The University of the Philippines (UP), the nation’s National University, is committed to preserving and advancing academic quality across a range of disciplines. In order to do this, UP maintains high standards, pioneers innovations, and upholds quality control in both its degree program and support services. In keeping with the pledge, the UP Academic Assessment and Development System (AADS) was institutionalized in 2018 to offer a system-wide method to ensure that each academic program and its delivery units satisfy the evolving criteria of academic excellence. The AADO was given the responsibility to:

• Lead in setting academic and administrative standards in relation to Quality Assurance (QA);
• Monitor academic programs and support services based on set standards;
• Provide guidance and support in QA-related activities;
• Promote quality assurance programs; and
• Implement QA-related policies in UP Diliman’s academic and administrative units.

To further communicate its role in performing crucial QA functions encompassing academic programs and administrative processes, the AADO was renamed to the “UP Quality Assurance Office” (QAO) on 29 September 2021.

The QAO has been in charge of leading the design and implementation of many transformational capacity building programs at UP Diliman and in other Constituent Universities (CUs) of the UP System since the appointment of its pioneer team in the first quarter of 2021. These include the Institutional Service Proficiency of Innovations, Research, and Education (INSPIRE) program, the Performance Excellence and Evaluation Strategic Training Program (PEESTP), and the Administrative Staff Program towards Institutional Resiliency (ASPIRE). With the new normal brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, these training programs aimed to increase participants’ capacity to analyze their internal operating procedures in order to assist them in addressing the changing needs of their clients and stakeholders.

The QA Office has also taken on crucial oversight functions, including monitoring the Academic Program Improvement (API) fund which seeks to strengthen the link between education, research, and creative work by supporting projects proposed by degree-granting units (DGUs) to develop academically excellent programs that meet national and international QA standards.

Compliance with the submission of the Internal Academic Assessment and Development System (iAADS) is also a key component to drive academic excellence in UP Diliman. The said instrument provides the occasion for DGUs to elevate their performance on key metrics such as academic standards, teaching performance, faculty publications, performances together with aligning the missions, vision, and goals.