Seven dimensions of quality

Thoughts for the 7 levels of quality:

Q1    Structural Quality (buildings, facilities, staff)
Q2    Procedural Quality (systems, protocols, procedures)
Q3    Delivered Quality (staff measurements)
Q4    Perceived Quality (as measured e.g. by NSS, student surveys)
Q5    Documented Quality (annual monitoring returns)
Q6    Attested quality (league tables etc.)
Q7    Tranformative quality (nirvana!)

Let us 'unpack' these concepts in more detail

Structural Quality

By this term we mean principally resources, both 'hard' and 'soft'

• assets both physical (buildings, libraries, IT support, technological aids)
• staffing levels (both in terms of quantity, 'quality' as measured by qualification and experience levels, in-house staff development, current engagement with teaching and research communities)

The argument here is not a simple deterministic one but there is an assumption that a minimum level of resource is required to help deliver a quality experience. Of course, adequate resource does not guarantee quality but beyond minimum levels it helps in a probabilistic way to secure it.

Procedural Quality

This term is largely self-explanatory but it does imply

• that quality systems are in place (validation, course review, annual or periodic monitoring
• that systems can de demonstrated to be 'is use' i.e. we can verify that procedures are operated in a timely and effective fashion with good feedback loops helping to sustain the system in good health

Annual course monitoring can help to ensure that teaching displays 'fitness for purpose' i.e. the teaching does what it is designed to do but course monitoring can be seen as essentially defensive i.e. it fits the criteria of accountability but quality enhancement is considerably less easy to demonstrate