Page 50 - AUN-QA

Diagnostic Questions

Academic Staff:

− Are academic staff members competent and qualified for their jobs?
− Are the competencies and expertise of the academic staff adequate for
delivering the programme?
− What are the challenges institutions meet or encounter with regards to human
resources, such as age distribution, difficulties in filling vacancies or in
attracting qualified academic staff? How do institutions handle these
challenges?
− How many Master’s and PhD degree holders are there among the academic
staff?
− What policy is pursued with regard to the employment of academic staff, both
in teaching and research?
− Is conscious effort made to involve professors in mentoring and/or training
junior/new academic staff?
− Is a policy in place with regard to the involvement in seminars, supervision of
final papers, practical training or internship?
− Are academic staff members satisfied with the teaching loads?
− Is the staff-to-student ratio satisfactory?
− What is the accountability of academic staff in terms of roles, responsibilities,
academic freedom, and professional ethics?
− What types of research activities are carried out by academic staff? Are these
activities aligned to the vision and mission of the university and faculty?
− What is the level of research grants and how is it utilised?
− What is the number of research papers published? Are the research papers
published in national, regional and international journals?

Staff Management :

− How is manpower planning of academic staff carried out?
− Does the department have a clearly formulated staff management structure?
− Are recruitment and promotion criteria of academic staff established?
− Is there a performance management system?
− What is the succession plan for key appointment holders?
− What is the career development plan for academic staff?
− Are academic staff members satisfied with the HR policy?
− What is the future development of HR policy for academic staff?
− How academic staff members are prepared for the teaching task?
− Is the teaching delivered by the academic staff supervised and assessed?

Training and Development:

− Who is responsible for academic staff training and development activities?
− What are the training and development process and plan? How are training
needs identified?

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