Implementing A Quality Management System for Built Environment

Implementing A Quality Management System for Built Environment Programs Based on University of Malaya’s Experience Norhayati Mahyuddin, H. Abd Rahman, F. A. Mohd Rahim Centre for Project & Facilities Management (PFM) Faculty of Built Environment University of Malaya

Globalization of markets and the fast improvements in information flow capabilities have increased competition worldwide. In order to compete in today’s turbulent competitive environment, organizations are focusing on the satisfaction of customers’ needs as a means of securing competitive advantage and even survival Hesham, 2003

Quality Management System (QMS) in the Education Industry! Quality assurance should be part and parcel of the structure, system and approaches related to teaching, research and administration as to enable the stated aims and objectives of the institution to be achieved. How successful will it be?

The increase in focus on quality assurance will closely relate to the increase in funds that needs to be invested in the higher education institution in Malaysia. HOWEVER…. . Funding of higher education is seen as a means towards further economic growth and development. THEREFORE, a formal evaluation of public universities would ensure that there must be a minimum acceptable standard of quality education. Higher education institutions need to rethink and modify its function.

Higher education institutions need to rethink and modify its function. the scenario… Increase numbers of students’ intake to generate more revenue. Leading…. to a lowering of standards and quality. • increase academic workloads due to the higher ratio of teaching staff to number of students • lack of laboratory facilities and equipment • Monitoring of students performance

University of Malaya A university-wide quality management system has been established in the University of Malaya, the first and premier university in Malaysia. “As an organization increases in size, quality control and quality assurance measures get increasingly tougher. Nevertheless, University Malaya (UM), the oldest and prestigious university in Malaysia, faced up to this challenge and achieved MS ISO 9001: 2000 Certification for the whole university in all its processes in December 2002” Kamila

Why ISO ? ISO is a series of international guidelines and standards designed to be used for the evaluation and certification of organizations that have implemented a quality system. benefits of developing an ISO 9001 quality system for a university: • Provides confidence to the students, industry, government and society, as well as the university and faculty management that the requirements for quality are continuously met. • Adequate determination of the customer requirements for quality. • Adequate documentation of program design activities and output. Teaching, learning and research process control. • Effective marketing tools. • Advantages in national and international accreditation. Hesham, 2003

ISO 9001 (2000): Model Adopted by UM The university has established its quality management unit known as the University of Malaya Quality Assurance Management Unit (QAMU). QAMU’s scope of responsibility involves about 1, 400 academic staff, 2, 700 support staff, 19, 900 undergraduate students 7, 900 postgraduate students, 17 academic centers, and 13 residential colleges. The main objectives in adopting the ISO 9001 (2000) are to: • • achieve a Universal quality approach, ensure acceptable quality standards, ensure customer satisfaction, and assure consistency in the quality of service delivery.

THE MODEL The model adopted by UM has the relevant characteristics identified by Johnson and Golomski (1999) such as: • leadership, • understanding stakeholders, • factual approach to decision making, • involvement of people, • process approach and continual improvement. True enough, after its successful implementation, the ISO 9001 (2000) has been proved to be a standard for a quality system in education and NOT just a quality standard for products.

THE MODEL The two main categories of products produced by the university are the : - 1. educational experience towards the award of a degree, and 2. products of teaching and research and development (R&D) that includes publications and patents of products. Eleven core processes have been identified and used in the quality management system. They are as follow: PT 00 : Quality Management Unit PT 01 : Teaching and learning PT 02 : Research and development PT 03 : Human resource PT 04 : Infrastructure and assets PT 05 : Financial aspect PT 06 : Commercialization PT 07 : Students affairs PT 08 : Library services PT 09 : Residential colleges PT 10 : Sports and cultural services

The Process…. Work Instructions, Guidelines And Quality Specifications Quality Audit Checks Accompany The Procedures Compliance With Regards To The Core Processes Quality Objectives Have Been Met Measurement Continual Improvement

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System Principles and guidelines in curriculum design A program must produce broad based of graduates to achieve the standard requirement of the relevant professional bodies, to fulfill the requirement of the MS ISO 9001: 2000 and the Ministry of Higher Learning, Malaysia. • Curriculum revision • Course(s) assessment methods • Course development • Semester examination

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System Curriculum revision Programme planning and curriculum quality reviews are carried out every five (5) years. The Faculty of Built Environment requires the students to obtain 113 credit hours within a minimum period of three (3) years which cover six (6) semesters. Curriculum is being reviewed by the External Examiners both from local and international experts. The external examiners have been assisted the Faculty in formulating the Faculty’s teaching, learning and research strategies to correspond to the private and public demands. Course(s) assessment methods Assessment method for most courses consists of 30% - 40% of coursework and 60% - 70% of final examination. However there is also a continuous assessment method for certain subjects on the basis of assignments or project works. Students have to present their final product at the end of the semester in groups or in an individual basis.

