Divine Word University (Dwu)

OFFICE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

DIVINE WORD UNIVERSITY (DWU)

Report of a Post-Audit Implementation Review

May 2014

Level 2, Mutual Rumana Building, Waigani Drive, Port Moresby, NCD PNG PO Box 5117, Boroko, NCD, PNG

Website: www.ohe.gov.pg

CONTENTS

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1

1.1 Summary of Findings ...... 1 1.2 Organisation of this Report ...... 1 2 CONDUCT OF THE POST-AUDIT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW ...... 2

3 FINDINGS AGAINST THE TERMS OF REFERENCE ...... 3

3.1 ToR 1 – Extent of Implementation ...... 3 3.2 ToR 2 – Strategies for the Future ...... 4 3.3 ToR 3 – Towards International Standards ...... 5 3.4 ToR 4 – Further Actions ...... 6 3.5 ToR 5 – Lessons Learnt ...... 7 4 OBSERVATIONS BY THEMATIC AREA ...... 8

4.1 University Vision and Strategic Plan ...... 8 4.2 Governance ...... 9 4.2.1 University Council ...... 9 4.2.2 Risk Management ...... 9 4.2.3 Diwai Pacific ...... 9 4.2.4 Succession Planning ...... 10 4.2.5 Academic Governance ...... 10 4.3 Leadership and Management ...... 10 4.4 Finance ...... 12 4.5 Human Resources Management ...... 12 4.6 Academic Standards ...... 13 4.7 Physical infrastructure ...... 14 4.8 Student Services and Student Affairs ...... 15 4.9 Research ...... 15 5 BRIEF COMMENT FOR EACH AFFIRMATION AND RECOMMENDATION...... 17

5.1 Affirmations ...... 17 5.2 Recommendations ...... 19 APPENDICES ...... 25

APPENDIX A: THE POST-AUDIT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW TEAM ...... 25 APPENDIX B: ACRONYMS ...... 26

DWU Post-Audit Implementation Review Report

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Summary of Findings This Report provides the outcomes of a review of the progress made by Divine Word University (DWU) in implementing affirmations and recommendations from its November 2011 Audit Report, two years after the Report was completed. The review took place between September and November 2013.

The Review Team finds that Divine Word University has addressed the affirmations and recommendations vigorously and comprehensively. The reasons for non-implementation of a small number of recommendations have been explained adequately. The Review Team notes that urgent recommendations were attended to immediately by the University.

The University has made very substantial progress over the past two years. A more measured pace is encouraged for improvements through to 2016 but the Review Team concludes that the actions taken by the University since November 2011 have lifted it to new levels of achievement in both management and academic programs.

Major areas of improvement include academic staff capabilities, especially in program and unit design and delivery, which have been the focus of substantial professional development support by DWU since 2011. New senior appointments have been made. A good Learning and Teaching Plan has been developed, together with a Research Plan. The establishment of a policy library, updating of program documentation, empowerment of deans, and establishment of a new performance management approach are other significant achievements. These achievements have changed the nature of academic discourse at DWU to one that more closely resembles contemporary discussions of good practice in well- established universities.

Over the period, the University has maintained its commitment to transparency to external parties and massively improved its already good ICT facilities, especially its learning resources. Staff of the University are to be commended on their adoption of the new Learning Management System and their efforts to improve English language support for students.

The overall trajectory of the University is very good. Some activities and programs are expected to be of international standard by 2016. However, the Review Team considers that it would be unreasonable to expect all aspects of DWU’s operations to be of this standard by then. The University is encouraged to sustain its strategy of continuous improvement, which will take it to new heights of achievement over time.

1.2 Organisation of this Report The Report is organised into five sections.

Following this Executive Summary, Section 2 contains a brief account of the conduct of the review. Section 3 provides the Review Team’s findings against the each of the five Terms of Reference, while Section 4 contains observations by the Review Team under various thematic areas. Section 5 gives a brief comment on implementation of each affirmation and recommendation in the 2011 Audit Report.

A list of Review Team members and observers of the Site Visit is at Appendix A. A list of acronyms is at Appendix B.

2 CONDUCT OF THE POST-AUDIT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW

In May 2013, Divine Word University (‘DWU’ or ‘the University’) invited the Office of Higher Education (OHE) to conduct a two-year review of the University’s progress in implementing the recommendations and affirmations from its 2011 external institutional and academic audit.

In June 2013, Terms of Reference were signed and the process for the review agreed on by OHE and DWU. The scope of the review is DWU’s operations at its Madang Campus, consistent with the scope of the 2011 audit, which did not examine in detail the operations of DWU’s other campuses (e.g. Wewak, Port Moresby) or of DWU’s affiliated institutions.

OHE appointed a three-person Post-Audit Implementation Review Team (‘Review Team’) for the review, drawn from members of the PNG Register of Experts for University Quality Assessment, including the chair of the Review Team for the 2011 audit.

On 17 September 2013, DWU provided a self-assessment Progress Report plus supporting documents.

Other members of the 2011 audit Review Team were invited to provide comments on DWU’s Progress Report and three of the four did so. The review team found their comments to be insightful and helpful and thanks these people for their input.

In October 2013, OHE issued a Request for Further Information to DWU, which provided additional information in early November and on-site at the Site Visit.

The Site Visit to the University’s Madang Campus took place between 11 and 15 November 2013. In all, the Review Team spoke with over 90 people in the course of the review, including the Chair of Council, the University President, Vice-Presidents, Deans, heads of department, academic and professional staff, student leaders, and undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The Review Team expresses its appreciation to the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Director Academic Quality Assurance, the Director ICT Services and others at DWU for their assistance throughout the process and for the University’s warm hospitality. DWU’s assistance included the provision of an excellent set of supporting documents, ready production of additional further material, helpful ICT support, and outstanding organisation of the Site Visit. In particular, the Review Team expresses its gratitude to Professor Pam Norman, Vice-President (Academic).

This Report relates to the situation current at the time of the Site Visit, which ended on 15 November 2013, and does not take account of any changes that may have occurred subsequently. The Report records the conclusions reached by the Review Team based on the documentation provided by DWU as well as information gained through interviews, discussions and observations.

The Review Team recognises that not all recommendations from the 2011 audit are yet fully implemented by DWU. This is to be expected for a 2-year review. This Report therefore should be read as an internal report to DWU on the progress it has made.

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3 FINDINGS AGAINST THE TERMS OF REFERENCE

3.1 ToR 1 – Extent of Implementation The first Term of Reference is:

To review and report on the extent to which DWU has implemented the affirmations and recommendations from the 2011 external institutional and academic audit and, if applicable, the reasons for non-implementation of any recommendations.

The Review Team’s findings follow.

DWU in two years has done as much, and even more, than could reasonably be expected at any institution over two years to implement a long series of recommendations and affirmations. Its actions are having a transformative effect on the university. In the view of the Review Team, It is difficult to imagine how the University could have approached the implementation of recommendations with greater sincerity. There is ample evidence of the obvious enthusiasm, energy and commitment among staff. A very strong focus on quality is coupled with a sense of excitement among deans, and among many academic and professional staff.

