Appointment of the Members of an Audit Panel

5.1 Appointment of the Members of an Audit Panel

The selection of the members of an audit panel is guided by the characteristics of the HEP to be audited, the type of audit, the availability and suitability of prospective panel members and their expertise and experience in quality audit and higher education.

5.1.1 Personal and General Attributes of Auditors

Auditors should be competent, open-minded and mature. They should be good listeners and good presenters. They should possess sound judgment, analytical skills and tenacity. They should have the ability to perceive situations in a realistic way, understand complex operations from a broad perspective and understand the role of individual units within the overall organisation.

The auditors should be able to apply the above attributes in order to: •฀

obtain฀and฀assess฀objective฀evidence฀fairly; •฀

remain฀true฀to฀the฀purpose฀of฀the฀audit; •฀

evaluate฀ constantly฀ the฀ effects฀ of฀ audit฀ observations฀ and฀ personal฀ interactions during an audit;

•฀ treat฀ concerned฀ personnel฀ in฀ a฀ way฀ that฀ will฀ best฀ achieve฀ the฀ audit purpose;

•฀ perform฀the฀audit฀process฀without฀฀being฀unduly฀distracted; •฀

commit฀full฀attention฀and฀support฀to฀the฀audit฀process;

arrive฀ at฀ generally฀ acceptable฀ conclusions฀ based฀ on฀ rational฀ considerations; and

remain฀true฀to฀a฀conclusion฀despite฀pressure฀to฀change฀what฀is฀not฀based฀ on evidence.

It is not expected that each panel member possesses all the characteristics and experience required, but collectively the panel should possess all the qualities and attributes which may include some or all of the following.

i. Higher education qualification or further education and training aspects:

Appropriate฀subject฀knowledge฀and฀teaching฀experience

Knowledge฀of฀curriculum฀design฀and฀delivery

Institutional฀leadership฀or฀management฀experience

Knowledge฀ of฀ higher฀ education฀ or฀ further฀ education฀ and฀ training,฀ including the understanding of current responsibilities and requirements and organisational features relevant to particular programmes and structures

Experience฀in฀research฀and฀scholarly฀activities

ii.

Quality audit aspects:

An฀ understanding฀ of฀ the฀ context฀ and฀ environment฀ within฀ which฀ the฀ HEP operates

Commitment฀ to฀ the฀ principles฀ of฀ quality฀ and฀ quality฀ assurance฀ in฀ higher education

Knowledge฀of฀quality฀assurance,฀methods฀and฀terminologies

Experience฀in฀quality฀reviews,฀accreditation฀or฀audit฀processes

Ability฀to฀relate฀processes฀to฀outputs฀and฀outcomes

Ability฀to฀focus฀knowledge฀and฀experience฀to฀evaluate฀quality฀assurance฀ procedures and techniques, and to suggest good practices and starting points for improvements

iii.

Personal aspects:

Ability฀to฀communicate฀effectively

Ability฀to฀work฀in฀a฀team

Breadth฀and฀depth฀of฀perspective

5.1.2 Responsibilities of the Auditors

Auditors are responsible for: •฀

complying฀with฀the฀audit฀requirements; •฀

communicating฀and฀clarifying฀audit฀requirements; •฀

planning฀ and฀ carrying฀ out฀ assigned฀ responsibilities฀ effectively฀ and efficiently;

•฀ documenting฀the฀observations; •฀

reporting฀the฀audit฀results; •฀

safeguarding฀documents฀pertaining฀to฀the฀audit; •฀

submitting฀such฀documents฀as฀required; •฀

ensuring฀such฀documents฀remain฀confidential; •฀

treating฀privileged฀information฀with฀discretion;฀and •฀

cooperating฀with,฀and฀supporting,฀the฀Chairperson. Auditors should:

•฀ remain฀within฀the฀scope฀of฀the฀audit; •฀

exercise฀objectivity; •฀

collect฀ and฀ analyse฀ evidence฀ that฀ is฀ relevant฀ and฀ sufficient฀ to฀ draw฀ conclusions regarding the quality system;

•฀ remain฀alert฀to฀any฀indications฀of฀evidence฀that฀can฀influence฀the฀audit฀ results and possibly require more extensive auditing;

•฀ act฀in฀an฀ethical฀manner฀at฀all฀times;฀and •฀

be฀able฀to฀answer฀such฀questions฀as: o

Are the procedures, documents and other information describing or supporting the required elements of the quality system known, available, understood and used by the HEP’s personnel?

o Are all documents and other information used to describe the quality system adequate to achieve the required quality objectives?