Academic audit
The University of Auckland is audited every seven to eight years by the Academic Quality Agency, the body with responsibility through Universities New Zealand for quality assurance of New Zealand universities.
Academic Audits require the University to examine learning, teaching and student support and submit a self-review document to the AQA. A panel of external peer reviewers is appointed to review the University’s portfolio, and visits the University to meet with staff, students and other stakeholders.
A public report contains recommendations and commendations. The University is expected to report on implementation of recommendations.
Click here to find out more about the Academic Quality Agency.
Cycle 6 Academic Audit (2022)
Report of the 2022 Academic Audit
The report of the 2022 Academic Audit is available via this link. The report contains a total of 8 commendations, 10 affirmations and 14 recommendations relating to teaching, learning and student support.
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Short Guide to Cycle 6 Academic Audit. Size: 820.4 kB.
Document Description: The Cycle 6 framework contains 30 guideline statements, organised into 5 sections (Figure) plus an introduction. The guideline statements set out expectations of outcomes and standards that a university of good international standing would be expected to demonstrate.
Self-review
In preparation for the Cycle 6 Academic Audit, the university prepared a self-review portfolio. The self-review portfolio is a descriptive and reflective document on the University's activities under each of the areas of the audit framework:
- Leadership and management of teaching and learning and academic quality
- Student life-cycle, support and well-being
- Curriculum, assessment and delivery
- Teaching quality
- Supervision of postgraduate research students
Audit activities in 2022
Audit panel site visit
The Academic Audit Panel visited the University in the week of 25 July 2022. The panel met with 74 staff in a variety of roles in faculties and service divisions, and with 41 undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The Academic Quality Office coordinated the site visit and scheduled the meetings according to the panel's requests. They also worked with the staff and students who were invited to meet with the panel to brief them on audit framework and process.
Audit panel final report
The audit panel's final report is expected to be published on 24 October 2022.
The audit report presents the panel’s findings from the audit, based on the evidence it has considered. A Cycle 6 audit report is a public document and is ‘owned’ by AQA.
The audit report follows a similar structure to the self-review report. It will comment on each guideline statement and explicitly address each of the university’s enhancement initiatives. The audit panel’s findings will comment on the guideline statements, and may include commendations, affirmations or recommendations.
Audit activities from 2023
The university will submit a one-year report on its response to recommendations and progress on its enhancement initiatives.
A two-year follow-up will occur in 2024 and a formal Mid-Cycle report will follow subsequently.
Cycle 5 Academic Audit (2014)
The Cycle 5 academic audit was framed around academic activities related to teaching and learning and student support.
The framework articulated these expectations in a series of guideline statements. For each academic activity theme, universities were expected not just to address whether they had undertaken the activities or processes identified in the guideline statements, but to evaluate how well they did this, and on what evidence they based their self evaluation.
For more information about the Cycle 5 Academic Audit, see the Academic Quality Agency's website.