Quality Assurance and Enhancement
The work of the team
Our Quality Assurance and Enhancement team is responsible for the development and implementation of our quality assurance processes and procedures and provides support to academic and support staff, our student body, and staff and students at our collaborative partners.
Our work includes the development and implementation of quality assurance processes for:
- programme approval and modification;
- annual monitoring and periodic review;
- the external examiner system;
- approval and review of programmes with our collaborative partners;
- aspects of student feedback mechanisms, such as Module Evaluation;
- working with our Student Union to train student representatives.
Our Services
We service a great number of UEL's committees, especially those which report to the Academic Board, such as the Quality and Standards Committee, the Regulations Committee, and even some of their sub-committees. We also help to train servicing officers of other committees.
We lead UEL's preparations for any external reviews, and can also provide support to our collaborative partners undertaking similar reviews. We can also provide support to schools when preparing for visits by their respective Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies, so please do ask us for support.
We keep an eye on any changes to external frameworks and ensure that we update our processes and guidance where we need to.
We offer other types of staff development, so we train staff to chair collaborative validation and review events, and provide training on our annual monitoring (REP) process; we also help support link tutors and student representatives for their programmes.
We do some of the processing for the extenuation process.
Because we have institutional oversight of our processes, we are also able to understand where enhancements and improvements have been made or can be made. We work with various teams, such as our Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and our Literacy and Language Services team.
Where do I find details of our quality processes and procedures?
These are available in our Quality Manual, which is available on our governance pages. There are also guidance and other templates available to support you with your work. You can also contact our team members - their contact details are below.
We work closely with our academic colleagues, with team members partnering with specific schools to provide support and guidance on quality processes. Each school has its own quality leader and its own quality committee, and we help to support these as well, but we believe that we are all responsible for quality within our work.
Team members are also responsible for particular processes - details are below. We are always happy to help with any queries - or listen to recommendations for enhancements to our practice.
The Quality Assurance and Enhancement (QAE) team is based at the Docklands Campus EB.1.60
Helen Fitch - Head of Quality Assurance and Enhancement
Roles: Lead on QAE policy and practice across UEL;
Email: H.Fitch@uel.ac.uk
Dominique Jethwa - Quality Manager (Student Engagement)
Roles: Works with Schools, staff and UELSU officers to maximise student representation on university and programme committees. Delivers staff development activities regarding student feedback and quality systems. Manages UEL's module-based processes for student feedback. Manages the quality-based aspects of UEL's engagement with external surveys, such as NSS and PTES, primarily relating to the outcomes of these surveys. Co-ordinates the publication of the programme handbook and module guide templates. Provides advice and guidance on quality assurance systems and procedures.
E-mail: d.jethwa@uel.ac.uk
Vikki Manning - Quality Manager (Collaborations)
Roles: Provides advice and guidance on quality assurance systems and procedures, particularly in relation to collaborative activity; co-ordinates processes that lead to approval of new collaborative partnerships and manages quality processes in relation to collaborative partners; drafts and updates Memoranda of Cooperation; staff development activities; represents QAE on UEL's Partnership Committee and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Academic Governance and Quality Assurance Committee.
E-mail: v.manning@uel.ac.uk
Philip Brimson - Quality Manager (Curriculum Development)
Roles: Oversees the development, approval, and modification of courses. Manages a team of Officers responsible for providing advice and servicing support to the School Quality Committee, and assists with the coordination of QAE activities. Contributes to policy development and working groups related to the university portfolio of courses and modules. Chairs the External Examiner Sub-Committee and represents quality on other UEL committees. Supports staff development initiatives in quality assurance and compliance. Oversees the appointment and allocation processes for External Examiners.
E-mail: p.brimson@uel.ac.uk
Louis Clark - Quality Manager (Apprenticeships)
Roles: Responsible for managing all aspects of quality assurance and regulatory
E-mail: L.J.Clark@uel.ac.uk
James Goulds - Quality Manager (Review and Compliance)
Roles: Managing aspects of the development, operation, monitoring and review of the quality framework to ensure that quality assurance and enhancement expectations, and consideration of external benchmarks, regulations and requirements are met. Contribute to planning and operational strategies for the QAE team. Contribute to the ongoing monitoring and updating of UEL policy and quality framework in line with established sector-wide guidance and practice, managing the introduction of new policy or the revision of existing policy across UEL where applicable and supporting with implementation of policy.
E-mail: j.goulds@uel.ac.uk