Quality Enhancement Cell | QEC

Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) of Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (PAF-IAST) is established for quality assurance and enhancement. At PAF-IAST, quality means that adhere to our vision and mission of “Skilling Pakistan”. Quality is to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders by achieving excellence of the highest standards and continuous improvement in academia. We are committed to producing skilled and knowledgeable graduates that can contribute to the socio-economic development of Pakistan and at the global level. We are accountable for the public expectations, and we ensure that the standards are met. The global landscape is continuously evolving and there is always an opportunity for continuous improvement. The quality assurance system responds to the diversity of higher education systems, institutions, programs, and students. Therefore, PAF-IAST is continuously reviewing the standards and increasing the benchmarks to ensure quality education at par with the national and international standards.

Quality is the responsibility of everyone. Therefore, quality assurance supports the development of quality culture at the individual as well as collective level. Quality is a cultural/psychological element of shared values, beliefs, expectations, and commitment toward quality. At the same time, it is a structural/managerial element with defined processes that enhance quality and aims at coordinating individual efforts. Quality culture at PAF-IAST is a shared responsibility where every individual is accountable and responsible for the quality of education and for contributing to the fulfillment of the vision and mission of PAF-IAST. QEC takes all the necessary steps to evaluate, measure, and maintain the quality of all academic and non-academic activities. PAF-IAST learns and evolves as we aim at a quality culture rather than a rigid set of procedures. This culture helps us in understanding our system and in the identification of the areas for improvement. The evaluation mechanism adopted under quality assurance is utilized for the development and strengthening of PAF-IAST.

Vision:

To strengthen the quality culture at PAF-IAST that assures and enhances the quality of higher education at par with national and international standards.

Mission:

Our mission is to develop a viable and sustainable quality management system and culture to ensure that academic programs, teaching, research, and support services endure the standards of internal and external quality assurance and enhancement for continuous improvement.

The objectives of QEC PAF-IAST are to: 

1. Develop a quality culture at PAF-IAST where all stakeholders are involved in the quality assurance and enhancement process. 
2. Uphold the public confidence in the quality and safeguarding standards of education at PAF-IAST. 
3. Develop and implement internal quality parameters at par with national and international standards. 
4. Review progress on both internal and external quality assurance. 
5. Define explicit and clear standards as a point of reference for quality assurance and enhancement. 
6. Ensure that PAF-IAST’s quality assurance procedures are designed to fit in with the national and international quality practices. 
7. Adhere to a System of Self-Assessment and review as prescribed by external quality assurance and regulatory bodies.  
8. Provide opportunities and support to the faculty and staff in their capacity building.  
9. Seek collaboration in various fields of common interest with local and international bodies. 
10. Take all necessary measures for quality enhancement of all academic and non-academic activities at PAF-IAST.  

The Quality Enhancement Cell at PAF-IAST plays a major role in building quality culture, quality assurance, and quality enhancement. The scope of QEC at PAF-IAST is to establish a quality management system and implement it. The following domains are under the scope of QEC: 

• Development of quality culture and quality framework. 
• Design and implementation of quality assurance mechanism and self-assessment tools. 
• Continuous assessment and evaluation of academic programs and institutional performance. 
• Ensure compliance with the statutory regulations and requirements of the regulatory bodies.  
• Safeguarding the public confidence in the quality of education. 
• Standardization of education and support services to ensure compliance with the quality standards.  
• Participate and contribute to quality assurance activities at the national and international levels.  
• Providing support to PAF-IAST in the capacity building of faculty and staff for continuous improvement and development.  
• The devise mechanism for continuous quality improvement (CQI) and quality enhancement.  
• Collection / provision of university statistics/data for university ranking by national/ international agencies. 
• Promoting collaboration with national and international universities/organizations. 
• Review and verification of research publications. 
• Checking plagiarism and dealing with plagiarism cases.