the jurisdiction of the University, through the Management Centre, and that Albanna International had always been aware of this.
27 The main agreement states that 'there will be a separate agreement between the parties for the provision of appropriate 'administrative and educational services'. A separate agreement fully details the services to be provided. The audit team had no reservations about the satisfactory nature of both agreements.
The student experience
Admission
28 Albanna International makes arrangements for advertising the programme, handles enquiries from prospective applicants and explains the entrance requirements. Management Centre staff vet the applications and interview all applicants prior to admission, with administrative assistance from Albanna International. The audit team learnt, in discussions with students recruited in the first cohort before the current arrangements had been made, that procedures prior to the involvement of Albanna International had been less rigorous and that students had perceived the admission process as a marketing exercise.
29 The audit team heard from students that selection for the second cohort had been on the basis of the interview, performance in two selection tests, a submitted curriculum vitae and references. If at this stage it is identified that a student needs remedial tuition in, for example, some aspects of numeracy before studying accounting, this is arranged by the Management Centre. Students receiving additional tuition told the team that this provision had been put in place immediately, and was welcomed by them. The team commends the University for careful administration of the admissions process.
30 The Management Centre has stated that the EMBA is a programme for practising
managers with substantial experience, who are looking to enhance their
knowledge and skills as a means of progressing their personal career development.
The audit team found that some applicants, who were regarded by selectors
as having good motivation and appropriate aspirations, had been admitted
through the discretionary exercise of the power to waive the normal EMBA
entry requirement of five years' experience. The team was told that this
had been done because many students are not sponsored by any specific organisation
but 'register as independents'. The team considered whether, if the practice
of admitting students with only two or three years' managerial experience
became extensive, the Dubai programme could remain equivalent to other
variants of the EMBA. The University may wish to consider the advisability
of monitoring more closely the extent to which the standard entrance requirements
for the EMBA in respect of managerial experience have been modified in
admission to this programme.
Issue of materials and documentation
31 After receipt of the offer letter from the University, students in both cohorts reported receiving a pack of material which included a schedule of lectures for the first module, an academic planner and a brochure describing the course, together with advice about the textbook which they should purchase for the first module. Advice about the purchase of texts for future modules is given at later stages.
32 On the basis of its monitoring of arrangements for programme delivery, the University has modified its procedures concerning the distribution of learning materials to try to ensure that the module is completed before the full materials for the next are issued. From its discussions with students, the audit team learned that some students would prefer different arrangements. The University will doubtless wish to keep these procedures under review.
33 Students in Dubai learn from a combination of reading materials and face-to-face classes provided by visiting members of staff from the Management Centre. Students are advised to spend, on average, about two hours per day on their studies. Each eight-week module has, approximately at a mid-point, a 'lecture' week, which offers a range of activities. This is followed by four weeks for further study and for work on an assignment, before a formal examination. On the basis of discussions with students the audit team reached the conclusion that commendable care had been taken to explain, in meetings, course aims and objectives, teaching strategy, required reading, assessment procedures, and marking criteria. However, information had not always been presented in written form.
Library facilities
34 The audit team was made aware, both in documentation and in meetings, that students can experience difficulties in gaining access to suitable reading material beyond the recommended module texts, thus restricting assignment and project work and raising questions about the comparability of the student learning experience. The first monitoring report for the Albanna International programme (see below, paragraph 45) mentioned library facilities as an area of 'slight concern'. The Action Plan listed the need for further action to be taken to improve the resource centre which had been set up at the offices of Albanna International by the Management Centre.
35 In its discussions with students, the audit team formed the impression that the concern had been more than 'slight' in the judgement of students registered in the first cohort. They told the team that at the time of their first-year studies, little had been available at the resource centre in the offices of Albanna International. Indeed, it appeared to the team that the decision to establish a resource centre was a belated recognition that access to learning resources had not been fully considered when the programme was established. Whilst the team appreciates that programme management was transferred to Albanna International after the first students had been recruited (see above, paragraph 22), this does not absolve the University from its responsibility to ensure the adequacy of learning materials.
36 The limitations of the local infrastructure are such that students, in general, need to make private provision for books and computing equipment. Publicity for the programme, issued by the Management Centre, makes this clear.
37 The Management Centre now advises students that they should use the libraries of the British Council, of Dubai Polytechnic (through a recent agreement), and the libraries of the Higher Colleges which are in practice available to non-UAE nationals. None of the students with whom the team met had yet explored the potential of the Polytechnic library.
