Regional Expert to provide technical assistance on Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) systems

USAID PARTNERSHIP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM (PHER)

SCOPE OF WORK

for a Regional Expert to provide technical assistance to three institutions to review their existing Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) systems and help them develop a strategy for improving their capacities to monitor education quality.

This work will take place with three higher education institutions:

• University of Science and Education (UED-UD)
• The University of Danang (UD)
• Institute for Education Quality Assurance - VNU

I. BACKGROUND

The Partnership for Higher Education Reform (PHER) is a five-year initiative to help strengthen       Vietnam's leading public universities. The project activities are funded by USAID to support targeted reforms to improve institutional leadership and administrative capacity, improve teaching practices to enhance student learning outcomes, elevate university research capacity to international standards, network Vietnamese researchers to maximize access to global knowledge, enable university graduates to better engage with the labor market, and help university faculty to leverage their research for innovation.

To achieve these objectives, PHER activities focus on four pillars:           

1. Governance: This pillar supports the building and strengthening of institutional performance management systems based on agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) supported by a comprehensive Management Information System (MIS) that provides consistent, reliable data for decision making and for accreditation of institutions and programs. This includes the establishment of a robust internal quality assurance (IQA) system at each of the target universities. Improved governance will help the leadership of public universities in Vietnam to make better informed decisions as they exercise greater autonomy and focus on academic quality. 
2. Teaching & Learning: This pillar supports the growing of faculty professional development opportunities through the establishment of formalized Centers for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) as well as supporting the work of less formal, more specialized faculty-driven affinity groups through Faculty Academies on Excellence in Teaching (FACET). The goals are to support expansion of faculty capacity to design state-of-the-art courses, digitize curricula, support the development of priority online courses and programs, improve student learning assessment techniques, and develop graduate students in the teaching profession. This pillar will also support technical assistance to help prepare faculty and administration for international accreditation reviews of academic programs and institutions. The objective is for improved teaching and learning at Vietnam’s public universities to increase learning outcomes, enhance recognition of high-quality academic programs, and improve the employability of graduates.
3. Research & Innovation: This pillar supports the enhancing of research capacity so that the scientific outputs of public universities in Vietnam meet international standards, increase knowledge sharing among specialists, grow the number of publications in recognized journals, and align research activities to the social and economic needs of the country.  This will take place through faculty exchanges, visiting scholar programs, research conferences, webinars, workshops, and short course training on research methodologies and academic specialties. The key vehicle for this pillar is the establishment of Vietnam International Academic Networks (VIAN) to help scientists across Vietnam to connect more readily with fellow experts from around the world. The objective is for VIAN activity to lead to greater knowledge sharing, broader promotion of research taking place in Vietnam, and enhanced opportunities for joint research and publications with partners abroad.
4. University-Industry Linkages: This pillar supports student career exploration and workforce preparation, alumni outreach and networking, industry input on curricula, and technical assistance to support strategies for the commercialization of research outputs.  The objective of this pillar is to facilitate talent distribution across industries in Vietnam, increase alumni connections, and ensure that institutions develop commercialization strategies and frameworks for research outputs. 

The PHER project also seeks deeper exploration of policy areas vital to the improvement of Vietnamese public higher education by supporting analytical work on the areas of technology and digitization, as well as gender equity. These cross-cutting policy areas are essential to success across the four pillars and to support the long-term sustainability of higher education reforms in Vietnam.  

PHER focuses on reforms at three major Vietnamese public universities and their member universities and respective institutes and academic programs:

• Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU-HN),
• Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and
• The University of Danang (UD)                                                                                                                               

SPECIFIC CHALLENGE

The recent Institutional Performance Assessment (IPA) conducted under the auspices of PHER found that “the IQA units at the corporate level and member university level have been developed for a long time and both leaders and managers within the university and departments have been already used to the work and tried hard to maintain the quality of work.” However, the IPA also finds that “Danang University and its member universities have not yet established a quality culture of continuous improvement for educational programs, with much effort spent on external evaluation and achieving recognition rather than supporting and encouraging internal quality assurance. The information system of the quality assurance is average, the database is far short of expectations. The quality assurance culture is not comprehensive, the staff needs to be reminded all the time.”