The Review Team appreciates the reasons that DWU has pursued advancement so vigorously over the past two years but notes also that the pace of change is not sustainable. The University’s approach of moving quickly to engage external experts to help staff seems to have produced excellent results but in moving so rapidly to implement the Audit recommendations, the University has taken a risk with possible burnout of staff.

There has been a huge growth in purposive action for improvement, which has taken DWU forward in terms of presenting a professional face externally and also internally. The phrase ‘taking it to the next level’ is overused but, in the view of the Review Team, DWU in many ways really has taken its activities to the next level. The next three years of development can proceed in a more measured fashion, now the University has established a solid platform at a higher level of development.

The Review Team notes that some of the transformation is not directly applicable to any specific audit recommendation but rather due to exponential improvements in DWU’s ICT provision, which was already comparatively good in 2011. These improvements are sparking more and more developments, and enabling changes to be realised rapidly with significant increases in efficiency and greater stimulation for staff and students.

A number of developments are starting to coalesce, so DWU now is readily recognisable as a university to an international observer. Overall, there has been a well-rounded implementation of affirmations and recommendations from the Audit. The Review Team commends DWU on the priority it has given to developing people, especially academics and academic managers. This priority is reflected in actions such as:

• Empowerment of deans;

• Reviews of Program Specification Documents (PSDs), which have picked up a number of affirmations and recommendations;

• Professional development, especially of academic staff; and

• Addressing specific management issues.

In the next section of this report, the Review Team comments on noteworthy changes under broad headings, with some comments about next steps or minor corrective actions.

The Review Team noted, at the Site Visit, advances made in the level of discourse among staff on academic and organisational matters. This is important as a marker of subtle changes in staff capabilities. Words and phrases that are now commonly used at DWU include: systematic, leadership and management teams, collegiality, scholarship, graduate attributes, critical analysis, enhancing the student experience, research that informs teaching, self-directed learning. The Review Team’s observation is that many academic staff have become more structured and more organised in the ways they consider curricula and their teaching.

DWU has adequately explained the reasons for non-implementation of some recommendations, e.g. the paperless policy and exit points at diploma level. These are noted in section 5 of this Report.

3.2 ToR 2 – Strategies for the Future The second Term of Reference is:

To assess specifically the extent to which DWU has developed strategies for its future as recommended by the audit.

Plans for the immediate future are set out in the DWU Strategic Plan 2006-2016. This is helpful but the Review Team considers that the Plan can be further improved and, for reasons discussed below, the emphasis on ‘achieving international standards’ by 2016 needs to be moderated and nuanced further.

In considering this ToR, the Review Team returned to the 2011 Audit Report, to review where strategies for the future were mentioned. There are several instances, the most important ones of which are:

2011 Audit Report: ‘To set itself up well for the future, the University will need to plan for stronger management and academic leadership within its faculties, especially at the level of the deans and subsequently among heads of department…. ‘

This aspect has been strongly addressed by DWU over the past two years.

2011 Audit Report: ‘… the University to articulate more clearly how it wishes its academic and geographic profile to expand and what it will not do, as well as those activities it will take on. Such articulation will assist the University as a whole to develop decision criteria to guide judgements in response to future approaches.’

This aspect will need to be addressed by DWU over the next few years, as the University further matures. Some fundamental issues are still to be worked through in regard to the focus and complexity of operations, where campus expansion will occur, and to articulate the desired balance between local focus and ownership and overall ‘federation’ of campuses.

Management of multi-campus operations needs to be given greater priority, although multi- campus thinking very much more in evidence across all types of functions and activities.

2011 Audit Report: ‘Ideally, DWU would adopt a systematic approach to staff planning, performance review and staff development, in a way that makes it evident how each staff member is contributing to the University’s plans and thus how the performance of each staff member should be assessed. Everyone needs to have an idea of the University’s required staff 4 © OHE 2014 DWU Post-Audit Implementation Review Report

profile into the future and of the expectations that they must meet. Staff and management both need to understand that performance review is a process of considering performance against agreed contracted expectations and not just a vague appraisal against unsystematic criteria.’

DWU has given considerable time and energy to this aspect but will need to take a more considered approach from 2014, to ensure all staff are aware of why performance management is important and that supervisors have training in the process.

In the view of the Review Team, three ongoing developments will be crucial for the future of the University:

1. The quality of programs, where DWU must be able to state with confidence that curricula and learning and teaching strategies are equal to those of any other reputable university;

2. The ability of students to learn at university level, which in practice means much work with students at the start of and throughout their degree programs, to improve their proficiency in language use (especially English) and numeracy;

3. The extent of active networking and interconnectedness of academics with their colleagues in other institutions, here and in PNG (as well as with other stakeholders).

DWU has already recognised these three elements. The Review Team suggests that these remain as priorities over the medium-term.

Risk controls and University governance need attention as short-term priorities if the University is to be well-prepared for the future. In particular, the Divine Word University Act 1999 needs to be updated to reflect the developments that have taken place through amalgamations and the impact of the University being declared an agency of higher education. A major transition planning exercise should be commenced, to prepare for a change of leadership in the future.

Overall, the Review Team finds there is now a stronger sense of multiple preparedness for the future at DWU than two years ago.

3.3 ToR 3 – Towards International Standards The third Term of Reference is:

To advise whether the progress made by DWU in implementing the recommendations is leading to the achievement of DWU’s objective of reaching international standards by 2016.

While the overall trajectory of the University is very good, the Review Team considers that it would be unreasonable to expect all aspects of its operations to be of ‘international standard’ by 2016. The Review Team notes that the phrase ‘international standards’ could be taken as shorthand for ‘the standards expected of a reputable university, especially for graduate outcomes’. Some DWU programs are approaching this standard but it should not be forgotten that the University exists in a challenging context and that its students are often comparatively under-prepared for tertiary studies.

The Review Team observes that DWU has a major commitment to transparency to external parties. This will stand the University in good stead, inspire confidence in partners of all types and assist with international recognition of the University. It is evident that DWU is not afraid of external scrutiny and that the University is clearly driven by its core values. © OHE 2014 5 Post-Audit Implementation Review Report DWU

However, the Review Team cautions DWU against viewing the implementation of the recommendations only in the light of an arbitrary date for ‘reaching international standards’. The goal is laudable but the ‘deadline’ may cause some actions to be rushed and not undertaken thoroughly. That is, too great a focus on the date of 2016 could distort and undermine full implementation of the recommendations.

The objective therefore needs to be nuanced and action taken that will allow DWU to achieve progressive improvements over time. In the view of the Review Team, by 2016 it is likely that a significant number of DWU programs will have curricula and learning and teaching strategies are equal to those of any other reputable university. But it is less likely that all programs will be at this level, because not all programs will have been properly reviewed since 2013.

The Review Team suggests that the University further consider the meaning of this phrase ‘international standards’ for graduate outcomes, taking particular note of the standards that are feasible for its student cohort, nearly all of whom are learning in a language (English) that is their second or third language. As an example, DWU’s stated aim of ensuring that graduates exit with the equivalent of an IELTS score of 6 or more is considered by the Review Team to be realistic over the short-term, with the potential to improve over the medium- term.

