A workshop on Program Effectiveness was organized on December 30, 2020 for all colleges of Gulf Medical University. The objective of the workshop was to provide an orientation to the Deans, Associate Deans and Program Directors/Coordinators from all colleges of GMU on how to report on the program effectiveness of their respective programs. The workshop oriented and trained the attendees on submission and reporting of program effectiveness reports using the newly designed centralized platform of the Quality Assurance and Institutional Effectiveness Unit.
The workshop was led by Prof. Sherief Khalifa, Vice Chancellor Quality & Global Engagement and Dean, College of Pharmacy and facilitated by Dr. Ibrahim Elsayed, Director QA& IE Unit. Prof. Sherief highlighted that the Periodic review & monitoring of all academic programs is one of the major functions of the Quality Assurance and institutional effectiveness process of GMU. This process aims at measuring and tracking program effectiveness through a set of predefined performance indicators and reporting on program sustainability and achievement of program goals. The QA&IE Unit plays a key role by providing a platform for submission, monitoring and reporting of the program effectiveness indicators along with actions required for improvement, responsibility and deadlines. It also reflects closing of the loop through continuous improvement in quality as indicated by an improvement in the KPI value.
The Session introduced audience to various components of program effectiveness including Program overview and its accreditation status, the status of program advisory board meetings & their contribution to program effectiveness, the key performance indicators related to the program, Course Evaluation for Fall and Spring and the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis by QA&IE team.
Some of the key features of the new system presented in the workshop include user friendliness, editing of the submission to endless times, conditional disabling and hiding of questions based on the user’s previous responses, instant generation and dissemination of PDF report via email. The application used in designing the platform is better in terms of branding and UI customization.
The workshop session shed light on the benefits of the new platform which presented a system approach to program monitoring and review wherein program team closely works with the QA&IE unit. The platform provides a uniform and consistent approach across all colleges & programs for submission of program effectiveness report through a common template. The platform will allow submission throughout the year hence relieving the program team from any pressures due to time constraints. The system for submission is centralized at the QA&IE Platform hence allowing the unit to monitor the status of submission of the program effectiveness report.
QA&IE unit will provide its feedback on program sustainability based on the inputs received from the program team. The QA&IE unit will be able to access the unsubmitted draft version to take corrective actions.