iAADS
In December 1999, then President Francisco Nemenzo created a System Committee to propose a common standard for evaluating academic (degree-granting) units. The initial Academic Assessment System (AAS) instrument was pilot tested in 2000, revised and retested in 2001. After presentation of the AAS survey instrument to the President’s Advisory Committee (PAC) in 2001, a series of orientations and consultations were conducted in all the Constituent Universities (CUs) by the OVPAA in 2003. Workshops for the members of the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) were also conducted by the OVPAA in 2008 and 2009.
Renamed as Internal Academic Assessment and Development System (iAADS) in 2011, academic assessment of the core academic functions of departments/ institutes is part of the commitment of the University of the Philippines System for academic excellence. UP’s knowledge development strategic plan is supported by the OVPAA through different mechanisms such as internal self-assessment and external quality certification/accreditation on the national, regional and international levels. Regular academic assessment is essential for self-improvement for national and global competitiveness.
Academic assessment is systematic, structured, and continuous. All effective academic assessment is designed to demonstrate that the department/institute achieved its stated vision, mission, and goals (VMG). All assessment metrics are further categorized as input, process, and outcome. Input refers to resources, process to programs/services/activities, and outcome to what is actually measured. Improving the quality of the outcome would depend on improving the quality of the processes as well as the quality of the input. Using the information generated by the academic assessment, post-assessment (PA) and strategic planning (SP) ensue to maintain or improve academic quality. The PA/SP will signal whether a department/institute is ready for external benchmarking and external quality certification and/or accreditation.
OBJECTIVES
Internal academic self-assessment of the core academic functions of each department/ institute is a collective responsibility and the process is part of the annual SOPs of the departments/institutes. The core academic functions include teaching, research and creative works, and extension and public service.
Such academic assessment is diagnostic and is intended to enhance academic quality. The primary objective of the iAADS is to assess and improve the core academic functions. The aims of the iAADS are explicitly stated as follows:
- Gather up-to-date baseline data
- Improve the academic unit
- Help the unit to plan more effectively
- Enable it to benchmark against other units in the UP System or other universities
- Serve as basis for evaluating requests for additional resources
- Serve as basis for the grant of institutional incentives and wards.
The iAADS starts with data gathering using a document checklist. The VMGs of departments/institutes should be linked to UP’s VMGs and strategic priorities. This phase of iAADS can commence immediately.
The iAADS instrument has quantitative and qualitative assessment. Specific instructions are provided prior to the accomplishment of the quantitative assessment, which measures a set of indicators with corresponding values. The quantitative instrument provides preliminary data on five aspects of academic performance. The qualitative self-assessment is undertaken by the department/institute as a whole and should help the department/institute examine its academic performance more thoroughly.
iAADS Process
The iAADS is an automated system and may be accessed by visiting https://iaads.up.edu.ph/. Data entry is done online. The user can prepare the data using a spread sheet, then copy and paste the data to the online form in the iAADS system. There is an automatic generation of iAADS quantitative score.
There is a computerized system for the storage of data gathered from the quantitative and qualitative self-assessment and the automatic generation of the iAADS report, which can also be used in subsequent academic self-assessments.
With automatic iAADS report generation, the departments/institutes will be able to benchmark with other departments/units within their college, within the constituent unit, and across constituent units. Administrators would also be made aware of the relative activity levels of departments/institutes with regards to the core academic functions of teaching, research, and extension. This would help administrators understand the natural typology of departments/institutes.
With computerized feedback, the departments/institutes can immediately move forward to post-assessment and strategic planning to be able to attain their VMGs prior to another cycle of academic self-assessment. With data storage, departments/institutes would be able to access background information, generated in the previous academic self-assessment, which is essential for measuring changes that result from interventions or actions or programs decided upon during their strategic planning.
Each institute/department shall review its programs on a regular three-year cycle.
- Phase 1 consists of data gathering with the following needed documents:
- Mission and vision statement
- Academic standards
- Teaching performance
- Faculty publications / performances/exhibitions
- Extension service
- Active external linkages
- Resources and facilities
- Phase 2 starts with the accomplishment of the quantitative assessment. Specific instructions are provided prior to the accomplishment of the quantitative assessment, which measures a set of indicators with corresponding values. The quantitative instrument provides preliminary data on five aspects of academic performance:
- Academic credentials
- Overall track record
- Teaching performance
- Research/artistic output
- Extension service
- Phase 3 is qualitative self-assessment. It is undertaken by the department/institute as a whole and should help the department/institute examine its academic performance more thoroughly.
After online completion and submission of documents, departments/ institutes immediately move forward to post-assessment and strategic planning to be able to attain their VMGs prior to another cycle of academic self-assessment.