Other aspects of DWU’s operations can more easily be aligned to international standards. Given its trajectory, the Review Team expects that DWU will have management systems and processes, and ICT use, that are those of a reputable university.

That is, DWU will be at international standard for some aspects of its operations but should not be concerned if it is not at this level for all activities and outcomes, provided that continual improvement is being made.

3.4 ToR 4 – Further Actions The fourth Term of Reference is:

To advise on any further follow-up actions that would assist DWU to better implement the recommendations of the audit or to meet its objectives.

The Review Team suggests that the University’s priorities for 2014 should continue the focus on professional development and include all matters concerning human resources management and performance appraisal.

Program review and redevelopment, particularly for Education programs, must be given priority. Students’ English language and maths proficiency should continue to be emphasised, as should more use of Moodle as the University’s learning management system. Provision of laboratory equipment and resources must be a priority for rural health and environmental health.

Some further minor corrective actions are suggested under thematic areas in section 4. For example, fresh and more diverse strategies are needed in regard to use of scholarly online resources by staff and students and in regard to the prevention of plagiarism.

Consistent with comments made under ToR 1, the University should start to focus more on cross-campus management, risk management and Council governance.

Research development at DWU is in a state of flux, with several different philosophies and approaches now being expressed. This situation reflects a large amount of thinking and discussion over the past two years, which is a healthy development. Starting in 2014, the 6 © OHE 2014 DWU Post-Audit Implementation Review Report

University might concentrate on the progressive articulation of a coherent but multi-faceted research development plan with associated targets for achievement.

The Review Team further observes a need for DWU to re-examine the context of each recommendation in the 2011 Audit Report, to ensure its intent has been fully realised. This applies particularly to recommendations relating to program review and development and to research. The University is encouraged also to consider those suggestions in the 2011 Audit Report that were not highlighted as affirmations or recommendations but were included in the Report, as they may provide useful guidance.

3.5 ToR 5 – Lessons Learnt The fifth Term of Reference is:

To review and report on the lessons learnt by DWU through the audit and post-audit processes.

The Review Team observes that staff of DWU have learnt much in implementing the recommendations from the 2011 Audit Report. In particular, the process of reflective self- assessment, used for the 2011 audit, has been used in implementation of the recommendations, namely in the review of PSDs and in staff performance review. Reflective self-assessment appears well on the way to becoming embedded in staff thinking, which is commendable.

It is evident that DWU now can manage an external review process to the highest standards and that the University has applied these processes, again to a high standard, in its audits of affiliated institutions.

Given the pace of change, the Review Team appreciates that University personnel may not have had time to reflect on other lessons learnt to any great extent. The Review Team suggests that 2014 would be an appropriate time for senior management to take stock of what has worked well in the implementation and what actions, if any, have failed to gain traction or are one-off strategies only.

As noted in section 4, insufficient attention has been given to implementation of the new performance appraisal system, which the Review Team considers should be re-worked in the light of experience in 2013.

The wholesale review of PSDs has produced overall gains for the University in a short time but should be replaced by a systematic rolling process of annual review of a selected small number of PSDs and programs. In this way, all programs can be reviewed every five years but not all in the same year.

The Review Team encourages DWU to continue to explore the lessons learnt from implementation of various initiatives and to document these for the record.

4 OBSERVATIONS BY THEMATIC AREA

This Section of the Report contains observations by the Review Team on the University’s progress since the 2011 audit, grouped under broad thematic areas. Not every aspect of DWU’s operations or of the 2011 Audit Report recommendations is addressed. Rather, some of the most significant developments are noted, with some suggestions for further improvement.

4.1 University Vision and Strategic Plan The University has continued to emphasise its Vision and core values in all aspects of its operations and, importantly, in its promotional material, giving consistent messages to students, staff and external stakeholders.

The DWU Strategic Plan (Second Decade 2006–2016) is a helpful strategic guide to the University’s longer-term goals that locates the University’s planning within a 30-year framework for development. The Plan outlines seven strategic objectives that are appropriate to a good university.

However, the Strategic Plan is long and wordy and its inclusion of many operational activities for achieving the conditions for quality detracts from an overall emphasis on achievements under each of the objectives. The Review Team suggests that DWU, while keeping its 30-year planning document, develop a more focused 2006–2016 Plan aligned to achievements and developments under each of the 7 strategic objectives. In this regard, the CHE standards for quality assurance of universities may be a useful reference point. The Review Team observes that the CHE standards and DWU’s seven strategic objectives are articulated well in the Faculty Operational Plans.

Now would also be an opportune time for DWU to start to consider what it really wants to be known for nationally and internationally, and to highlight ‘flagship’ or ‘excellence’ programs and activities.

The development of a small set of University-wide key performance indicators (KPIs) is yet to be completed by DWU. The Review Team urges DWU to expedite this development, for clarity of reporting to Council. The development of ‘traffic light’ or ‘dashboard’ indicators of performance, being considered by the University, would be a good way to proceed.

Since 2011, the University has developed a Learning and Teaching Plan, a Research Plan and Faculty Operational Plans. These are major achievements, especially the Faculty Operational Plans, which faculty academics are proud of and which gives them a sense of knowing where they are heading. The Learning and Teaching Plan contains an excellent list of focused strategies with timeframes and responsibilities.

These Plans contain KPIs but the Review Team observes that there may be too many and not all of them are easily measurable. As a next step, it would be helpful for the University-wide KPIs to be cascaded down through these various Plans and used as a basis for upwards reporting. Additional KPIs for Learning and Teaching, Research and each Faculty could be included if they are relevant and readily able to be monitored.

The Review Team was impressed that reporting and monitoring against the Faculty Operational Plans is already under way and is holding up well, with good use being made of faculty committees to track reporting, and this is assisting people to know about their plans. DWU is urged to ensure that this monitoring is sustained.

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As further observations, the Review Team notes that the Learning and Teaching Plan is not yet known by all academic staff and may need to be more strongly aligned with Faculty Operational Plans. The Research Plan is a very good first step but seems to be known mainly by those who were involved in its development (see also section 4.9).

4.2 Governance

4.2.1 University Council A major recommendation of the 2011 Audit Report was that DWU review the structure of Council membership, including options for alternative models of corporate governance, to ensure its corporate governance is appropriate to a multi-campus, multi-province institution addressing national needs. The University’s implementation of this recommendation has been slow and indirect, although the Review Team appreciates there may be sound reasons for this. The Review Team notes that the Council by-laws have been reviewed. This review and some other actions have ensured that Council now works better as a group, although there is room for improvement in the performance of some PNG-based members. There is effective leadership from the chair of Council.

Nonetheless, the Review Team considers it is now appropriate for the Divine Word University Act 1999 to be updated, not least to ensure appropriate nomination of Council members by key stakeholder groups reflective of the University’s role in national advancement of higher education. The Review Team was informed that the current University Act is nearly the same as the Divine Word Institute Act of 1980. Since 1997, however, the University has implemented the amalgamation of various other State and church institutions. It now operates campuses in several provinces. In 2003, the University was declared an agency of higher education by the National Executive Council. These significant developments require a review and rebalancing of Council membership, to ensure appropriate expertise and an input into nominations by stakeholders including governments.

