DWU audit commends and suggests changes
By Patrick Matbob
PNG’s Divine Word University has been commended for its
development and contribution to the educational needs of the country.
In its 62-page report, the panel
found that DWU had many successes to report. It stated that the university’s
graduates are valued by employers, it is responsive to national needs and
emphasizes service to its communities and has established conditions conducive
to students learning and academic pursuits. It found that the university has a
strong reputation among its external stakeholders and among its students who
appreciate the opportunities of learning they have.
The audit panel specifically audited the
university through an educational lens and in an international context, as a
young but growing member of the international community of universities.
“Viewed in these contexts, DWU has
travelled a long way quite rapidly,” the panel reported. It said it is time for
the university to revise and consolidate some areas of operation, to ensure
that its internal foundations and structures are fit for purpose and strong
enough to support the University through its next phase.
“Above all, the University needs to
give particular attention to maintaining and strengthening academic standards
in program design and in teaching and assessment”.
The panel’s key recommendations
addressed two pressing challenges for the university: strengthening of academic
foundations and internal workings of the University; and improving academic
standards.
“The university has now passed
beyond its initial foundation stage, and needs to embrace a period of
consolidation and reinforcement. The rapid growth of students and programs
threatens to outstrip the capacity of DWU to manage itself in a coherent and
cost-effective manner”.
The panel was concerned with the
university’s establishment and plans for more multi-campuses throughout the
country as a national university.
The panel made two ‘urgent’
recommendations that needed immediate attention to preserve the safety and
credibility of DWU’s operations.
It found that while many degree programs meet the country’s
National Qualification Framework, some qualifications offered through the
Faculty of Flexible Learning appeared unlikely to meet PNG NQF requirements as
they do not meet international expectations for the volume and depth of
learning at particular qualification levels. The panel also recommended that the Faculty of
Flexible Learning be dismantled and to be reconfigured as an administrative and
logistical centre for support and facilitation of external studies of all
forms, including residential schools.
The university also needs to
increase its numbers of appropriately qualified and experienced academic staff.
The panel suggested that the
university develop learning and teaching plan and a research plan. It also
recommended the establishment of the positions of vice-president academic and vice
President research to be headed by appropriately qualified personnel.
It directed that greater authority
and responsibility be given to deans of faculties and create a proper staff
database urgently to improve its capability for workforce planning. It also
wanted all the university’s program descriptions to be systematically reviewed
for consistency.
It also recommended a solid
foundation year for commencing students. While it commended the university for
developing a thirty-year plan, it recommended that it revise its current
approach to strategic planning and develop a set of key performance indicators.
The university has also been told to review its structure of Council
membership, including options for alternative models of corporate governance,
to ensure its corporate governance is appropriate to a multi-national campus,
multi-province institution addressing national needs.
Other specific reccomentations
included:
·
Divine Word University rationalise and stabilise
its organisational structure, position titles, and reporting lines in keeping
with its resources and size, and that the University develop a complete
register of delegations of authority.
·
review the roles of campus Vice-Presidents and
ensure that academic authority and accountability across all campuses and
teaching locations clearly resides with the relevant faculty dean and head of
school.
·
minimise the use of recent DWU graduates as the
main or sole lecturers for units and provide better mentoring and career
development support for those of its graduates appointed to staff positions.
·
foster a stronger culture of academic integrity,
including means to ensure that students understand why and how plagiarism is
wrong, to minimise the incidence of plagiarism and other academically
unacceptable behaviour.
·
establishment and maintenance of appropriate
specialised laboratories and resources for health sciences disciplines and
expand clinical placement opportunities for students.
·
a senior leader of research in the University
with the academic standing and drive to focus research activity across the
University and actively seek opportunities to build research capacity.
·
develop and implement a Research Plan
identifying specific research themes under which the University is able to, or
will be able to, make a significant contribution to the generation of new
knowledge, supported by external collaboration.
·
The Audit Panel recommends that Divine Word
University establish, as a matter of urgency and possibly in conjunction with
another institution, a genuine, credible and transparent ethics committee
process for the review and approval of any research involving human subjects.
·
review and refine the applicationof its Policy
on Printing and Paper Use, to ensure that the application of this Policy does
not adversely affect the academic activities of the University.
·
Divine Word University acknowledge and address
urgently students’ concerns about the quality of their food at the Madang
Campus.
·
take additional action to ensure the safety of
students who live away from the main campus in Madang, especially when they are
travelling to and from the Madang Campus.
·
Finally, the intended incentives for academic
staff to earn additional income, through consultancy work in teaching and
research, are not working as well as they could be. While the intent of these
incentives is sensible and praiseworthy, their effects in practice may be less
helpful and the Panel suggests DWU review these effects.
·
Although the University has given very careful
consideration to its current workload management arrangements for academic
staff, the Panel considers the model is in need of revision, to better capture
the diversity of activities they take on. The credit points system will assist
with the redevelopment of staff teaching allocations, while improved human
resources planning will inform a revision of the workload model. Section 9
contains suggestions in respect of staff time for research.
Meanwhile, university president Fr
Jan Czuba has acknowledged the audit report and said the university will
implement the recommendations starting immediately. A proposed time frame has
already been prepared to amend the DWU strategic plans as recommended by the
audit report and work has already begun with faculty meetings to review
delivery of academic programs.
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