Course development As part of the requirements of the University Malaya’s QMS, the faculty needs to conduct course evaluation towards the end of each semester. The outcomes of the evaluation will be used to improve the course as well as quality of teaching. Students are also encouraged to express their views using MS ISO 9001: 2000 format on any issues or problems pertaining to the running of the Faculty/Department. Figure illustrates : Evaluation Process for Course Delivery and Staff Teaching Method Flow Chart

Faculty/Department Assessment forms are dispense to each lecturers by week 8 of lecture in each semester Faculty Assessment forms are printed accordingly to course requirements by week 7 of lecture in each semester Department/Lecturer Each courses and teaching methods are assessed by students and the form will be submitted to the Faculty level within week 8 to week 13 of lecture in each semester Faculty Forms are scanned and detail statistics is analysed for the Department and the Academic Section for records, within 2 weeks after the semester end Faculty/Department Evaluate results of the assessed course Average means < 3. 0 Faculty/Department Meeting with the lecturer assessed and necessary action is taken for continuous improvement (before the same course is offered in the new semester) >3. 0 Faculty/Department Assessed form is managed and filed into each course files and lecturer personal files before new semester begin Process end

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System This particular evaluation is based on three (3) main criteria which are; - • Students evaluation on course conducted • Students evaluation on teaching method applied • Facilities evaluation on courses offered Based on our recent findings of 2005, 94% of the students consent that the teaching courses, the teaching method as well as the facilities available on thought courses offered is at satisfactory level. Subjects Total & Average Value 80 60 40 20 0 0 - 1. 9 2. 0 - 2. 9 3. 0 - 3. 9 Course Assessment 0 5 Teaching Assessment 0 4 55 10 Facilities Assessment 0 5 64 0 64 4. 0 - 5. 0 0

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System Semester examination Overall, the University is precautious in assuring the development of examination papers for every semester. Each Faculty will be informed by the University Examination Section (ES) to produce examination questions through a systematic process administered by the University Quality Assurance Unit. Question papers, project briefs with schemas are prepared by the lecturers and this will go through a screening process. Characteristic of the question papers and project briefs is vetted through at the Departmental level and also at the Faculty’s level. This procedure is to ensure the confidentiality of the questions and the quality question papers are produced.

Question Papers Development Process for Examination Start Examination Section Request submission of question papers from the Faculty/Department Inform submission date to all lecturers Lecturer(s) Prepare question paper(s) A No Lecturer(s) Submit question paper(s) to Department Final Year Level Screening Committee Screening question papers Faculty/Department Submit question papers to External Examiners and received report Fit criterion Yes Any Rectification Faculty/Department Identify course level Yes No A Lecturer(s) Rectify question paper (s) and resubmit to Faculty/Department Final submission of question papers to Examination Section for printing End No

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System Undergraduate report The Faculty offers an array of specialisations in the field of built environment through the four departments: the Department of Architecture, Department of Building Surveying, Department of Quantity Surveying and Department of Estate Management. The total number of students enrolled in the five undergraduate degree programmes has increased gradually from 1995 to 2003. below Figure indicates the total number of students enrolled with the Faculty between 1995 and 2005.

Faculty Of Built Environment Management System The above Figure shows the percentage of graduates who obtained a CGPA of 3. 0 and above and below 3. 0 from 1998 until 2005. In the year 2005 the percentage of students who obtained CGPA above 3. 0 was 63%, the highest percentage ever recorded by the Faculty. This indicates that the Faculty surpassed the target of 30% envisioned by the University’s quality objective.

Conclusion The ISO standards are systems for evaluating the ability of organizations to consistently design, produce and deliver quality products and services. It provides confidence to customers that requirements for quality are met. In other words, it consists of methods and activities used to assure the customer of the quality of products and services provided to them meets the specifications promised by the institution of higher learning in Malaysia. The full-fledged ISO 9001 (2000) is one of its kind at first seemed like an impossible task. Standardisation of processes and the audit processes have help the Faculty of Built Environment, to excel well in their quest to improve the quality of education for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The need to continually improve processes and quality of services has made the faculty prepare themselves for accreditation by the RICS, abe and many other local and international professional bodies. The ISO 9001 (2000) has definitely been a system worthwhile adopting in the education industry as shown from the case cited in this paper.