4.2.2 Risk Management There was no specific recommendation on risk management in the 2011 Audit Report but the University has taken the initiative to develop a DWU Risk Management Plan and process in the light of audit comments regarding Diwai Pacific (see below). This is a positive development. The Plan is comprehensive and should now move to full implementation including regular reporting to Council.

While common sense and intuition remain important, the University’s own experiences indicate that formal processes, if understood by staff, can better ensure an orderly response to the inevitable critical incidents that do occur on and around university campuses.

4.2.3 Diwai Pacific Diwai Pacific is a controlled entity of DWU. The Review Team considers the information it viewed on Diwai Pacific to be insufficient to explore how well the entity is working. It suggests that Council and the academic community may need more information and communication on the operations of Diwai Pacific and its relationship to DWU. The University may wish to explore good practices in managing relations between universities and university companies.

The previous governance oversight of Diwai Pacific was not as strong as it could have been, although the Review Team has some confidence that any issues are now being addressed.

Documents viewed by the Review Team indicate that Diwai Pacific now is committed to facilitating programs, including short courses, in collaboration with faculties and within the University’s framework of formal faculty and Academic Board approvals. Faculties need to ensure that Diwai Pacific personnel are aware of the differences between PNG NQF and non- NQF qualifications.

4.2.4 Succession Planning The Review Team notes the University’s Succession Planning Policy, which will be relevant to the time when the foundation President chooses to hand over his role. The Team observes that the visionary leadership of the President continues to serve the University very well. This process needs extremely careful management, as it will be a major transition for DWU and as it must not undermine the authority of the incumbent President. The selection committee membership should include some eminent people from stakeholders including government as well as Council members and the process should be reviewed very carefully before being adopted. For example, the practice of asking short-listed candidates to make presentations is being phased out overseas and may not be appropriate in a PNG context.

4.2.5 Academic Governance On academic governance, the Review Team finds that Academic Board and its committees appear to be working well. There remains a need for DWU to better explain its committee structure (for all committees, not just academic committees), indicating which committees are active and which are not.

New Faculty Committees have been established and are working well. The Review Team believes this has contributed to a sense of order and cohesion within faculties, but was not able fully to explore this in regard to the Faculty of Education, given its cross-campus operations. The more robust governance at Faculty level appears to have been embraced by academics and is helpful in reviewing academic activities and Faculty Operational Plans.

The Review Team reminds DWU of Affirmation 12, in regard to student representation on committees. While DWU has many avenues to ensure the student voice is heard and the SRC has attended Academic Board, there may be other means to improve student representation at faculty level.

4.3 Leadership and Management The Review Team commends the obvious primacy and sincerity given by DWU to addressing recommendations under this theme.

Over the past two years, DWU has implemented changes designed to ensure a more cohesive leadership group that is less dependent on the President as the sole authority. Members of the top management team seem to work well together, with good internal communication. The team and the deans now need to ensure they have regular opportunities for communication and coordination.

The Vice-Presidents (Academic) and (Research) have pursued their responsibilities with vigour and, consequently, much has been achieved, especially for academic policies and programs. The University Policy Library, readily availability through the Intranet and with the dates of last updating, is a major achievement. It may be that in the future, the review and updating of policies could be taken on by the Director, Academic Quality Assurance and the Academic Quality Assurance Committee.

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The statement of human resources and financial delegations is another significant achievement that paves the way for a range of other improvements to be effected with greater order and clarity.

Empowerment of faculty deans was a major affirmation of the 2011 Audit Report. The Review Team obtained ample evidence of the amount of work that has been undertaken to implement this affirmation, particularly in regard to staffing matters and faculty planning. Further efforts are needed in respect of financial management capabilities for empowerment. There is also improved executive officer support and the Review Team suggests that over time the executive officers could take on greater responsibilities for management of faculty operations.

Progress on the development of databases for staff and students has been steady. The Review Team expects that, by 2014, the University will be producing more reports that it can use to monitor its own performance and identify areas for improvement.

The establishment of a data analyst position is another mark of the University’s professionalisation of its operations, as are the positions of e-learning specialist and international partnerships manager. The Review Team commends DWU for these developments. It observes that the data analyst may benefit from interactions with colleagues at the Australian Catholic University or other universities, to enhance her knowledge and skills.

Taken together, these various managerial developments have the potential for mutually reinforcing virtuous cycles of organisational learning and advancement.

The Review Team explored quite carefully the progress that has been made on dis- establishment of the Faculty of Flexible Learning and its replacement by the Flexible Learning Centre as an administrative centre for flexible learning. Everyone at the University appears to understand the intent, although there have been some delays in physically moving academic staff into their new faculty-based roles. It is evident to the Review Team that some issues remain with the administration of flexible learning programs: the Team received many reports of ‘lost’ assignments, delays in providing marks and other hitches that detract from some very good programs, such as the Master of Leadership in Development. As well, there may be a need to reinforce with external stakeholders that the faculty dean (or a Vice- President) is the person to approach about establishing new customised funded programs, as not all these stakeholders may understand new arrangements.

Multi-campus management remains a challenge for DWU, especially for the Faculty of Education. There are good, clear understandings between Madang and Wewak Campuses and Madang and Port Moresby Campuses, not all the details have been fully worked through. For example, the Review Team observes that the Dean of Education should conduct performance reviews of heads of department based at Wewak, not the Vice-President of the Wewak Campus.

On this point, the Review Team notes that the DWU organisation chart appears to mix management and committee responsibilities and is not clear about who reports to whom in regard to the campus Vice-Presidents. DWU needs to be able to advise clearly and show all staff how they fit into a reporting structure.

Finally, the Review Team mentions a need for more professional marketing of the University in future, to capitalise on emergent strong branding and so prospective students fully realise the advantages of enrolling at DWU.

4.4 Finance The Review Team notes that DWU has a sound history of prudent financial management. There were few direct references to improvements to financial management in the 2011 Audit Report. A few matters are noted here as future improvements.

As noted in section 4.3, there is a need for ongoing education of faculty deans, especially in regard to the way the University balances income and expenditure and the meaning of indirect costs (i.e. costs for University-wide services). Before financial authority is delegated to deans, they must understand how to account for expenditure, so they should have much practice in reviewing budgeted and actual year to date expenditures. The Review Team suggests this information be made available online to each faculty dean on-line. In time, the deans need to have some more delegated authority over finances.

During the course of the review, the Review Team identified a need for much stronger and earlier internal consultation and advice on budget tracking within DWU, so there are no sudden surprises if there is going to be a shortfall in funds available for planned activities.

The Review Team also identified a need for the University’s finance team and research management need to work more closely together in regard to tracking, monitoring, managing and acquitting expenditure for external research and research consultancy funding.

4.5 Human Resources Management The Review Team commends DWU for placing its emphasis over the first two years on staff development, for both academic and professional administrative staff. There is no doubt that the facilitative activities of external advisors over the past two years have benefitted and empowered many at the University.

