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Academic Governance in the Contemporary University pp 181–200Cite as

The Academic Board and Academic Quality Assurance

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Abstract

This chapter continues the reporting of the Australian case study research to explore how academic quality assurance was understood and enacted at the level of the academic board and what this might mean for academic boards’ broader roles in the maintenance and enhancement of substantive academic quality . The chapter commences by considering the complex and contested concepts of ‘academic quality’ and academic quality assurance’ and the relationship between the two. Within the three Australian case study universities, academic quality assurance was universally described as being the most important academic board role. However, the data show that although the Australian academic boards were symbolically responsible for this work, much of it was actually undertaken by the deputy vice-chancellor (academic) or equivalent. As a result, the three academic boards contributed to efforts by their respective universities to seek credibility with the market and with external quality assurance agencies in the area of academic quality. The chapter concludes with questions about what this might mean, both for the integrity of university academic quality assurance processes and practices, but also for academic quality more broadly.

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  1. School of Education, Deakin University, Warrnambool, Australia

    Julie Rowlands

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  1. Julie Rowlands
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Correspondence to Julie Rowlands .

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Rowlands, J. (2017). The Academic Board and Academic Quality Assurance. In: Academic Governance in the Contemporary University. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2688-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2688-1_10

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