In such a context, in order to support the universities and as part of the project’s work plan under the Governance Pillar for FY22-23, PHER has planned to support the University of Da Nang, University of Science and Education – a member of the University of Da Nang, and the Institute for Education Quality Assurance - VNU to assess and develop a plan to restructure its internal quality assurance system. It is expected that the learning of UD, UED-UD and Institute for Education Quality Assurance-VNU will lead to knowledge sharing across other areas of each university.

II. OBJECTIVE OF ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is to support activities aimed at strengthening the internal continuous quality improvement systems at the universities listed above. PHER seeks a consultant to provide technical assistance to key staff members from (1) the Department of Testing and Quality Assurance (DTQA)-UD, University of Science and Education and University (UED-UD) and (2) the Institute for Education Quality Assurance-VNU to (A) to review and describe their existing internal quality assurance systems, examining specifically all related policies, guidelines, and operational practices to identify gaps and areas in need of support, (B) to conduct workshops and provide mentoring sessions, both face-to-face and online, over a continuous 6-month period so that the  staff within the two units are able to develop a strategy and work plan for the to effectively lead the reform of their respective internal quality assurance system.

The work of this assignment is likely to be conducted mainly in English language and all reporting is required in fluent English. All activities should take place without regard to gender, disability or ethnic background.

III. TIME AND LOCATION

The timing is negotiable but should ideally commence in late-April 2023. This activity will require      twenty (20) working days including both in-person and online working sessions over the period April-September 2023. Preferably the expert will make one visit to UD, UED-UD and one visit to the Institute for Education Quality Assurance-VNU, each visit requiring 4 or 8 days in person, and the expert will complete the rest of the work remotely.

IV. DELIVERABLES and WORK SCHEDULE

Notes:

Coaching and mentoring: The expert will provide coaching and mentoring primarily to the Head of DTQA and its staff. The expert will keep a record of the number and length of these sessions with each staff member. The content of each session needs only be recorded at a general level.

Reporting: In addition to the final report, an interim report after each activity (training, workshop, coaching session) on progress with regard to activities and outputs should be presented to the PHER manager.

The reports should include the contribution to the activities and outputs made by the appointed expert. The number, schedules and topics of training, workshop and coaching sessions should be recorded. Lists of participants should be provided as an annex to the report. 

The interim reports should analyse both factors that contribute to and factors that inhibit progress regarding the implementation of activities and expected outputs.

The completion report should specifically analyse the achievement of objectives, and include lessons learned and recommendations - in addition to the other areas specified in the template provided by PHER.

V. BUDGET (working time)

20 days for regional expert.

VI. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The team will work under the direction of the PHER PI, Prof. Anh Tran, Indiana University and PHER team_ Pillar 1 (Ha Noi office)

VII. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Essential:

• holds a doctorate level of education and has sound understanding on Viet Nam higher education system
• has expertise and experience in the implementation of internal quality assurance and continuous improvement systems
• is able to plan and deliver a program of work to support University of Science and Education- University of Da Nang and Institute for Education Quality Assurance-VNU to strengthen their continuous quality improvement system
• has the skills to drive the implementation of activities in collaboration with key persons at University of Science and Education- University of Da Nang and Institute for Education Quality Assurance -VNU and PHER
• can prepare and deliver effective interactive workshops on internal systems for continuous quality improvement
• can demonstrate active listening and effective mentoring skills with people at different levels in the university hierarchy
• can demonstrate flexible availability for coaching
• has delivered comparable work successfully before and can show a plan for the conduct of this work with University of Science and Education-University of Da Nang and Institute for Education Quality Assurance
• commits 20 days spread over the period April – September 2023 to University of Science and Education- University of Da Nang, University of Da Nang and Institute for Education Quality Assurance-VNU for the purposes of this assignment

Preferred:

• has experience in self-assessment processes for AUN-QA program accreditation
• holds qualifications related to higher education or quality assurance 
• can commit well in advance to a schedule for workshops and coaching (PHER will pay only at the UN rates)

VIII. APPLICATION

It is preferred that the assignment is to be delivered by an individual consultant. The application documents include:

• A letter of motivation
• CV with three references
• A technical proposal
• Financial proposal, indicating the expected consultancy fee

Application documents (named as candidate name_IQA regional expert) should be sent to [email protected] [1]  by 17.00, April 20, 2023.