Among the improvements implemented by DWU are a new workload policy and the idea of using a points system for performance review of academic learning and teaching. However, much more piloting and training is needed before a new performance appraisal and staff development scheme is fully implemented. Additional feedback should be sought from academic and professional staff before the system is fully bedded-down.

As noted in section 4.3, it is not always clear who should conduct a performance review in respect of multi-campus operations. Moreover, some of the weightings will need to be adjusted, especially for research. Those conducting performance reviews need to be trained and supported, especially if poor performance is to be addressed appropriately. The performance review process should focus on motivating staff, as ideally performance review and staff development go hand in hand. This is an extremely difficult area to get right for any university, so the Review Team suggests that DWU review and refine the process during 2014.

Other notable policy initiatives are the creation of a Succession Planning Policy and a Child Protection Policy a good initiative. The Review Team suggests that DWU now develop an Occupational Health and Safety Policy. A policy on staff academic misconduct might also be considered.

The University has recognised a need to professionalise its human resources management and the Review Team agrees with this assessment. The Human Resources department needs to be able work better with the faculty deans and administrative departments, to support staff, to implement workforce planning, and to refine the performance appraisal and staff development process. The Review Team encourages the University to keep pursuing with government strategies to reduce the barriers to the recruitment of international staff.

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4.6 Academic Standards The Review Team notes the positive effects of the staff development activities referred to above on new heads of departments and junior academic staff in particular. There is not only enthusiasm but real insight emerging from these new staff in regard to good academic practices.

One improvement for the future is to help academic staff not only to network with colleagues internationally but also with colleagues in other PNG universities, so they are aware of who else is working in their discipline within PNG and may be able to work collaboratively.

The review of PSDs is another initiative that has helped DWU address several recommendations and suggestions at one time, including the rationalisation of units, tidying up of credit points, introduction of graduate attributes and alignment of learning outcomes and assessment. The review will ensure better quality and consistency of learning and teaching, and of student expectations across programs and units.

The Review Team notes that the processes for review of PSDs have differed across academic areas. It suggests the more effective processes have been those where a whole of program approach was taken, especially when combined with workshops and other team-based methods and external input. Whatever the approach, the PSD review helps to calibrate DWU academics’ current capacity to differentiate weak curricula from strong, to differentiate good curricula and units from those that are outdated, and to apply relevant analytical frameworks.

The Review Team expresses some concern about the standards of the large number of teacher programs offered through the Faculty of Education and affiliated institutions. The variety appears confusing and there does not appear to be a clear view of what kind of teachers DWU aims to produce. There is an opportunity now, with the implementation of changes from the review of the Outcomes Based Education system in schools, for DWU to review its focus and refresh its teacher training programs, which should be a priority in 2014.

One challenge now for DWU is to embed changes from the PSD reviews to improve academic standards. By 2016, DWU can realistically aim for more robust academic programs, which should be systematically reviewed once every five years through a rolling cycle of external reviews, say 4 or so per year. This will allow academic departments to take ownership of the review process and give them time for genuine self-assessment. Through such a process, DWU will be able to consolidate and deepen the understanding, analytics, frames of reference and ability to discriminate of its academics.

Two other developments that will assist DWU to maintain and improve academic standards are professional body accreditation of programs, as applicable, and the University’s plans for joint degrees, either with overseas universities or even with other institutions in Papua New Guinea.

Plagiarism is an area requiring more policy development and consistent approaches to policy implementation. The Review Team is aware that plagiarism continues to be a major problem, as in other PNG universities. It appears that some staff are simply choosing not to address the issue (due to pressure of marking assignments that are poorly-worded) and there seem to be very inconsistent views among academics about the action that should be taken. Opinions are divided between more educative and more punitive measures. There is some support from both parties for the use of plagiarism detection software.

The Review Team notes that plagiarism possibly could be diminished through improvements in students’ English language proficiency and better use of online scholarly resources. It is

suggested that DWU implement a University-wide register of alleged cases of plagiarism, to ensure fair treatment of students but also to help diagnose the extent of the problems and their causes. Good guidance available is from Australian university websites.

DWU might also consider about the extent to which student academic misconduct matters need to be handled on a university-wide basis to ensure consistency, or at least handled with representation from another faculty.

Another priority for policy development and implementation is good assessment practice. The current review of the Assessment Policy is a positive first step but more work is needed on aspects such as: formative feedback to students; expectations of turnaround time for marks and feedback; the use of criterion-referenced assessment and development of rubrics; and effective methods of moderation e.g. blind double marking. Active review of assessment practice and moderation by Faculty Curriculum and Assessment Committees are positive developments. DWU is urged to give priority to improving assessment practices over the next few years.

DWU has explored with real concern the difficult issue of improving students’ English language proficiency. It is too easy for universities, in any country, to duck this issue but DWU has chosen to tackle in squarely. With the aid of expert advice by one of its research professors, who has made innovative suggestions and is exploring the use of Netlanguages, and some earlier efforts with online approaches, the University is at the forefront of developments in PNG. It has had the benefit of receiving details of students’ actual level of proficiency through IELTS testing for students entering a Bachelor of Business in Health Management with James Cook University. The IELTS results have given an opportunity for the University to reflect on the extent of the proficiency ‘gap’ and to set a target for graduate IELTS capabilities. There are no simple answers: a range of interventions is likely to be needed. The Review Team urges the University to ensure that at least some interventions are implemented in 2014.

The transition by DWU academics to use of Moodle, as the online learning management system has been little short of remarkable. This change has been aided by very thorough training and a determination to progress. It is starting to transform learning and teaching for many staff as well as students. Further, the use of online student evaluations to ensure a systematic approach and feed into performance reviews actually seems to be welcomed by many academics. Whether this is universally the case or not, the Review Team observes that it brings DWU into line with good practice in overseas universities. The online student evaluation system now needs to be adapted to be appropriate for programs offered in flexible (blended) learning mode.

Taken as a whole, these achievements are considerable and have changed the face of learning and teaching at DWU. The Review Team offers a few suggestions for further improvement, the first of which is for the University to consider offering awards for good teaching, including awards for good online teaching, to promote communities of practice. The University might also promote the use of online methods, e.g Skype chats, for its academics to join colleagues at the Australian Catholic University or other universities for program discussions, informal benchmarking or journal clubs.

4.7 Physical infrastructure The University has fully addressed affirmations and recommendations from the 2011 Audit Report in respect of physical infrastructure, student food and campus security. Attractive new dormitories have been constructed on time and within budget, a new workshop facility has been completed and there are well-developed plans for new academic buildings and

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refurbishment. These new buildings and redevelopments have given rise to some new campus security issues but the University is aware of them.

A recommendation on laboratory facilities for students in science-based disciplines has been attended to, with the opening for student use of existing facilities. However, the provision of adequate equipment and consumables, for students to practise laboratory techniques, has been extremely slow. The Review Team considers there remain some risks to academic standards in rural health and environmental health programs due to the apparent unavailability of equipment and consumables. It suggests that DWU ensure these are available as a matter of course.

