Northern Regional College ESCalate - JISC Conference Wednesday 26 May 2010.

Northern Regional College

ESCalate - JISC ConferenceWednesday 26 May 2010

Dr Catherine O’MullanDeputy Director Support and Development

and

Mrs Suzanne KennedyHead of Quality Improvement

FE Sector NI

Main Heading

• Bullet Point 1

• Bullet Point 2

• Bullet Point 3

• Bullet Point 4

• Bullet Point 5

NORTHERN REGIONAL COLLEGE – September 2007

DEL Key Strategies of FE Sector NI

FE Means Business• A key driver of local, sub-regional and

regional economic and workforce development – The Primary Strategic Objective

• An active agent of social cohesion• A major promoter of lifelong learning• Skills Agenda/14-19 Agenda• Success through Excellence

Magherafelt

BallymenaFarm Lodge

Centre of Excellence Construction and EngineeringToyota Academy

Ballymena

Trostan Avenue

Ballymena

Café Lamont

Newtownabbey

Transport

Skills Centre

Coleraine

The Aspiration

4 Campus Model

Estates Rationale• Quality of student experience• Optimum number of Campuses• Strategically positioned within our

region• Quality accommodation:

fit-for-purpose• Concentration of investment in

specialist equipment• Maximise the use of available

resources

NRC Characteristics• 9 campuses

• £32 million turnover

• 1200 staff

• @ 24,550 enrolments: • 4500 full-time 20000 part-time

09/10Further Education 13,572Higher Education 1,062Training 2,048Entitlement Framework 2,803Essential Skills 5,072

Total 24,557

Types of provision at NRC• ApprenticeshipsNI/Training for Success

Training Contract @ £4.5 m

• Further & Higher Education/Essential Skills FLU funded

• Entitlement Framework @ 1.5m

• Cost recoverySpecialist provision for employers to meet their needs – bespoke training/externally funded projects @ £0.5m-£1.5m

Director

Restructuring ProcessExecutive Management Team

Deputy Director

Curriculum

Deputy Director

Support and Development

Deputy DirectorPlanning and

Resources

Director of Finance

Support and Development

Deputy Director

StudentServices & Marketing

EconomicEngagement

QualityImprovement

HE within NRCHistorical Overview• Full-time and part-time provision in a range of

vocational areas• HE - Level 4 and above• Full-time HE provision within FE from @ 1990• HND Programmes/Awarding Bodies• Associate Status of University of Ulster• DEL funding MaSN allocation of f/t funded

places across sector

HE within NRC 2009/10• Enrolments

Year F/t P/t Total07/08 257 781 103808/09 194 802 99609/10 260 802 1062

• NRC MaSN = 249

HE within NRC 2009/10• HNDs - Business, Manufacturing/Electronic

Engineering, Building Studies, Health & Social Care, Advanced Practice in Work with Children and Families, Computing with Multi Media

• Level 4 Higher Professional Diploma in Early Years• Foundation Degree in Building Technology and

Management• Foundation Degree in Sport Exercise & Fitness• Campus location/specialist resources• Planning process

HE within NRC 2009/10 Part-time • HND (p/t)• HNCs, Counselling provision (UU), ILM,

IATA, C&G courses, Degree (UU)• FD in Retail (p/t) – employer focus/UU• FD – L&M development• Local access; increased participation• HE Graduations• FE does not have Degree awarding powers

Quality Improvement Unit [QIU]~

Head of

Quality Improvement.

Continuous Professional Development

Manager.

Quality Assurance Manager.

Overarching Aims of the QIU~• to lead the college as it strives for

excellence • to guide the college as it strives for an

ethos and culture where, the central focus for all staff is the learner

• to assist build capacity within all staff so that they have the knowledge, skills and understanding to effectively contribute to the total student learning experience

Guiding Principle for the QIU ~

• Holistic approach to quality

[Develop and support the continuous improvement of the quality of the entire student experience.]

Case Study ~ My personal journey

– Timeline– Initial challenges– Way forward– Keys to Success– Ongoing Challenges

Timeline ~ April 2008: Appointed as Head of Quality Improvement

September 2008: QIU team in place

May 2009: 1st QAA Developmental Review

May 2010: QAA Follow-up to Developmental Review

Initial Challenges ~• Before quality improvement and

enhancement we first had to develop robust quality assurance processes

• Legacy Colleges all had different approaches to quality assurance

• Due to range of provision [14 to 16; FE; Training; HE ~ full and part time] it was important to develop quality processes that were common across the provision

Initial Challenges ~• Developing processes that would meet the

requirements of a wide range of Awarding Bodies that the College works with

• Developing processes that would fulfill the requirements of the Education and Training Inspectorate [Eti]

• Meeting the requirements of the Quality Assurance Agency [QAA]

The Way Forward ~• Development of clear strategies, e.g.

– Quality Improvement Strategy– Retention Strategy– HE Strategy

• Robust quality assurance policies and procedures, e.g.– Assessment – Appeals

The Way Forward ~

• Ensuring that the quality of learning and teaching is a key aspect of the work of the QIU– CPD focus on learning and teaching– ‘modeling’ good learning and teaching

• Making use of the knowledge and expertise of other staff within the College

• Building on previous experiences and relationships e.g.– Local university

The Way Forward ~• Development of college wide Planning

Cycle linked to;– Team based Self Evaluation Reports [SERs]

• Curriculum and Support Services

– Departmental Operational Plans – Overall College Development Plan and Whole

College Quality Improvement Plan, Corporate Targets and KPIs

The Way Forward ~• Quality Improvement Unit is a small unit

only three staff hence it is really important to;– Establish ownership for ‘quality’ in all staff /

teams across the College

• Director and Executive Management Team totally committed to quality improvement;– They allow the QIU the freedom to develop!

The Way Forward ~• Putting the learner at the centre of our

service– Range of mechanisms to support the ‘student

voice’

• Continuous Professional Development as part of QIU– Can have a real focus on the total student

experience – Real focus on quality learning and teaching

Keys to Success~• Building relationships

– At individual and team level• being approachable, responsive, supportive• listening to ‘teams’• Interacting with staff ~ ‘getting out and about’

• Being proactive– When asked a question, giving an answer– Teams now approach QIU for advice and help

in problem solving

Keys to Success~• Being happy with ‘small steps’

• Culture of being learner focused

• Staff Intranet as the central repository for all documentation

• Multidisciplinary teams– HE Committee

• Remit sharing of good practice

• Saying thank you

Keys to Success~• Leading by example

– Quality of documentation produced– Central role of the QIU in external inspections

with Eti and QAA– Timely response to issues raised

• Being creative and innovative• Viewing ‘areas for improvement’ in a

positive light

Keys to Success~• Interaction with curriculum managers

• Interaction with support services – Student support, Admissions, Finance,

Marketing etc

• Being ‘passionate’ about improving quality

• Asking for feedback

Ongoing Challenges ~• Getting ‘buy in’ from all staff

– Every little helps !!

• Embedding of quality policies, procedures and processes– Takes a lot of time to ‘filter down’

• Acceptance of a standardised approach– QCF and QAA are really helping

Ongoing Challenges ~• Moving from quality assurance to quality

improvement and enhancement

• Action planning resulting from external inspections – Making ‘action planning’, success and target

focused– Instilling ownership for the ‘actions’

Ongoing Challenges ~

• Ensuring that processes within the College comply with the QAA Academic Infrastructure – In particular the 10 Codes of Practice

• Developing an HE ethos

• Closing the loop

Questions

Thank you