Page 7 - Accreditation Manual for Program Owner -300424

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Programme

Accreditation

The Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), was established on 1 November, 2007 in line with the Malaysian
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Qualifications Agency Act 2007. One of the main responsibilities of MQA is the accreditation of academic programmes
of the national higher education.
The quality policy of Universiti Malaya (UM) is “Universiti Malaya is committed to conduct teaching and learning,
carry out research and provide quality services on a global level, generate and enhance knowledge through
continuous improvement efforts for the benefit of all stakeholders, especially Universiti Malaya’s students.” This is
in line with the vision of MQA, “to be a global authority on quality assurance of higher education and the mission to
put in place a system of quality assurance that is recognised internationally”.

1.1 QUALITY MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENT CENTRE (QMEC)

In 2010, UM was the first university in Malaysia to be granted the self-accreditation status which allows UM to conduct
the accreditation evaluation of our own programmes and submit the decisions to the MQA for consideration to be
placed in the Malaysian Qualifications Register (MQR). The panels from MQA have visited Universiti Malaya in 2015
and 2021 to evaluate our institutional capability to extend our self-accreditation status.
QMEC is the centre in UM that is entrusted to carry out the accreditation for academic programme in UM. QMEC
has been given the responsibility and authority to ensure that the quality of the academic programmes offered by
UM achieve the minimum standard as required by the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) as stated in the
Code of Practice for Programme Accreditation (COPPA). QMEC will carry out all the necessary processes on behalf of
MQA and will submit our recommendation to MQA for the academic programme to be registered in MQR (or MQA/
PA for provisional accreditation).
This manual outlines details for the Programme Owner to prepare the Programme Self-Assessment Report
(PSAR) for the accreditation of the programme in UM. This manual also serves to facilitate the Programme Owner
to meet the minimum standard required for the accreditation of the programmes by stating clearly how to address
the various standards in the COPPA and Code of Practice for Programme Accreditation: Open and Distance Learning
(COPPA:ODL) through the proper write-up and appropriate evidences.

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF ACCREDITATION

The objective of accreditation is to ensure that graduates of the accredited programmes meet the minimum
academic requirements in line with the MQF to be conferred the degree. In addition, the objective of accreditation
is to ensure that Continual Quality Improvement (CQI) is being practised by the programme owner to meet the fast-
changing needs of the society.

1.3 QUALITY ASSURANCE DOCUMENTS

This manual is guided primarily by the following documents:

A. Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) documents

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