38 The University will, no doubt, see it is as advisable to monitor the specific needs of students for access to reference material, and the availability of appropriate learning resources, in the light of the experience of the second and subsequent cohorts. The University may wish also to consider the advisability of ensuring that students in Dubai have access to books and journals equivalent to those available to EMBA candidates in other locations.
Arrangements for the assessment of students
39 Other than the management project, all modules in the Executive MBA combine assignments or post-module projects with written examinations. The University's QA Guidelines stress that explicit attention will be given to ensuring the rigour of the assessment process. It is University policy that all assessments are set, and double marked, by University staff.40 The QA Guidelines also require that the University should satisfy itself that arrangements exist in the partner institution to ensure the integrity of the conduct of examinations, in accordance with the University's regulations. The audit team was interested to find out how this intention was translated into practice in Dubai, and confirmed that a strict procedure was followed. Students described the examination arrangements as 'very formal' and stated that the entire process was properly conducted, from their perspective. The team commends the rigour of these arrangements.
41 Whilst students are informed orally of the assessment procedures at the commencement of the programme, the audit team was surprised to find that students were not issued with a handbook setting out basic information about assessment or appeals procedures. It was told that a handbook is issued to each student at Bradford on the MBA but not in Dubai. Whilst it is claimed that some of the information in the Bradford handbook is given orally to students during their induction week, the team had difficulty accepting that there was equivalence of provision of basic information. The Management Centre may wish to consider the advisability of providing essential documentation about assessment and appeals procedures in writing.
42 The audit team was interested to hear from staff that no special steps
were thought to be necessary to counter or monitor the possibility of plagiarism.
Students are dealt with in the same way as on-campus students and separate
approaches to assessment are regarded by the Management Centre as unnecessary.
Whilst there was no evidence that the Centre had encountered instances
of plagiarism, the team wondered whether sufficient consideration had been
given to guarding against the possibility that a student might seek significant
and unacknowledged assistance from others when preparing assignments. The
Management Centre may wish to consider whether it has appropriate procedures
in place to guard against all forms of plagiarism.
External examining
43 Amongst other measures, equivalence in standards is sought by the full involvement of external examiners, wherever possible using the same examiners across the range of equivalent University-based programmes. External examiners receive all of the failure papers and all from those candidates who seem likely to be awarded distinctions, together with a small sample of the others. The audit team was told that external and internal examiners would be able to identify the performances of Dubai students, as a cohort or individually. No external examiner's report with specific reference to the programme was available, since no cohort had yet completed its studies.
44 The University provides external examiners with a Code of Practice with useful advice on the expectations of the University. This indicates that the University wishes to take advantage of the consultancy opportunity which the visits of external examiners provide and welcomes comments and suggestions on the structure of the course and the curriculum. Nevertheless, the audit team noted that the headings under which external examiners report are almost entirely restricted to the conduct and standard of assessment, without reference to the teaching and learning to which it relates. The University may wish to consider whether it might be desirable to modify the reporting headings to encourage more comment on the teaching and learning processes on which assessment is based.
Arrangements for monitoring and review of the programme
45 The audit team was given copies of the first Annual Course Monitoring Report for the EMBA in Dubai. At the time of the audit this was the only monitoring report available. The report was considered in March 1997 by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, and contains useful coverage under a comprehensive list of headings, including an action plan for the subsequent 12 months. Given the time scale for the submission and consideration of reports, the University may wish to consider the advisability of such reports providing brief statements of the action which has already been taken as a result of the review, particularly in respect of matters included in the action plan.
46 The Annual Course Monitoring Report states that staff are permitted to use discretion to decide on the most appropriate teaching, learning and assessment modes for the courses for which they are responsible. The Programme Director has responsibility for the monitoring of teaching, learning and assessment, subject to the overview of the Chair of Teaching Quality and Systems, a Management Centre committee. The audit team welcomed the identification of the important issue of the linkage between teaching, learning and assessment, but noted that it was not explicitly addressed in the evaluation instruments, in the summaries of findings from questionnaires, nor in the Monitoring Report. It therefore found it difficult to understand the basis on which the Chair of Teaching Quality and Systems might advise staff on how to exercise their discretion with a view to the enhancement of quality. The team suggests that it is desirable for the Centre to strengthen methods of formative evaluation to inform course review and development.
47 This report has already called attention to the fact that the Management Centre encountered various difficulties in the operational arrangements for delivery of the EMBA in Dubai in the early days, and decided to sever relations with its original partners and begin anew (see above, paragraph 22). However, the audit team found no record of what appeared to have been a consequent major disturbance to the students' learning experience in the Annual Course Monitoring Report or any of the other papers given to the team prior to its meetings in Dubai. Only on subsequent enquiry was the history of the Dubai programme explained to the team.
