IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN A NORTH AMERICAN STYLE UNIVERSITY IN MOROCCO

In this paper, we delineate different steps a young educational institution might take in its quest for Quality Assurance (QA), as well as the challenges it may be facing in the course of this process. We describe the experience of Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI), a relatively young Moroccan institution that follows the American educational system and which is located in a country that is predominantly Arabic speaking and highly influenced in its administration and procedures by the French system. Throughout its brief history, the University has worked to achieve quality, by beginning with the best definitions of quality available, using the resources available to implement quality, regularly assessing the achievement of quality, and now working towards external certification of quality.

Until relatively recently, QA was not among the jargon that was used in university settings. A university was considered as one place where knowledge was sought regardless of the ways it was dispensed. Whether in Europe or the US, little interest was given to the concept in academia, as professors taught their courses and were considered as the source of wisdom. QA was rather a concept mostly used in companies and industry. A university focusing on QA tended to do so as something imposed by its specific context, which defined structures and regulations for its implementation.

As an independent but government-supported institutions, AUI has grown up in a context that provided no regulations on how it should achieve or define quality, but has always had very strong requirements of demonstrating quality. We have been able to explore and implement European as well as American QA models, to find a coherent approach that validates our position among the multiple settings.

A complete quality system requires four elements: the definition of quality, the implementation of quality, the validation of quality, and the certification of quality. We will look at these four areas using AUI as a case study.