The Role of Internal Audit in Continuous Improvement of Quality Management Systems at Private HE Institutions: A Case Study of Eurasia International University (Armenia)

摘要

The recent worldwide expansion of higher education and increase of the enrolment number, emergence of diverse educational providers, as well as various delivery modes continuously provokes the need for development of appropriate internal and external quality assurance mechanisms for different types of higher education providers. Private higher education is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segments of postsecondary education at the turn of 21st century and, lacking traditions of quality provisions, the private tertiary institutions are challenged to build appropriate mechanisms from scratches. These institutions are urged in developing internal quality assurance systems to address the external controls and external accreditation requirements, as well as to face an increasing competition. The internal quality assurance systems set up by universities vary in scope, employed models (in case if used formal quality models at all), objectives, implementation methods etc. Implementing internal quality management systems for the sake of meeting the requirements of accreditation bodies, inherits the risk of symbolic adaptation of quality management rather than an embedded quality improvement system. Continues improvement is agreed by many experts on quality in education as a central element in achieving improvement. Yet, continuous improvement is observed as lacking in many HEIs. This research is aimed at exploring and examining the importance of internal audit for sustaining the implemented quality management systems and continuous improvement of private higher education institutions. It examines the emerging role of internal audit function (IAF) for quality and the importance of the internal audit for ensuring the continuous improvement of the private higher education institutions.