As noted elsewhere, the University’s ICT infrastructure and services have continued to evolve rapidly. The DWU Intranet and learning management system, the revised website, and a massive increase in internet availability and quotas for staff and students provide just a few examples of the fine work of the high-performing ICT team at the University.

4.8 Student Services and Student Affairs The Review Team notes the very good work done by the former and new Vice-Presidents (Student Affairs). In particular, there has been recent action by DWU to refine its student admissions process and there is a plan to establish an Admissions Committee. This is good practice and will help the University to avoid some issues evident at the time of the 2011 audit.

The Review Team endorses the plan of the Vice-President (Student Affairs) to shortly commence an evaluation of student services. The level of student services seems appropriate and the team is cohesive and professional in its approach. It was not entirely clear to the Review Team that all staff in student services are aware of the pace or nature of developments elsewhere in the University, and this may hamper their efforts to reach out to students. As an example, the use of the DWU Intranet to inform students of welfare matters is underdeveloped at present.

Regular attendance by the Vice-President (Student Affairs) at SRC Forums is regarded by the Review Team as good practice. The University is reminded keep actively listening to the student voice, to ensure the emphasis remains on the quality of the student experience. As a suggestion, the Review Team suggests that the SRC female VP has a route to approach a senior woman at DWU (e.g. one of the Vice-Presidents) if she needs to in respect of any matters of gender equity.

The Review Team suggests that the Division of Student Services might consider providing more awareness-raising sessions and educational programs to assist students to appreciate the current social challenges in PNG and how to behave responsibly and safely.

4.9 Research There have been many positive developments in regard to research activity at DWU since 2011, including the refinement of policies for higher degree by research students, initiatives to help non-research-active staff engage with and understand research processes, and a greater emphasis on research in undergraduate studies.

The Review Team observes that strategic planning for research at DWU seems to be moving in several different directions, as could be expected when many people have views on how best to facilitate and increase research activity. This degree of ferment is healthy but will need to be resolved fairly soon.

DWU has persisted in an approach that all academic staff should be active in research. The University therefore provides all academics with a block of time each year in which to pursue this research, a commendable philosophy. The Review Team notes, however, that with scarce internal resources to fund research projects, the University may be better served by a more concentrated focus to research development. International experience shows that, even in the best universities, not all academics are research-active.

The Review Team suggests that DWU therefore adopt a more realistic view of research and of expectations of staff research. At the top end, there is a need for selectivity and concentration that is not evident in the current Research Plan, if DWU is to make a significant contribution through its research outputs. An internal consultative process could be used to further refine the plan in regard to key research themes, some of which could be developed collaboratively with other PNG institutions

One important change at DWU, supportive of a move to selectivity and concentration, has been the appointment of several research professors. This is an excellent step but the Review Team observes that the professors, who clearly wish to contribute to DWU, lack a context for their activity and have received little guidance of what is expected of them by way of research leadership within a faculty and mentoring of junior staff. There is evident tension between the research professors and the Vice-President (Research), whose authority needs to be respected but who must also support these senior academics in their endeavours. The University needs to resolve this tension, which is achievable as there is goodwill on both sides, and ensure closer links between the professors and their faculty colleagues.

Academics at DWU might all be encouraged better to understand the difference between scholarship and researching developments in their discipline and the conduct of major primary research projects. The time currently allocated to academic staff ‘research’ could be extended to refer also to scholarship in the discipline, to help ensure teaching is better informed research findings.

Research management remains a challenge. While there are some positive developments, progress has perhaps been slower than expected. There have been some improvements to the research ethics process, including a policy and forms on the Intranet and better understanding of conflicts of interest. The Review Team suggests that DWU may be able to use its twinning arrangements with the Australian Catholic University to further improve processes for research ethics review and clearance.

The University is yet to implement thorough, transparent monitoring of and reporting on research income and publications (see also section 4.4). It also needs to clarify, for staff and research students, the funding that is available for them for their research.

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5 BRIEF COMMENT FOR EACH AFFIRMATION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Affirmations 1. The Audit Review Team affirms the intent of Divine Word University to better align the strategic or operational plans of faculties with the University strategic plan and suggests the University develop a Learning and Teaching Plan and a Research Plan.

Finding: This affirmation has been well-addressed by DWU. Particular attention has been given to the development of Faculty Plans, which are quite strong, and to the development of a Learning and Teaching Plan and a Research Plan. There is now a need to ensure alignment of all plans.

2. The Audit Review Team affirms the plans of Divine Word University to give greater authority and responsibility to deans of the faculties and suggests this be accompanied by greater accountability by and mentoring for deans.

Finding: This affirmation has been strongly addressed by DWU and should continue to be addressed over the next two years.

3. The Audit Review Team affirms the establishment by Divine Word University of a staff database, as a matter of some urgency, to improve its capability for workforce planning.

Finding: This affirmation is being addressed by DWU. Although the staff database project has yet to be fully implemented, the University’s data analyst has established the dataset. The University has purchased the Human Resource Attaché Module program and conducted training for staff. Workforce planning has commenced at faculty level.

4. The Audit Review Team affirms the intent of Divine Word University to develop a single student database for both full-time and part-time students, noting that this will require a set of standard definitions of student load.

Finding: This affirmation is being addressed by DWU. Although full integration of both full-time and part-time (flexible) student data has yet to occur, better student data systems are in place so data on part-time students can be entered into the central student database.

5. The Audit Review Team affirms the role being played by the Academic Quality Assurance Committee of Divine Word University in assuring the quality of program documentation and urges the University to ensure all program descriptions are systematically reviewed for consistency.

Finding: This affirmation has been fully addressed, as a one-off strategy, by DWU. All PSDs have been reviewed and graduate attributes developed. A program of regular, systematic rolling reviews of PSDs and programs should be implemented for the future.

6. The Audit Review Team affirms the intent of Divine Word University to further engage in productive learning partnership with other universities.

Finding: This affirmation has been well-addressed by DWU, particularly in respect of the establishment of a basis for institutional twinning with the Australian Catholic University.

7. The Audit Review Team affirms the review by Divine Word University of the role of Diwai Pacific in managing contracts and consultancies and urges the University to review all funded projects to assess any current or potential risks and the expected benefits.

Finding: This affirmation has been partially addressed by DWU and a recent change of responsibility will help to ensure accountability and risk management. It is suggested that DWU pay further attention to the relationship between Diwai Pacific and the University in the facilitation of delivery of academic programs through Diwai Pacific (see section 4.2. 3). The development of a DWU Risk Management Plan and process is an excellent initiative.

8. The Audit Review Team affirms the recognition by Divine Word University of the potential to offer more competency-based training and short courses.

Finding: This affirmation is being progressively addressed by DWU. Although faculty competency based training (CBT) committees have yet to become operational, training in competency-based training has been provided and programs using CBT have been taught by DWU academics.

9. The Audit Review Team affirms the recognition by the Faculty of Arts at Divine Word University of the need for a solid foundation year for commencing students, noting that existing introductory units may be able to be redeveloped for this purpose.

