Accreditation, curriculum model, and academic audit strategies for quality improvement in higher education

This paper describes a Fulbright senior specialist consultancy visit to a private technological university in Central America. A recommendation of a Latin American accrediting agency, Red Latinoamericana de Cooperacion Universitaria, urged this institution to introduce a curriculum review methodology that could demonstrate strong academic content linked to the mission of the institution. An inquiry was made to institutional leadership to determine which academic programs could most be enhanced by curriculum assessment. In keeping with the institution's technological emphasis, the engineering programs were selected. A plan using three strategies, accreditation, curriculum model, and academic audit, was devised and implemented through faculty development programs addressing: 1) accreditation as a method to assess institutional quality, accountability, and improvement; 2) Robert M. Diamond's designing and assessing curriculum model; and 3) academic audit to analyze enrollment patterns. Quality assurance approaches help institutional leadership improve organizational effectiveness and student learning to ensure the proficiency needed to compete in the current global environment. A rigorous, well-designed assessment process can make this happen.