S.L. 607.3 Art. 34Aims, objectives, powers and responsibilities of the Authority.

The Authority shall have the following aims and objectives:

(a) to safeguard the quality of further and higher education within the economic, social and cultural context of Malta, taking into account the wider international dimension of further and higher education;

(b) to encourage and help providers in Malta to use appropriate quality assurance measures as a means of improving the quality of teaching and learning in further and higher education;

(c) to stimulate the general raising of standards in the provision of further and higher education; and

(d) to stimulate a mutual exchange of information across borders on quality assurance and accreditation in further and higher education and to encourage cooperation between providers.

(2) The Authority shall have the following powers and functions:

(a) to make and publish a mission statement regarding its accreditation and quality assurance functions, which statement shall contain the following:

(i) explicit goals and objectives of its accreditation and quality assurance processes;

(ii) the division of labour with relevant stakeholders in further or higher education;

(iii) an assertion that quality assurance and accreditation are its major activities; and

(iv) an assertion that there exists a systematic approach to achieving its goals and objectives;

(b) to adopt documentation to demonstrate how its mission statement is translated into a clear policy and management plan;

(c) to undertake accreditation and quality assurance activities on a regular basis, by granting, refusing, confirming or revoking programme or provider accreditation based on programme or provider quality audits, as the case may be, as provided in regulation 37(1);

(d) to assign additional conditions to provider or programme accreditation, including any of the following:

(i) granting provisional programme or provider accreditation status, subject to stipulated conditions;

(ii) granting accreditation for a period less than five years; or

(iii) assigning any other conditions as it may deem fit in fulfilling its functions under these regulations;

(e) to make and publish guidelines on the procedures for applying for and conducting quality audits and accreditation processes, including time schedules, deadlines and other conditions;

(f) to be rigorous, fair and consistent in decision-making;

(g) to be transparent in its operations and publish and make officially available policies, procedures, processes, guidelines and criteria;

(h) to charge fees to providers seeking any type of accreditation under these regulations, including costs related to any quality audit carried out under its responsibility;

(i) to make and publish guidelines and criteria for the internal quality assurance system required by providers in accordance with regulation 36, applying the relevant European and international standards, guidelines and criteria and respect for international treaties and agreements relevant to further and higher education provision as ratified or endorsed by Malta;

(j) to make, publish and consistently apply guidelines containing the criteria and procedures to be used in accreditation and external quality assurance activities undertaken by it;

(k) to investigate, in accordance with these regulations, allegations of practices and activities, which it considers prima facie to be detrimental to students in further or higher education and to take measures to suppress and prevent unfair or harmful practices which it considers detrimental to such students;

(l) in accordance with its functions and duties under article 3 of the Act, to maintain a register of national qualifications and of officially recognised foreign qualifications provided in Malta which are obtained upon the successful completion of a programme accredited in accordance with these regulations;

(m) to act as a knowledge and information centre on quality assurance and accreditation in further and higher education and to inform students and society at large on the quality and accredited status of providers and their programmes;

(n) to secure adequate and proportional resources, both human and financial, to enable it to organise and run its quality audits and accreditation processes in an effective and efficient manner and to develop its processes and procedures;

(o) to adhere to European and international standards as approved by the Minister, and seek membership in reputable international networks of quality assurance and of accreditation;

(p) to cooperate with quality assurance and accreditation authorities in other countries with respect to providers and programmes operating across borders or operating jointly with local providers;

(q) to collaborate with other national, international and professional accreditation organisations and develop partnerships with other official quality assurance or accreditation agencies regarding matters directly related to quality assurance and accreditation, in order to facilitate efficient cross-border quality assurance processes and the international transfer of knowledge about such processes; and

(r) to act independently, and for such purpose, to adhere to the following:

(i) it shall have autonomous responsibility for its operations;

(ii) it shall ensure that the conclusions and recommendations made in its reports and the outcomes of quality audits and accreditation decisions shall not be influenced by any third parties;

(iii) it shall ensure that the definition and operation of its procedures and methods, and the nomination of its external experts shall not be influenced by any third parties; and

(iv) it shall ensure that while relevant stakeholders, particularly students and academic staff, are consulted in the course of quality assurance processes, the final outcome of any quality audit or accreditation decision remains its responsibility.