57th Quality Assurance Symposium Prepares for Review Panel Visit

The 57th Quality Assurance Symposium held last November 24, 2016 focused mainly on preparations for the forthcoming visit of the panel of reviewers designated by the Evaluation Commission on Education – Higher Education Sector (ECE_HES), formerly the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA). The panel is expected to audit the Riyadh Colleges of Dentistry and Pharmacy (RCsDP) vis-a-vis the eleven quality standards of the ECE-HES to determine its eligibility for re-accreditation. (The College was first accredited under the standards of NCAAA in 2010 and this accreditation expires in May 2017.)

The Rector, Prof. Abdullah Al Shammery briefly discussed the requirements for the renewal of accreditation and the preparations undertaken by the school for the panel visit. He reminded everyone to be ready to answer any question related to the quality standards of the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA). He presented the organizational charts of the College of Dentistry and the College of Pharmacy and gave a brief background on how RCsDP grew from a single college to what it is today. Dean Saleh Al Shamrani expounded on this and gave more details.

Prof. Mohammad Al Omari, the Chairman of Quality Assurance Committee, mentioned the RCsDP strategic plan and the orientation sessions relative to the EEC-HES institutional review, emphasizing the one for Quality Standard s 4 and 5 which are on teaching and learning. He reminded everybody to know by heart the mission, vision and objectives of the Colleges.

After the meeting, the various Focus Groups went to have their own discussion based on the NCAAA quality standards assigned to each. Focus Group 1 was assigned Standards 1 to 3 while Focus Groups 2 and 3 were assigned Standards 4 and 5. The groups also discussed possible questions from the review panel and the appropriate responses to them.