The Quality Assurance Academy (QAA) is a comprehensive training offer for business schools’ quality assurance professionals. It focuses on developing leadership competencies and managerial skills to meet the diverse professional challenges encountered daily in quality assurance/quality management (QA/QM) work in business schools. The QAA cuts across all major quality assurance frameworks to develop and refine the participants’ understanding of the underlying methodologies and their purpose. Therefore, it is seen as a general qualification opportunity rather than training to support a specific accreditation project.

The QAA is offered to the EFMD membership and the wider business school community in partnership with Academ by RimaOne.

TARGET GROUP

The QAA is offered to any quality assurance professional, either currently employed or in-between jobs. The design has been built around the needs of business schools, but professionals filling similar roles on the university level or in other faculties are most welcome to apply as well. No restrictions have been set regarding seniority and experience, but the typical applicant will have up to three years of QA-specific experience.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME

The QAA consists of three block weeks, and each block week includes two modules of four hours each. It emphasizes leadership training (Modules 1 and 6) as well as core quality management skills with a focus on analysis and communication (Modules 2 and 5). The program is complemented by training sessions in information management (Module 3) and project management (Module 4).

Each block week will require approx. a half-day of preparatory work. Participants will need to invest the same amount of time in completing the intermediate assessments after block weeks 1 and 2. The capstone assessment after block week 3 will involve approx. two days of work and will be customized around a current professional challenge facing the participant.

The detailed syllabus of the programme can be downloaded here.

LEARNING GOALS

The QAA represents a unique opportunity to develop the competencies necessary to lead and manage a quality assurance agenda of a business school with international ambitions while being cognizant of national/cultural constraints. The offer is built around key skills a quality assurance professional should have, in addition to deep insights into the mechanics of delivering management education.

Specifically, participants will improve and enhance their capacity:

• to analyse quality gaps between the institutional status quo and external quality reference frameworks,
• to assemble evidence, synthesize and compile a QA-focused narrative that represents the school’s quality improvement trajectory,
• to manage projects so that to fulfil project objectives on time and with budgetary limits,
• to lead teams with authority and to lead sideways and upwards with limited authority,
• to communicate on the institutional quality agenda verbally and in writing.

TIMELINE

Induction period: as of 18 January 2021

An informal kick-off meeting for the programme: 19 January 2021 (12:00-13:00 CET)

Group roundtable around prep work for block week 1: 22 January 2021 (10:00-12:00 CET)

Block week 1: 25 January 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET) & 29 January 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET)

Group roundtable around prep work for block week 2: 12 February 2021 (10:00-12:00 CET)

Block week 2: 15 February 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET) & 19 February 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET)

Group roundtable around prep work for block week 3: 5 March 2021 (10:00-12:00 CET)

Block week 3: 8 March 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET) & 12 March 2021 (8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00 CET)

Capstone project presentations: in the week commencing with 12 April (exact dates TBC)

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE

After successfully completing the programme, participants will receive the “Certified Quality Assurance Professional” certificate from EFMD Global. It will serve as a professional distinction signalling the bearer’s qualification to conduct quality assurance work in tertiary education.

Graduation is based on two intermediate assessments and the capstone assessment. Participants will graduate successfully if and only if they receive at least a “Pass” on all three assessments. They will graduate “with Distinction” if they receive a “Pass with Distinction” on their capstone assessment and at least one of the intermediate assessments.

Facilitators for the Quality Assurance Academy

• Amanda Gudmundsson, QUT Business School
• Ulrich Hommel, EBS Business School & EFMD Global (*Programme Director)
• Julie Perrin-Halot, Grenoble Ecole de Management
• Benjamin Stévenin, RimaOne
• Sarah Vaughan, ICN Business School
• Kim Watty, Deakin Business School

Mentors for the Quality Assurance Academy

• Christina Green, TUM School of Management
• Sverre Gundersen, BI Norwegian Business School
• Bethan Jones-Davies, The University of Liverpool Management School
• Björn Kjellander, Jönköping International Business School
• Petra Kreis-Hoyer, RheinMain University (*Mentor Coordinator)
• Adam Thomas, University of St.Gallen