Academic Quality Work: A Handbook for Improvement

The proposal for improving academic quality without spending more or abandoning other priorities, presented in 2003 in William Massy’s Honoring the Trust, is extended and applied in this how-to book. Informed by successful applications of academic audit at the department level by the University of Missouri System and the Tennessee Board of Regents, this book offers tested descriptions of academic quality work and the audit process. It extends both to include research and teaching at community colleges and four-year campuses. The authors see audit as a way to jump-start and then reinforce a self-sustaining cycle of academic quality improvement. This approach, which is low cost and highly collegial, uses structured conversation within the department and between department members and auditors to examine the possibilities for improvement and achieve commitments for change. Academic Quality Work is aimed at change agents—provosts, deans, department chairs, academic senate members, and faculty—and sponsors of quality improvement, such as trustees, foundation leaders, and legislatures. This book provides 1) the conceptual tools needed to apply audit in any academic setting, 2) materials for orientation and training, 3) examples of self-study and audit reports, and 4) testimonials from faculty.