Assessment Process Institutional Audit

Audit Panels

To conduct the institutional audit NVAO convenes and appoints an audit panel. The institution to be assessed is entitled to lodge substantiated objections to the composition of the audit panel.

Audit panels must meet the following requirements:

1. the panel is composed of at least four members, including one student;
2. the panel commands administrative, educational and audit expertise, is acquainted with developments in the higher education sector at home and abroad, and is authoritative;
3. one of the members with administrative expertise will act as chair;
4. the panel is independent (its members have had no ties with the institution to be assessed over at least the past five years).

The audit panel is counselled by an NVAO process co-ordinator and supported by a secretary. The secretary and the process co-ordinator are also independent The secretary and the process co-ordinator are not part of the panel.

The assessment process starts with an executive consultation between the management of the institution and the executive board of NVAO. This consultation focuses on the institution’s organisational structure regarding the education it provides. Based on this consultation NVAO draws up an “accreditation portrait”, which is communicated to the institution and audit panel.
The third step concerns the critical reflection written by the institution. This reflection needs to provide information on all five standards. In order to verify the information stated in the critical reflection two site-visits will take place.

Site-visits

The site visit for the purpose of the institutional audit comprises two components. As a rule, the audit panel starts off by visiting the institution for a day, followed by a second visit after two to four weeks. The institution and the panel may decide to divert from this set-up by mutual agreement.
The first visit has an exploratory nature. The audit panel gains insight into the ins and outs
of the institution, the specific points for attention of the management of the institution and the
satisfaction among students, teaching staff and other stakeholders.

At the end of the first visit, the chair of the audit panel provides brief feedback to the institution. This feedback presents the panel’s first impressions. In addition, it indicates the audit trails to be conducted. Audit trails are studies pertaining to the implementation of policy and/or the management of problems,in which the audit panel follows the trail from the institutional level to the implementation level or vice versa.

During the second site visits vertical and horizontal audit trails are conducted. It should be noted again that the institutional audit expressly does not involve assessing programmes but rather assessing the functioning of the quality assurance system in relation to the programmes. In a vertical audit trail, the panel examines to what degree an element of the vision referred to in standard 1 is actually put into practice in two or more programmes. Horizontal audit trails focus on the realisation of a single standard (in other words: a component of the quality assurance system) in a number of programmes.

After the site-visits the secretary of the audit panel writes an advisory report which includes the panel’s judgements for each standard and suggestions for improvement. The advisory report is the basis for NVAO’s decision. This decision can be positive, negative or positive with conditions.

Decisions

If the result of the institutional audit is positive, all programmes of the institution will be assessed according to the limited programme assessment framework. A positive institutional audit decision will be valid for six years. A positive accreditation decision or a positive initial accreditation decision based on the limited framework will subsequently be valid for six years. 

A positive with conditions decision results in approval by NVAO under resolutive conditions for a term of one year. When given the “positive with conditions” decision, the institution must acquire a positive decision within this year, by ensuring NVAO that the institution has met the conditions set. During that year, programme assessments at that institution may be conducted in accordance with the framework for limited programme assessment. If the institution doesn’t apply for an additional audit or doesn’t meet the conditions set, the "positive with conditions" decision expires.

When the result of the institutional audit is negative or when an institution decides not to apply for an institutional audit, all its programmes will be assessed according to the comprehensive programme assessment framework.