quality assurance office

INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT

INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT (ISA)

The Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) is continually undertaking Institutional Sustainability Assessment (ISA) this CY 2021.    This Assessment endeavor is in consonance with its quest for quality and excellence in education and service for its various stakeholders; and to the organization’s Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives (VMGO) as well.

This ISA is associated with quality, and quality assurance in higher education.   According to Harvey and Green (1993), quality in higher education is often defined as “fitness   for purpose”, but it can also be understood in terms of transformation of stakeholders, especially for mature institutions “.   From such definition, CHED has viewed “quality as the alignment and consistency of outcomes with the institution’s vision-mission and goals, demonstrated by learning and service outcomes at exceptional levels, and by a shared culture of quality”.   On the other hand, “quality assurance is about ensuring that there are mechanisms, procedures and processes in place to ensure that the desired quality, however defined and measured, is delivered”, as stated by Church (1988) and Harvey and Green (!993).

As indicated in the copy of ISA-SED crafted and provided by CHED, the national role of HEIs includes:

  1. Service to the nation by developing human resources with various types of knowledge, competencies, and expertise, especially in support of the social, economic, and development needs of the Philippines;
  2. The maintenance, development, and critical appraisal of cultural values; and
  3. Preparation of individuals to play an active role in society.

 

It is likewise mentioned, that the objectives of CHED in assessing the performance of higher education institutions are:

  1. To support HEIs in developing institutional systems that lead to quality outcomes;
  2. To support them in developing a culture of quality; and
  3. To engage them in addressing policy issues, especially those that address the need to improve quality assurance in higher education.

The five (5) key result areas (KRAs) in the Assessment Framework, within which evaluation of institutional performance and subsequent accreditation will be based and measured, are:

  1. Governance and Management (including management of resources);
  2. Quality of Teaching and Learning (competency, programs, faculty);
  3. Quality of Professional Exposure, Research, and Creative Work;
  4. Support for Students (learning resources and support structures); and
  5. Relations with the Community (extra-curricular linkages, service learning, outreach).

As the University embarks in ISA accreditation, we are taking actions toward further promoting continual improvement in its quality assurance systems, with the end view of supporting part of CHED’s mandate of promoting quality tertiary education in the Philippines, that conforms with world class standards.

The activities undertaken started with an Orientation by personnel coming from CHED in 2018.  After which the organization of the KRA task force who will prepare the ISA-SED and documents for each.  An internal mock assessment was conducted with ISA Internal Assessors assigned to look into the ISA-SED prepared, revision was done and submitted to CHED Region V.

Pre-Assessment by CHED personnel was conducted last October 1, 2020.  The revised ISA-SED was resubmitted last January 2021.  The target for the assessment by CHED Central is on the third quarter of 2021.