48 The audit team recognised that if significant problems arose it was essential that those who had ultimate responsibility should be made aware of the difficulties. It was reassured by the Management Centre that remedial action had been taken. However, the team recommends that the University should urgently review its quality assurance practice to ensure that those who hold an overall responsibility for quality are adequately informed of, and able to consider in good time, noteworthy matters affecting programmes.
Student feedback
49 The Annual Course Monitoring Report mentions periodic meetings between the Programme Director (often described as the Academic Director) and groups of students, to discuss the progress of the programme. The audit team noted in their discussions with students that problems or complaints which had been aired with Management Centre staff, had generally been acted upon. The action had led speedily to changes which were welcomed by the students who met the team as evidence of thoughtful consideration and prompt response. The team commends the effectiveness of this mode of feedback and of the formal and informal structures for quality control and subsequent action which are linked to it, within the Management Centre.
50 Whilst there has been more systematic feedback during the second year of operation, the audit team learned that there had been no staff-student liaison committee in the first year of operation of the programme although the University's procedures provide for student representation. The team found that recently a committee had been established, consisting of the Programme Director, the Administrator employed by Albanna International, and three student representatives. The team would agree with the University that the creation of this committee remedies a regrettable absence from the initial arrangements for this programme.
51 The audit team read that it is University policy that student evaluation questionnaires for the provision of student feedback should be used off-site, paralleling the arrangements at Bradford. Questionnaires are issued in Dubai during the lecture week of each module, and may be completed anonymously if students so wish. The summary of the returns is made available to the Programme Director, who may discuss them with the colleagues concerned if that seems appropriate, or if action may be needed. The team was told that an analysis of the feedback from the evaluation questionnaires is submitted to the Courses Committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
52 Through discussions with University staff, it emerged that the University has a somewhat complex position in the matter of student evaluation of lecturers' teaching and of course and module content. An agreement with the Association of University Teachers, related to the qualitative features of student evaluation of course units, places significant restriction on the circulation of information. The audit team appreciates that there may be advantages in such restrictions but was told by the Director of the Management Centre that this inhibited the effective utilisation of student evaluation. The team notes that written comment from the University did not entirely support the oral statements from the Director of the Management Centre. The team appreciates that the University has established a distinction between the evaluation of courses and the evaluation of the teaching of specific units. The team is reluctant to make a generalisation from a specific instance but advises the University that in its current review of the process it should clarify the operation of this aspect of its system.
Staffing and staff development
53 The audit team learned that the Programme Director and staff colleagues from the Management Centre had been, and closely engaged with more, programme management in Dubai. Therefore, they have ample opportunity to receive and provide feedback and thereby exercise firm supervision of local administrative staff and arrangements.54 The documentation submitted to the audit team by the University gave no attention to staff development or to the quality enhancement of teaching practice. Similarly no mention was made of provision for the staff development of staff at Albanna International. When in Dubai, the team was able to explore this matter with newly appointed staff, whose account of induction, and clear understanding of the job description, offered direct evidence that thought and time had, in fact, been given to this important staff development need.
55 In view of the arrangements for direct teaching which have been described throughout this report, there were no matters relating to selection or induction of academic staff which fell within the remit of this audit team. Similarly, when the team enquired about arrangements for the continuing professional development of the academics involved in the programme, the response of the Management Centre was that experienced staff were deployed and that no specific staff development issues arose for the delivery of the EMBA in Dubai. The team accepted that the range of teaching undertaken by the Management Centre was wide and that it would be inappropriate to comment on staff development for teachers on MBA programmes on the basis of one manifestation of the EMBA. Nevertheless, whilst it was clear to the team that many staff who taught on this programme were well informed about the UAE and the region, the Management Centre may wish to consider the advisability of providing an orientation briefing to any inexperienced staff who might be asked to contribute to the programme.
Publicity and promotional material
56 Albanna International employs a public relations firm to promote the programme on the basis of publicity which has been endorsed by the University's Management Centre. In a meeting with the audit team, students from the second cohort gave the view that publicity had been accurate. Those students present stated that their decision to enrol had been influenced less by the printed publicity they had received and more by advice from students in the previous cohort, or from colleagues or business acquaintances in Britain. Furthermore, they commended the frankness and helpfulness of advice given by the programme administration and Management Centre staff.57 The University supplied the audit team with copies of publicity leaflets incorporating claims about the standing of the Management Centre in its academic field. The team was surprised to note that the publicity leaflet, describing the Dubai programme, claimed that the University had a 'TQA rating of excellent', although the 1994 assessment of teaching and learning by HEFCE in its quality assessment of education had resulted in a rating of 'satisfactory'.
