Introduction to the Quality Assurance Division, Department of Architectural Engineering

The Quality Assurance Division of the Department of Architecture represents the mechanism through which an ongoing quality assurance system is established in the Department in preparation for obtaining academic accreditation, as the Department of Architecture at the University of Technology seeks to coordinate, follow-up and accomplish all academic and administrative matters related to college programs to obtain accreditation Academic. This can be achieved by setting the Department an internal system for quality assurance that confirms and enhances the quality of scientific applications in terms of: setting up systems for monitoring and evaluating performance; identifying opportunities, challenges, weaknesses, and strengths (evaluation); and submitting improvement plans and setting implementation priorities (straighten) leading to the quality of architectural education, which means the total characteristics and features of the educational system and its ability to provide outstanding graduates to meet and achieve the immediate and future and the strategic aspirations of the beneficiary of the service needs (student, labour market, and society), to lead it all to academic accreditation.

Quality Control is a prerequisite for obtaining academic accreditation. Quality Control procedures aim to demonstrate the capability of the Department of Architectural Engineering in meeting the criteria and is qualified to obtain academic accreditation procedures. 

• The vision of the Quality Assurance Division in the department

Expanding the Quality culture and promoting the development of strategic and operational plans at work and plans for continuous improvement, and follow-up through self-evaluation reports, attempting to build high-quality educational outcomes and create the appropriate environment for the international accreditation of educational programs in the Department.

• The Mission of the Quality Assurance Division in the department

Ensuring the quality of educational programs and continuous improvement as a procedure to develop an architectural education towards international accreditation and prepare an architect with high professional skills.

• The Strategic Goals of the Quality Assurance Division in the department:-

1- Diffusing the Quality culture among all employees of the Department, in a way that ensures the generation of a sense of organised teamwork to serve the goals of the educational institution and society.

2 - Driving all administrative and educational divisions in the Department to adopt the scientific and practical foundations for planning at the long-term strategic level and the short-term operational level to develop and manage educational programs, and student and teaching admission, and associated policies in the Department, as well as managing financial, technical, and other technological resources.

3- Following up on the implementation, documentation, and improvement of the plans, and evaluating the efficiency of educational outcomes in light of their achievement of the Department's strategic goals and educational programs at the detailed level related to the skills provided by the educational program, and its academic syllabus and on the holistic level associated with ensuring the achievement of the minimum professional and high-performance specifications that warrant the graduate's competence and preparation to hold their professional responsibilities are to serve the community.

4- Pursuing a continuous review of the performance of educational programs and improvement plans in the Department through self-evaluation reports, which address the most critical arrays necessary to uncover strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing educational programs and plans and on various arrays, starting with the student, the academic, and teaching curriculum; and managing financial and human resources until the infrastructure and its suitability for a sound educational environment with high-performance efficiency.

5- Providing the environment and ground necessary for the international accreditation of educational programs in the Department, by ensuring the availability of the three main pillars of Quality in (a) setting goals for educational programs; (b) monitoring the level of achievement of those goals in educational outcomes, and (c) the continuous improvement of those educational programs.

The Scopes of Work and Pertinent Activities of the Quality Assurance Division of the Department of Architectural Engineering

1. Introducing the vision, mission, and goals for the Department. It is an abbreviated term that clearly shows the duties of the Department, its expectations, and its role in developing society and solving problems through scientific research and enhancing the community participation and creativity surrounding it according to its stated strategic goals.
2. Developing a database for the Department.
3. Diffusing the Quality culture among the faculty, students, and employees within the Department.
4. Providing training for faculty members as trainers in the domain of Quality Management (Building Institutional Capacity).
5. Assessing the needs of various activities in the Department.
6. Setting-up a systematic evaluation and follow-up and suggesting development plans.

1. Evaluating the performance of faculty members in the Department according to particular forms.
2. Evaluating student performance and their activities.
3. Evaluating and expanding the activities of community service and creating what is called (knowledge society).
4. Evaluate the Department's scientific research and community services.
5. Setting ambitious goals for development annually.
6. Promoting the bases of selecting competent scientific and administrative leadership.

7. Establishing a system to ensure continuity.
8. Establishing a procedure for following up alumni.
9. Establishing academic standards for study programs that maintain local privacy.
10. Describing of curriculums and study programs in the Department.
11. Preparing the report of the curriculums and academic programs in the Department.
12. Preparing the Department's annual report that includes a presentation and analysis of the annual reports for each of the academic courses and programs; a comprehensive view of the Department's performance; and setting the development plan to respond to the urgent needs in the Department.

The Department Quality Assurance Requirements Elements:

1 - Consolidating the quality of the inputs that represent the student and the faculty member and the academic decisions and subjecting them to periodic review in accordance with the requirements of total quality management, that is, unifying the Department’s vision to reach the goal.

2- Determining the graduate specifications to meet the current and future requirements and needs of the country, drawn by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

3- Ensuring the quality of the educational process across all stages and avoiding the anticipated mistakes, through the clarity of the vision, mission and goals of the Department.

4- Ensuring the quality of the graduate in the final academic year and controlling the quality of the design thesis, which represents the quality of the architectural education process stages and the extent of this impact on feedback.

