Academic Audits

author:The New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit

Good practice

Academic audits have assisted universities improve and develop quality assurance and quality enhancement processes. An important outcome of audits is the identification and affirmation of good practices, as these can offer impetus to ongoing enhancement.

The Unit believes that audit:

must be about facilitating and assisting enhancement,
is just one ingredient in a university's programme,
must complement other quality improvement activities,
reports must assist universities in improving their own programmes.

Good practices identified in a university's audit report provide a resource for other universities as they reflect on their own practices. The post audit cycle summaries (published in the AAU series on quality) also offer pointers to good practice.

AUQA good practice database

The New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit has an agreement with the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) to contribute the AUQA good practice database. This is a wide-ranging collection of successful initiatives and practices that have been developed in Australasian universities, presented in a practical format, and with contact information.