Finding: This affirmation is being addressed appropriately by the efforts of DWU to ensure adequate preparatory, foundation or bridging studies to ensure that commencing students are better prepared for tertiary study, particularly for English language and mathematics. The appointment of an expert is leading to the development of innovative strategies, although there is some way to go before they are fully implemented.

10. The Audit Review Team affirms the priority being given by Divine Word University to redevelopment of student dormitories on the Madang Campus.

Finding: This affirmation has been well-addressed by DWU, notably through the completion of new dormitories for female and male students and plans for the progressive redevelopment of older dormitories.

11. The Audit Review Team affirms the intent of Divine Word University to provide greater training and support for students and for staff in the use of online resources.

Finding: This affirmation has been well-addressed by DWU. Impressive progress has been made and DWU is leading other PNG universities in the use of a learning management system.

12. The Audit Review Team affirms the intention of Divine Word University to improve student representation on academic committees of the University.

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Finding: This affirmation has not been strongly addressed by DWU, although SRC representatives have attended Academic Board and DWU has other channels for ensuring the student voice is listened to. It is suggested that DWU explore greater student representation on faculty committees.

5.2 Recommendations 1. While congratulating the University on its foresight in developing a thirty-year plan, the Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University revise its current approach to strategic planning and develop a set of key performance indicators.

Finding: This recommendation has been partially addressed by DWU. The Strategic Plan remains a mix of long-term visioning and short-term operational activities. It still contains references to 2006 actions, and it is not clear whether these have been implemented or not. The Review Team suggests DWU re-develop its 10-year strategic Plan (see section 4.1) and accelerate the development of a focused set of University- wide KPIs.

2. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University review the structure of Council membership, including options for alternative models of corporate governance, to ensure its corporate governance is appropriate to a multi-campus, multi- province institution addressing national needs.

Finding: This recommendation has been partially addressed by DWU. The University has amended Council by-laws and improved Council’s functioning but has not completed a full review of membership. The Review Team suggests that the Divine Word University Act 1999 now be revised (see section 4.2).

3. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University improve its processes for review and updating of policies and for monitoring adherence to policies, and that the University further emphasise the role of Academic Board and Faculty Boards in quality assurance of the University’s academic endeavours.

Finding: This recommendation has been comprehensively addressed by DWU. A Policy Library has been developed and the roles of faculties in academic quality assurance have been emphasised. An ongoing challenge will be for DWU to check implementation and to keep regularly reviewing its policies.

4. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University review and rationalise its academic committees to ensure that each committee is active, fulfilling a necessarily discrete role and is clear about its responsibilities.

Finding: This recommendation has been fully addressed by DWU. The Academic Committees Policy has been revised and there is now a clear set of committees, although the Faculty Competency Based Training Committees have yet to be operationalised.

5. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University appoint a senior experienced academic leader as Vice-President (Academic), to provide guidance in improving academic practices, rigor and accountability across the University.

Finding: This recommendation has been fully implemented by DWU. The Vice-President (Academic) has been active in improving academic policies and practices.

6. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University provide additional executive and administrative support for the four faculty deans.

Finding: This recommendation has been implemented by DWU. There is now shared Executive Officer support for the faculty deans. Over time, the Executive Officers should play a greater role in managing faculty operations but the progress is encouraging.

7. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University rationalise and stabilise its organisational structure, position titles, and reporting lines in keeping with its resources and size, and that the University develop a complete register of delegations of authority.

Finding: This recommendation has been full addressed by DWU. The structure has been reviewed and stablised, apart from some minor maters regarding responsibilities for cross-campus management. Human Resource Delegations and Finance Delegations Policies have been written and implemented.

8. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University review the roles of campus Vice-Presidents and ensure that academic authority and accountability across all campuses and teaching locations clearly resides with the relevant faculty dean and head of school.

Finding: This recommendation has been actively addressed by DWU although ongoing action is required to ensure that all managers and staff continue to implement it and work together to resolve any issues.

9. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University commence the development of an integrated approach to workforce planning, performance review and development for all staff members.

Finding: This recommendation is ongoing and will require further work by DWU, although considerable progress has been made in regard to staff performance review (see section 4.5) and faculty-level consideration of workforce planning. A more pro- active approach by the University’s HR department will be needed in future.

10. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University develop, and adhere to, more transparent criteria for the selection of students for admission, together with a more focused shorter-term admissions and marketing plan.

Finding: This recommendation has been mostly addressed by DWU, through changes to policies and practices that have resolved some previous issues. The University is encouraged to continue to provide more transparent information on its admissions process and to further develop a marketing strategy.

11. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University centralise the approval and management of admissions to all programs and short courses, other than those that have no specific entry criteria.

Finding: This recommendation has been mostly addressed by DWU and will be completed once data entry to a centralised system is available from all campuses.

12. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University develop and implement mandatory units in English language, academic literacy and numeracy for all first-year students.

Finding: This recommendation has been taken very seriously by DWU and strenuous efforts have been made to identify appropriate programs and online support services especially to assist students to improve their English language proficiency. DWU has staff expertise available through research professor who is guiding further development of programs and activities. The development of an English language benchmark for graduates is an excellent initiative. Action is ongoing as further work is needed, particularly in respect of numeracy programs.

13. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University improve its centralised data collection, analysis and reporting of student outcomes, including progress and attrition, completions and grade point averages, to enable monitoring of student performance and the outcomes it is achieving.

Finding: This recommendation is being addressed by DWU through an improved student database and the employment of a data analyst. Implementation is ongoing and clear progress should be evident over the next 12 months.

14. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University consider reinstating a formal policy that would allow students who do not complete a bachelor degree to exit with a lower level qualification if they meet the requirements for such an award.

Finding: This recommendation has not been implemented by DWU, as it is inconsistent with a previous policy of the Commission for Higher Education. The Review Team accepts the reason but observes that DWU could seek a policy change if it desired to implement this recommendation in future.

15. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University adopt a more conservative approach to the development of new academic programs, and focus on the rationalisation and consolidation of existing programs including increasing the number of electives available within programs.

Finding: This recommendation is being progressively implemented by DWU and no new fulltime programs were developed in 2013. All existing programs have been reviewed and further reviews of the ‘refreshed’ programs will assist in further rationalisation of programs. Some masters level programs are being rationalised.

16. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University develop a uniform credit points system to apply to all award programs.

Finding: This recommendation is being comprehensively addressed by DWU through program reviews. There has been extensive change to credit points systems, which are now as uniform as is sensible given the different requirements of different programs.

17. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University ensure its programs are developed with appropriate external input and that the University establish a rolling program of external program reviews.

Finding: This recommendation has been addressed by DWU in respect of external input to programs for the 2013 review of all PSDs. The University now needs to establish a regular rolling schedule for program reviews that include consideration of outcomes and teaching and assessment as well as of curricula.

18. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University take significant systematic action to ensure that all academic staff have an appropriate understanding of expected academic and scholarly standards for university-level teaching and appropriate expertise in the units they teach. © OHE 2014 21 Post-Audit Implementation Review Report DWU

Finding: This recommendation has been actively addressed by DWU but will require ongoing attention. The University has provided access to resources and aims to make best use of visiting scholars and in-house expertise, and these efforts are clearly making a difference to the scholarly and academic expertise of many staff, especially more junior staff.

19. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University minimise the use of recent DWU graduates as the main or sole lecturers for units and provide better mentoring and career development support for those of its graduates appointed to staff positions.

Finding: This recommendation has been taken seriously by DWU, which has tried to minimise the use of recent graduates and acted to ensure that such graduates are not required to teach on their own. Implementation of this recommendation continues to be challenging and thus somewhat problematic at DWU but the Review Team is satisfied that the University is taking action to the extent that the availability of experienced staff permits.

20. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University reinforce for academic staff its expectation that all students receive timely formative feedback on their assessed work and ensure that academics are accountable for meeting this expectation.

Finding: This recommendation is in progress at DWU. The revision of the Assessment Policy is a positive step but the University needs to give explicit attention to these expectations, perhaps by stating some benchmarks. More remains to be done to emphasise the expectations to all academics.

21. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University strengthen its use of criterion-based assessment and implement processes for the moderation of assessment.

Finding: This recommendation is being addressed by DWU but will require ongoing attention. Developments include revision of the Assessment Policy and active review by Faculty Curriculum and Assessment Committees, as well as training and advice to academic staff. Implementation of this recommendation should be a priority over the next three years.

22. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University take steps to foster a stronger culture of academic integrity, including means to ensure that students understand why and how plagiarism is wrong, to minimise the incidence of plagiarism and other academically unacceptable behaviour.

Finding: This recommendation has been addressed by DWU but is ongoing in regard to implementation of the Academic Integrity Policy and further development of policies and processes to handle cases of alleged plagiarism.

23. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University centralise and standardise the collection of and reporting on student evaluations of learning and teaching, and that feedback is provide to students on improvements made as a result of student feedback.

Finding: This recommendation is being implemented by DWU with the launch in 2013 of online student evaluations, a development that is good practice. Information will be analysed and reported on by the data analyst. The University is encouraged to review

progress at the end of 2014, to ensure the system is working well and that improvements are made as a result of student feedback.

24. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University disestablish the current Faculty of Flexible Learning and reconfigure it as an administrative and logistical centre for the support and facilitation of external studies of all forms, including residential schools.

Finding: This recommendation has been fully implemented by DWU, although some academic staff are yet to be able to physically move to their faculty ‘home’. The relocation of academic staff will occur once a new academic administration building is completed in 2014.

25. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University ensure that all proposals for new award programs, competency-based training and short courses are developed and recommended within the four faculties and are approved by Academic Board or an authorised executive group of the Board.

Finding: This recommendation has been fully implemented by DWU.

26. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University commit resources to the establishment and maintenance of appropriate specialised laboratories and resources for health sciences disciplines and expand clinical placement opportunities for students.

Finding: This recommendation has been addressed by DWU in respect of laboratory facilities and clinical placements. There is however a need for DWU to commit funds to ensure that, each time a program is run, there are adequate stocks of equipment and consumables for student learning, especially in rural health and environmental health programs.

27. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University appoint a senior leader of research in the University with the academic standing and drive to focused research activity across the University and actively seek opportunities to build research capacity.

Finding: This recommendation has been addressed by DWU with the appointment of an appropriately-qualified academic as Vice-President (Research). The University now needs to refine its Research Plan to identify areas of focus, to improve research management and to ensure that its research professors are better supported to contribute to research leadership (see also section 4.9).

28. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University develop and implement a Research Plan identifying specific research themes under which the University is able to, or will be able to, make a significant contribution to the generation of new knowledge, supported by external collaboration.

Finding: This recommendation has been addressed by DWU through the development of a Research Plan but the identification of specific research themes is yet to occur.

29. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University restrict and focus its enrolment of higher degree by research students, to ensure that supervision is provided only by those with appropriate scholarly expertise in the specific discipline, and that the University increase international co-supervision.

Finding: This recommendation is being addressed by DWU. At present, the number of higher degree by research students remains limited, due to fees, so there is not so much pressure on supervisory capacity. The current list of PhD thesis topics seems sound and able to be managed by the University.

30. (urgent) The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University establish, as a matter of urgency and possibly in conjunction with another institution, a genuine, credible and transparent ethics committee process for the review and approval of any research involving human subjects.

Finding: This recommendation has been partially addressed by DWU. There is a good application form and the ethics committee is active. Further improvements are expected with the support of the Australian Catholic University.

31. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University review the use by staff and students of its scholarly online resources and find ways to ensure they can make greater use of these resources in their academic endeavours.

Finding: This recommendation remains a challenge for DWU, notwithstanding earnest efforts by Library staff. The University is encouraged to develop some more innovative strategies to ensure academics and students make active use of its good provision of scholarly online resources.

32. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University review and refine the application of its Policy on Printing and Paper Use, to ensure that the application of this Policy does not adversely affect the academic activities of the University.

Finding: This recommendation was considered carefully by DWU and the Policy was reviewed. The University has decided to retain the Policy in its current form. Given the benefits for environmental sustainability and cost-effectiveness, the review Team accepts this outcome.

33. The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University acknowledge and address urgently students’ concerns about the quality of their food at the Madang Campus.

Finding: This recommendation has been implemented by DWU. The University is encouraged to continue to seek structured feedback from students on the quality of food and food services.

34. (urgent) The Audit Review Team recommends that Divine Word University take additional action to ensure the safety of students who live away from the main campus in Madang, especially when they are travelling to and from the Madang Campus.

Finding: This recommendation has been fully implemented by DWU in respect of the issues at the time of the 2011 audit. The Review Team was informed of potential security challenges in regard to the safety of students in the new female dormitories on the main campus. The Review Team suggests that the Division of Student Services might do more to assist students to look after their own safety and that of others.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: THE POST-AUDIT IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW TEAM

TEAM MEMBERS

Dr Jeanette BAIRD (Review Team leader) Advisor, Office of Higher Education, PNG

Professor Teatulohi MATAINAHO Executive Chairman, Science and Technology Council, PNG

Dr James YOKO Pro Vice-Chancellor (Administration), University of Goroka, PNG

Observers Professor David KAVANAMUR (11 November) Director General, Office of Higher Education, PNG

Dr Stephen McELHINNEY (12 to 14 November) Assistant Director, PNG Service Delivery and Quality Section, PNG and Solomon Islands Branch, Pacific Development Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia

Ms Prisca MAUVE (12 to 14 November) Program Manager – Higher Education and TVET, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, PNG

APPENDIX B: ACRONYMS

The following abbreviations and definitions are used in this Report. As necessary, they are explained in context.

CBT ...... competency based training CHE ...... Commission for Higher Education DWU ...... Divine Word University ICT ...... Information and Communications Technologies IELTS ...... International English Language Testing System KPIs ...... Key Performance Indicators NQF ...... National Qualifications Framework OHE ...... Office of Higher Education PNG ...... Papua New Guinea PSD ...... Program Specification Document SRC ...... Student Representative Council ToR ...... Term/s of Reference ‘the University’ ...... Divine Word University

NOTES

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