5- Analysing the information derived from the needs of the architectural industry market, businessmen, and the Alumni Follow-up Forms, and using it to improve the performance and avoid mistakes.

6- Training and developing employees starting from faculty and administrators to raise the efficiency of performance; create a sense of belonging to the Department; reduce costs; satisfy desires; and meet the expectations of beneficiaries.

7 - Integration and realism of the vision, mission, and goals in the essence and appearance - which excludes individual jurisprudence to insert or replace any part - and this vision is integrated with the vision of the university and the ministry.

Quality Assurance Division Philosophy:

The philosophy of Quality Assurance adopted by the Department is demonstrated as follows:

Success in ensuring quality and reliability is one of the responsibilities and obligations when talking about an architectural school, which derives its creative and unique way of teaching and teaching an architectural program and curriculum with a specificity derived from the University’s technological specialisation in focusing on the practical and practical side. The Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Technology has a proactive and clear role and relentless pursuit in focusing on the quality and mastery of the curricula and curricula. It was clearly demonstrated in the reputation of its graduates over the past years of excellence and creativity, as attested by work institutions in the public and private sector inside and outside Iraq.

We are in front of a rising architectural school that seeks in its work and is active and strives to implement quality standards, including the specificity of Architectural Education, such as that carried by the Department of Architecture in its vision, mission, and stated goals compared to the rest of the Architecture Departments in Iraqi Universities.

The principles of quality management that seem intertwined in its content and output in architectural education are closely related to the concept of accreditation, which is an effective tool to ensure the quality of the educational process and its outputs and the continuity of its development. Also, other concepts that may appear parallel, such as the recognition of certificates and licenses to practice the profession; an evaluation that is based on a set of criteria; the approved standard; and the evaluation that aims to reach conclusions that lead to taking developmental measures to avoid deficiencies in adhering to quality standards, concepts of controlling, planning, guaranteeing, and developing quality, leading to academic accreditation to achieve The objectives approved by the Department.

The Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Technology is committed to providing its services to the beneficiaries at the highest possible level of quality as a philosophy adopted by its management, and the Department's staff at all levels share the responsibility of implementing this commitment, as everyone is dedicated to performing tasks in ways that guarantee quality. Hence, raising a principle slogan: "Correct from the first time and every time".

The Department aims to be a 'model' in Architectural Education by adopting a system for total quality management in accordance with the strategic plan that conforms to local standards in achieving identity and privacy and emphasising high civilizational values ​​derived from the originality of heritage and interacting With present data, to be in line with Arab and international standards. Also, to ensure that the quality of learning opportunities, the quality of research, and the quality of community participation are appropriate and in line with the expectations of the beneficiaries of this service and the mechanisms provided by modern technologies and methods of learning and new management globally.

Quality Control is a prerequisite for obtaining academic accreditation. The Quality Assurance Division in the Department and through the employees guarantees a highly competitive ability in the Department provides distinguished educational research and community services through thereof:

• Diffusing the Quality culture among the faculty, students, and employees within the Department.
• Establishing a clear quality system and enhancing awareness of the need to adhere to quality requirements.
• Gaining community confidence in graduates according to international standards.
• Preparing the Department to meet the requirements and standards of the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Authority in the Ministry of Higher Education.
• Resources development.
• Evaluation and Straighten.

All the aforementioned is conducted to gain the academic accreditation, which is the incentive to improve the educational process as a whole and is a source of reassurance to the institutions of society for the level of graduates of the Department. Also, Accreditation is not a stone on academic freedom or an exposure to its values, but rather plays a fundamental role in stimulating the degrees granted by the Department with the degrees awarded in the Architecture Departments of Arab and international universities within the general specifications of the graduate in the speciality of Architectural Engineering for the graduate from the University of Technology in particular.

To achieve this idealistic goal at a high level of quality, the formation of several committees was initiated, as follows:

1. The Vision, Mission and Goals Committee is formulated and periodically updated.
2. The Academic Standards Committee, programs and curriculums, which is concerned with reviewing, evaluating and describing programs and curriculums.
3. The Faculty Development Committee in light of the overall quality standards and requirements.
4. The Research Committee for updating the curriculums for primary and higher studies through qualitative development of research and its evaluation with regard to programs and disciplines and linking them with community activities and the actual need.
5. Community Participation and Environmental Development Committee, which tries to popularise the concept of (Knowledge Society).
6. The Quality of Education Opportunities Committee, concerned with the efficiency of classrooms, ceremonies, laboratories, the library and electronic courses.
7. The Administrative Leadership Development Committee, according to objective controls, and the involvement of activists in decision-making mechanisms and its easy implementation.
8. The Documentation, Information Systems and Internal Review Committee to creating a simplified mechanism for preservation and retrieval.
9. The Alumni Follow-up Committee (according to a questionnaire available on the website).
10. The Committee for Student Affairs and Evaluation Standards, which means strengthening the confidence and communication skills of the students of the Department of Architecture.

The Academic Standards Committee and the Development of Faculty Members Committee – in the scientifically prestigious Departments at the University of Technology – are the basic building block to obtain the strategic goal to ensure total quality in Architectural Education.