Developing a Holistic Model for Quality in Higher Education

There is a considerable pressure on higher education for a substantial improvement in its performance. Efforts in this direction are hindered by the lack of an agreed model for quality management. Attempts to apply the quality management models from industry have not been successful. In applying any model, there is a case for separately addressing the service and academic functions in higher education with their own appropriate sets of criteria. To the service functions in a university, the general features of an industrially applied total quality management model are quite appropriate. For the academic functions, a number of models for quality in education proposed in the recent educational literature are reviewed and it is concluded that it is possible to develop an appropriate generic model. The effectiveness of the features of the combined model in addressing the multifarious elements of higher education is dependent on the level of integration between the two functions. Organisational culture plays a crucial role in the successful implementation of any quality strategy. The typical current culture in higher education is bureaucratic in nature, more prone to conflict than collaboration. It is argued that to enhance quality, ideal organisation behaviour is one that embodies the 'learning communities' concept. The proposed holistic model for quality management in higher education can serve as the ideal to address the service, education and implementation aspects synergistically.