Senior academic and educationist at Fiji National University, Dr Eci Nabalarua has been appointed as a member of the Cycle 6 Register of Auditors and Reviewers in the Academic Quality Agency (AQA) for New Zealand Universities, a governing body which provides quality assurance to various tertiary institutions.
Dr Nabalarua, who is the Dean of the College of Humanities and Education (CHE) said the appointment is a pinnacle of her career which spans over four decades of teaching in Fiji, the region and New Zealand
The Cycle 6 Register of Auditors and Reviewers at AQA will be tasked to review and determine the quality of programmes offered by NZ Universities.
“I am very delighted with this appointment because it reflects an acknowledgement by an international quality agency of my competence in the area of quality assurance,” she mentioned.
“As an AQA member, Universities may also contact me directly to be part of their audit or review panel,” added Dr Nabalarua.
The Dean at the College of Humanities and Education (CHE) comes with a wealth of experience in teaching in the fields of indigenous, Maori and Pacific development, general management, human resources, public sector management and development studies.
She attained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Science and International Relations from the Australian National University, Master of Arts in Rural and Science Development at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South Pacific.
Dr Nabalarua highlighted the need to have quality assurance mechanisms for university teaching.
“Assessing programmes offered by Universities helps identify areas of success as well as areas needing improvement,” she mentioned.
The AQA was established in 1993 to provide external academic quality assurance for all New Zealand Universities via a regular cycle of audits. It also supports quality enhancement activities that assist universities to improve student engagement, academic experience and learning outcomes.
Auditors are most commonly senior academics or professionals experienced in quality assurance who are appointed after a vigorous process.
“To be appointed as an AQA member, one must meet the specific criteria provided by AQA,” added Dr Nabalarua.
The Dean hopes to use this experience to train FNU staff in becoming auditors and reviewers of FNU programmes.
“I encourage all other staff to try to be appointed to international quality assurance panels, to strengthen accreditation processes and quality reviews,” said Dr Nabalarua.
