UPD QAO holds Q3 QA Clinic 2025

  • Written by: Czarina Joy B. Arevalo and Kelvin R. Mendoza
  • Photos by: Michelle S. Lagare, Michael I. Baguisa
  • October 8, 2025
SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

To wrap up the third quarter of the year, the UP Diliman Quality Assurance Office (UPD QAO) conducted the Quarter 3 Quality Assurance (QA) Clinic last September 23, Tuesday via Zoom Conference Meeting, gathering 52 participants from 16 degree-granting units across the UPD academic clusters. 

Kelvin Mendoza, Lead, Internal QA Team, opened the session with an overview of the Clinic. Designed to provide a forum for quarterly check-in with QA Officers and QA practitioners, the event highlighted sharing of best practices and experiences of various UPD units in the Post-iAADS Strategic Planning; ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) assessment experience; and sharing of learned practices from regional benchmarks.

Prof. Anastacia B. Alvarez, Ph.D. and Assoc. Prof. Maria Paz. N. Marquez during her talk in the Q3 QA Clinic.

Prof. Anastacia B. Alvarez, Ph.D., QA Officer of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI), and Assoc. Prof. Maria Paz. N. Marquez, former QA Officer of the UP Population Institute, shared good practices in institutionalizing Post-iAADS strategic planning and activities. 

The EEEI shared their post-IQA workshop process, which includes QA awareness and orientation among faculty members, data presentation, discussion, sharing, and planning.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Maria Paz N. Marquez delivered her presentation entitled “Keys to timely delivery: The Population Institute experience,” focusing on things that worked for the institute. Noting the institute’s effective strategies, Assoc. Prof. Marquez highlighted easier coordination due to the lean and effective structure of the institute, experienced faculty with institutional memory, and dedicated quality assurance personnel for QA support. This translated to a strong appreciation of and commitment to QA activities from faculty and staff. Everyone pitches in for quality assurance. 

“Another practice that helps is treating QA as a real priority, not just an afterthought”, according to Assoc. Prof. Marquez, is an integration of QA in meeting agendas for effective planning and decision-making. 

From the last quarter, the UPD QAO presented insights and analysis on the recently concluded Internal Academic Assessment and Development System (iAADS) cycle. The office envisions that we transition from compliance to a more comprehensive post-IQA strategic planning practice.

Prof. Susan P. Festin, Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Science College of Engineering, shared “Lessons Learned from AUN-QA BS Computer Science Program Assessment”.

Prof. Susan P. Festin, Ph.D., shared her department’s AUN-QA assessment experience, from preparations to the actual assessment visit and action planning, in her talk “Lessons Learned from AUN-QA BS Computer Science Program Assessment.”

Preparations included internal coordination and agreement to undergo the assessment. Despite the pandemic causing a hold, the department made online revisions of the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and underwent further training.

Prof. Festin emphasized the importance of starting early and prioritizing the SAR Writing, including the collation of evidence and data. She underscored the need to “start a good team as early as possible,” getting key stakeholders like department administrators, faculty colleagues, and the college QA Committee on board.

“While you want to do well on an assessment, what we’ve realized is that it is important to remember the main rationale behind the exercise. It is really a self-reflection for our department,” Prof. Festin said in closing, noting that the exercise motivated the department to reflect on their current workflow, processes, current output, and outcomes.

The last segment of the Clinic focused on UPD QAO’s sharing of learned practices from regional benchmarks and possible applications for UPD units. Thus follows the UPD Quality Assurance Committee and Quality Assurance Office’s benchmarking visit to Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand last July.

Team leads from the Internal QA and Knowledge Management Teams of the UPD QAO during their session on Best Practices in QA: Insights on Academic QA Systems from Top Thailand Universities.

Mr. Kelvin Mendoza and Ms. Arlyh Hirao shared insights from the benchmarking activity, noting QA and Knowledge Management practices from the host schools.

Aimed at improving UP Diliman’s quality assurance initiatives, the benchmarking opportunity provided a venue for discussion of the organizational structure of quality assurance in higher education institutions; gained valuable insights on the continuous quality improvement framework, quality management system, and knowledge management systems of top-ranking universities in Southeast Asia; and, access to discussions on best practices implemented during internal and external quality assurance activities to know ideal preparatory activities and post-QA strategies.

The QA Clinic is a regular event of the UPD QAO designed to bring together QA Officers and serve as a venue for providing guidance, gathering feedback, monitoring the implementation of QA activities in their respective DGUs, and identifying action plans to ensure the University meets its QA strategic goals set at the beginning of the year.

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