IRELAND: College slammed for 'misleading' claims

A Dublin college has been severely criticised for making misleading claims in its promotional material, lack of a clear vision, poor quality assurance controls and isolation from the rest of the Irish higher education community.

The report on the American College Dublin by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC), a state agency which issues awards to the non-university sector, was drawn up by a panel of experts who visited the college for a pre-arranged institutional review last December.

The report and the college's promised action on the 37 recommendations were posted on the HETAC website in the past few weeks. It is regarded as the toughest review yet by the agency.

During the visit, the college failed to provide even one external stakeholder who would be able to comment on the quality of provision there.

The only outside person who turned up was the newly appointed education attaché from the Malaysian Embassy. He was not briefed by the college and was unaware that any of his countrymen were actually registered at the college. He believed he was invited to the college to be briefed on its operations rather than to be questioned on how Malaysian students and graduates valued the education they received there.

Nor could the college provide key staff involved in the international recruitment effort to meet the panel - almost three-quarters of its 623 students come from overseas.

The report suggested there was no clear and realistic vision for the college, nor was there a strategy to realise that vision. "There appears to be little sense of urgency in the planning process. This is despite the worrying trends in enrolment, increased external competition for students, and the global economic downturn, the latter [sic] of which is particularly important in an institution dependent on fee income," it says.

"Although issues of importance to the operation and development of the college are often raised and debated in one of its many committees, they frequently fail to be moved along the decision chain or be brought to a resolution."

The college was set up by Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida in May 1993 as a 'study abroad' site for the university. It became a constituent college of Irish American University last year - the other constituent college is American College Delaware.

But the report said it was debatable whether or not it could be called a university under the terms of the Universities Act of 1997 which restricts the use of the word.

The report said the promotional literature was misleading in suggesting that HETAC had accredited awards to the Irish American University whereas the awards were for the Irish American College. This could cause confusion.

Similarly, the college claimed on its literature that it had been accredited by an American agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, whereas it was in the process of seeking that accreditation. The college was ordered by the panel to withdraw the inaccuracies - something it has since done.

The panel expressed concern at the sense of detachment from the rest of the higher education community in Ireland. This led to a lack of familiarity with its statutory requirements under higher education legislation.

It also found that many students, while happy with their academic programmes, felt isolated within the college and once they returned to their accommodation in the evening.

The panel said that the self-evaluation report submitted by the college was deficient. It did not provide any direction for the coherent development of the college. Nor did it state where and how the college saw itself developing in the medium to long term. The self-evaluation lacked data, analysis, evaluation and reflection. The college has now purchased a new data management system that will provide it with appropriate management information into the future.

Despite the shortcomings, the panel noted the esteem in which students and graduates held the staff of the college. The small size of the college, the small size of classes, and the openness and approachability of the staff were highly valued.

But it said that "quality assurance appears to be more a regulatory compliance chore rather than something embedded at all levels in the culture of the organisation". The college has now accepted that it could be "so much better" and is to make a re-submission to HETAC on policies and procedures.

The visiting panel also expressed concern at the lack of quality improvement instruments.

"The feedback forms from external examiners are short and the questions used are weak.

They do not encourage proposals for enhancement, nor do they link to national standards," it said, adding that "there is no formal mechanism to ensure that external examiners' constructive comments feed into the ongoing development of assessment practice".

Academic dean Dr Rory McEntegart said the report was "not as positive as we might have hoped for", but insisted that the college was working with HETAC to implement the recommendations.

He said that alliances were being formed with other higher education institutions in Ireland, as recommended in the report, but could not identify them until memoranda of agreement had been drawn up.