The Directorate of Quality Assurance (DRQA) is one of the six directorates that were established after we were chartered in February 2013, this was upon the recognition of the importance of Quality Assurance in Higher Education.

The Directorate was established to perform the following functions as per the University of Eldoret Statute XXVII:

1. Establish quality standards for the management and activities of the university.
2. Provide Quality Assurance and quality control for all academic programs.

The journey towards certification to the ISO 9001:2008 Standard began in November 2013 with the training of Council members, University Management, staff, student leaders and auditors. Thereafter, the documentation of procedures covering all key operations of the university was done to guide the implementation process. This process culminated in certification to the ISO 9001:2008 Standard in June 2016. It is important to note here that at the time of this certification, the International Organization for Standards (ISO) had already revised the Standard and released the new ISO 9001:2015 Standard. Therefore, the university implemented the ISO 9001:2008 Standard and immediately embarked on preparation for certification to the new Standard. This was realized under the stewardship of the University Management led by the Vice-Chancellor, the Management Representative, and the Director, Directorate of Quality Assurance. University of Eldoret was certified to the ISO 9001:2015 Standard in June 2018.

It is worth noting that this certification completed the first three-year cycle in June 2021 and received recertification after a successful audit in December 2021, a confirmation that the University of Eldoret fulfilled all the requirements of ISO 9001:2015.

The Directorate has continued to ensure that the quality standards and guidelines stipulated by the Commission for University Education are adhered to by implementing an internal quality assurance system, ensuring that there is effective service delivery, streamlining processes, developing tools for quality assurance and benchmarking with the best practices worldwide. The Directorate has also spearheaded the development of a standard filing and coding system for all the documents in the University. This has made it easy to identify, access, retrieve and file documents for quick and prompt service to customers.

To ensure that a quality culture is entrenched in the University, the Directorate has commanded the implementation of the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) in all operations of the University. This system is constantly monitored, evaluated, and reviewed through both internal and external audits.

The Directorate has put in place the following initiatives to ensure internal quality checks:

• Introduction of the teaching tracking forms to check on teaching by both regular and part-time lecturers and ensure compliance through regular audits of the teaching process.
• Introduction of Class Attendance Record forms to ensure that attendance to classes by students is accurately captured and analysis done at the end of the semester to determine students’ eligibility to sit for examinations.
• Introduction and enforcement of Class Make-up Records to ensure that the lecturers compensate for the classes they miss.
• Facilitating the training of Deans and Academic Heads of Departments and lecturers on how to conduct Program Self-Assessment.
• Coordinating and overseeing Program Self-Assessment in Departments.
• Collating and analyzing reports from External Examiners for discussion in the Deans Committee and the University Senate.
• Conducting Course and Lecturer Evaluation to determine the quality of instruction students receive in the different programs offered by the university.
• Participation in curriculum development and review to ensure that this is done according to the procedures and guidelines by the Commission for University Education.
• Conducting Student Exit Surveys to receive feedback from the graduands regarding the program studied, services offered, support services, and facilities offered by the university during their course of study. The data collected is analyzed and a report is presented to the University Management and Senate to make decisions on improvements.

On behalf of the Directorate, I wish to appreciate the University Council, the University Management Board, the Senate, Deans of Schools, Directors, Heads of Departments, students and all staff for their immense support in ensuring that the Directorate renders its service of ensuring that high-quality standards at the university of Eldoret are maintained.