58 The audit team was informed that the leaflet had been produced by the original partners before the current collaborative link with Albanna International. According to the University the original partners had acted independently in this matter. The team was told that it was incidents of this type which had led the Director of the Management Centre to recommend the discontinuation of the relationship. Yet this material was still in circulation in mid-1997.
59 The audit team was informed that the senior management of the University had become aware of these discrepancies in the week before the visit of members of the team to Bradford. The team was told during its visit to the University that a new leaflet was being produced, but learnt subsequently in Dubai that the new leaflet was not yet ready and that the inaccurate one had been in use relatively recently. The University will, no doubt, see it as necessary to correct its current publicity material without further delay and, further, to review its procedures for monitoring the action taken to proscribe the use of inaccurate material once errors have been detected and reported. After its visit to Dubai the team was informed that a new brochure had been published.
Conclusions and points for further consideration
60 The stewardship of standards in the Bradford Executive MBA in Dubai lies firmly in the hands of the University's Management Centre. That delegation has led to responsible reactive management of learning and of the learning experience. Nevertheless, some concerns exist about the serious weakness in the course monitoring system (reported in paragraph 47) when important problems in the initial stage of operation of the programme in Dubai were neither reported to, nor consequently considered by, the relevant Faculty. The apparent lack of a detached and informed overview of such operations within the University is sufficient reason for a review of the methods which the University uses to monitor its delegated responsibilities.61 Whilst there are, no doubt, quality enhancement procedures which apply to the EMBA programme as a whole and feed into the Dubai presentation, the model of quality assurance which has been predominantly operated in Dubai by the Management Centre has been largely reactive. As such, it has depended on the effective reporting of problems or mistakes and the subsequent reaction of the staff to these reports. This is, essentially, a quality control model which, however well and speedily it works, may neglect the need for procedures which could anticipate problems and also identify strengths and disseminate good practice. Given its clear concern for students, it may prove useful, for the Management Centre in reviewing and revising its systems for course development, to introduce more pro-active elements in its procedures for quality assurance.
62 The University of Bradford claims to offer to EMBA students in Dubai a learning experience which is of equivalent standard to the EMBA programme in Bradford. The audit team found this claim to be generally convincing. Learning is supported at the point of study by Management Centre staff; and the syllabus, standards and integrity of the process are indistinguishable from that which is in place for students in Bradford. The Management Centre is commendably sensitive to feedback from students, and has demonstrated effective and rapid response to most of the difficulties which have arisen to date.
63 However, students in Dubai, are entitled to receive more information in print about programme formalities and regulations, and might well be given course information further in advance of the activity to which it relates (see paragraphs 32 and 41, above). It is understood that the Management Centre has such matters in mind, for review and possible action.
Annex
Commentary on the audit report supplied by the University of Bradford
In the period since the audit visit the University's Quality Assurance Arrangements for Off-Site Activities issued in June 1997 have been updated and reviewed in the light of further experience. The opportunity was taken to include points arising not only from this audit but also from the University's franchised provision in India.The University requires extensive supporting information to be provided in addition to the pro-forma which includes inter alia: specific reference to monitoring and review arrangements and the control of publicity and promotional material. Provision is also included in the revised Guidelines for dealing with any potential cause for concern arising from a collaborative activity.
Student Evaluation Questionnaires have recently been reviewed and revised following consultation during the academic session 1997-98. The University has approved the devolution, to departments, of the responsibility for the distribution, collection and processing of the 'Unit' evaluation questionnaires. Departments will give feedback to students on action taken as a result of the findings as soon as possible after the end of the unit. The responsibilities for providing feedback to staff have been clarified. A summary of action taken to address findings will also be incorporated in the Annual Course Monitoring Report.
The University of Bradford is to undertake a review of its Annual Course Monitoring arrangements during the academic session 1998-99 and that, in particular, consideration will be given to the timescale of the exercise.
Since the audit visit, the Resource Centre at the offices of Albanna International has been much improved and is stocked with a wider range of books and other teaching/learning materials. This facility coupled with the agreement with the Dubai Polytechnic Library and access to the libraries of the Higher Colleges and British Council provides the Dubai students with learning facilities broadly equivalent to those at Bradford.
All students are also provided with further teaching/learning materials including a full set of Course Manuals and the Core Course Text at the commencement of their studies for a particular module.
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