About Quality Assurance Office
Quality Assurance Office (QAO)
Quality Assurance Office (QAO), established in 2016, is the main department for quality assurance, teaching and learning enhancement. And it is responsible for QAO to review and improve the overall institutional quality according to the Macao higher education policies and regulations, and quality evaluation system and guidelines such as “Guidelines on Institutional Accreditation”, “Guidelines on Institutional Quality Audit”, Guidelines on Program Accreditation” and “Guidelines on Program Review”, etc.
Acting Head of Quality Assurance Office
Main Duty
1. Institutional Accreditation (IA)
● The means of evaluating education quality to determine whether the operation of institutional management and the programmes offered by HEIs meet the quality assurance (QA) requirements of Macao
● It is a voluntary QA process conducted by HEIs in Macao
8. Professional Accreditation by Statutory Organizations
● To assist University and Faculties to apply for institutional or professional programme accreditation offered by statutory organizations
2. Institutional Quality Audit (IQA)
● The means of evaluating educational quality applicable to HEIs with effective mechanisms and with effective self-management and internal QA. Through regular external review, good practices and areas of improvement are identified for the pursuit of excellence
● It is conducted according to relevant laws and regulations of Macao
9. Academic Governance (management, improvement and implementation of policies and procedures, statute & regulations, codes of practices, protocols, guidelines & terms of references)
● To assist University to modify and update academic and quality assurance statute and regulations, procedures, and codes of practice
3. Programme Accreditation (PA)
● The means of evaluating education quality to determine whether programmes offered by higher education institutions
(HEIs) can meet the stated programme objectives and enable students to achieve the intended learning outcomes so as to ensure that higher education programmes meet the quality assurance (QA) requirements of Macao
● It is applicable to programmes which have to conduct Programme Accreditation according to the provisions of the higher education quality evaluation system as follows:
- New programmes that are launched by HEIs without the status to self-regulate and offer new programmes
- Existing programmes that are launched by HEIs without the status to self-regulate and offer new programmes and that HEIs intend to make substantial changes to
- New programmes that are launched by HEIs granted the status to self-regulate and offer new programmes, but that are beyond the approved scope (i.e. the specified discipline(s) / academic unit(s), and academic level(s)) and the validity period of this status
- Existing programmes that are launched by HEIs granted the status to self-regulate and offer new programmes, but that are beyond the approved scope and the validity period of this status, and that HEIs intend to make substantial changes to
10. Academic Enhancement & Educational Innovation (Continuous Professional Development & Lifelong Learning)
● To provide University with suggestions and plans for improvement and innovation in teaching and quality assurance
4. Programme Review (PR)
● The means of evaluating educational quality applicable to programmes to ensure that programme quality sustainably improves, and that programmes are up-to-date and can meet stakeholders’ needs. Through regular external PR, good practices and areas of improvement are identified for continuous quality enhancement
● It is conducted according to relevant laws and regulations of Macao
11. Educational Award/Funding Application
● To assist University to apply educational funding and awards in teaching and quality assurance, further contributing to University and stakeholders
5. Programme Registration & Validation
● To assist Faculties to register the validated new programmes with relevant higher education authorities in Macao
12. Teaching & Learning Seminar/Colloquium
● To organize seminars and colloquium in teaching and quality assurance for University stakeholders to brainstorm and learn from each other
6. Programme/Module Review & Modification
● To assist Faculties to review the current programmes and submit content additions or/and revisions to relevant higher education authorities in Macao
13. Supervision of Academic Offering/Teaching
● To continuously monitor the quality of teaching and classroom activities to ensure good learning experience for students
7. Academic Standards Review for Quality Assurance (Module Review, Annual & Regular Review)
● To assist Faculties to regularly review and improve the quality of current programmes
14. Student Survey & Services Evaluations
● To regularly collect students' opinions on institutional, teaching and administrative services to provide basic information for improving teaching and quality assurance level
15. Outstanding Teaching Excellence Awards
● To evaluate and commend teachers educational contribution
In order to further enhance the quality level and culture of teaching and learning, CityU has joined Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) from UK as International Associate Member. “The UK Quality Code for Higher Education” is taken as reference to establish a more complete quality assurance system to protect the interests of more stakeholders.
