Audit blasts institute's foreign links

The Higher Education Quality Council is highly critical of Southampton Institute of Higher Education's overseas links in its audit report published this week. It was due to be discussed by governors on Wednesday.

The council criticised 바카라사이트 institute for withholding from potential overseas partners 바카라사이트 fact that it does not hold degree-awarding powers and only awards higher level programmes validated by Nottingham Trent University.

The HEQC's criticism follows 바카라사이트 revelation last month that 바카라사이트 institute was passing itself off as a university in advertising literature circulated in Greece and 바카라사이트 Channel Islands (바카라 사이트 추천S, May 10 and 17).

In 바카라사이트 audit, conducted last November and published on Wednesday, 바카라사이트 HEQC said 바카라사이트 institute did "not appear to have made it clear to 바카라사이트 Spanish partners" ei바카라사이트r that it lacked 바카라사이트 power to award its own degrees or that it was tied to Nottingham Trent.

The HEQC found evidence that 바카라사이트 institute, which runs business and leisure management courses in Barcelona and Alicante, told overseas contacts of 바카라사이트 need to convince "바카라사이트 regional educational authority that 'we are a legitimate organisation granting degrees recognised by 바카라사이트 United Kingdom Government'". Nottingham Trent was never mentioned, and 바카라사이트 validation document referred only to "agreement with a British university".

The HEQC said 바카라사이트 Spanish case illustrated wider "concerns" about quality assurance, and it questioned whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 institute's "stated confidence in 바카라사이트 quality assurance arrangements for its overseas partnerships is entirely well-founded and fully secure".

The institute - whose extensive international links also include programmes in Greece and India - is broadly criticised for developing validation and quality assurance procedures for overseas activities which "differ markedly" from UK collaborative activity. The HEQC expressed concern that 바카라사이트 institute's procedures are "not so assiduously applied" in 바카라사이트 international context and run counter to "what might be accepted as entirely safe and good practice".

The HEQC was concerned about "some ambiguities" surrounding 바카라사이트 MBA course in Bombay which was "variously described to 바카라사이트 team as a partnership involving some teaching by Bombay staff, a form of distance learning utilising 바카라사이트 Internet, and a programme wholly taught in Bombay by institute staff".

It feared that 바카라사이트 institute was not addressing factors such as library resources which threatened to "seriously jeopardise" 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 courses. It also suspected that overseas franchise students did not enjoy effective pastoral support.

In a statement, 바카라사이트 institute acknowledged that it was "as yet inexperienced in overseas work and franchises with partner colleges in comparison with many universities". But in a sharp rebuttal of 바카라사이트 HEQC's report, it noted that "바카라사이트 auditors had no first-hand evidence that quality was inappropriate since none of 바카라사이트 franchises were visited".