ISA Training Workshop at the OAAA

QAD staff at IbriCT, Ms. Heba Qurashi, Dr. Abdulsalam Al-Manthari and Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Ismaili, attended ISA Training Workshop in the Omani Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA) in Muscat on Wednesday 23 October 2019 from 8:00 to 2:45. This workshop was delivered by OAAA experts to staff from eight Higher Education Institutions (HEIs):

1. Ibri College of Technology
2. Higher College of Technology
3. Nizwa College of Technology
4. Shinas College of Technology
5. Ibra College of Technology
6. Al Musanna College of Technology
7. Salalah College of Technology
8. National University of Science and Technology 

The workshop included many interactive sessions related to ISAM, ISAA, Accreditation and the Accreditation Visit.  

The first workshop was delivered by Dr Khalid Al Muharrami about the aims of the training workshop and the role of OAAA in Institutional Accreditation. He also discussed the expected outcomes of the workshop and the schedule of the sessions. In this session, the accreditation system, the aims of the ISA, and differences between Institutional Quality Audit (IQA) and Institutional Standards Assessment (ISA) were discussed. 

In the second session, Ms Jenny Walker talked about institutional standards assessment process, timeline and ISAM. She also talked about the purpose of ISA, different stages of ISA, methods of rating against criteria and standards and method of reaching accreditation outcome. The workshop highlighted the different parts of ISAM and how HEIs can use it. 

In the third session, Dr Khalid Al Muharrami discussed how to complete Institutional Standards Assessment Application (ISAA) and how to rate criteria and standards. HE talked about key ISA stages and the steps taken to reach the accreditation outcome. 

The fourth session was delivered by Ms Susan Trevor about methods of analysis and using ADRI as an analytical tool to support self-assessment. This session included discussion on how to complete ISAA and how to apply ISA rating system to rate criteria and standards appropriately. 

Ms. Susan Trevor-Roper conducted the fifth session, which was a workshop activity about preparing commentary to support ratings and types of evidence to include when preparing ISAA. The session also included discussion on preparing commentary to support rating sand deciding on what evidence to include. IbriCT staff prepared a presentation about a criterion and presented it in front of OAAA and attendees. Positive feedback was received and the OAAA appreciated the presentation given by Ibri College. 

The last session was about preparing for a successful ISA visit. This session was delivered by Ms. Jenny Walker. In this session attendees learned about ISA interview requirements and protocols. The presenter also talked about logistic and support services that need to be provided to the panel during the visit. 

The OAAA experts appreciated the active and informed participation and engagement of IbriCT staff. They also appreciated the commitment of the College to the ISA process. IbriCT actively took part in the question/answer session and their answers were entertained. At the end of the workshop, trainers and attendees took a group photo.