Abstract:
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This study aims 1) to study the implementation of internal quality assurance
systems in the context of Master of Public Administration programs in Thailand, 2) to
investigate the effects of the internal quality assurance system to the quality of Master
of Public Administration programs in Thailand, and 3) to propose guidelines to
develop an internal quality assurance system in the Master of Public Administration
programs in Thailand. This study is qualitative and uses a thematic analysis of
information obtained through document data collection and in-depth interviews of the
management, instructors and quality assurance implementers in case studies, which
consist of public administration programs in 6 public postgraduate schools:
Chulalongkorn University, National Institute of Development Administration, Chiang
Mai University, Prince of Songkla University, University of Phayao, and Ubon
Ratchathani University.
The study reveals that the implementation of quality assurance in public
administration programs in Thailand can be divided into 3 periods: the first was the
pre-quality assurance period (1994-2007), which focused on the development of
voluntary quality assurance within the Office of Higher Education Committee
(OHEC) policy framework, the second was the OHEC manual-based quality
assurance period (2007-2014), which focused on standardization as required by
OHEC, and the third period is the transitional quality assurance period (2014-present),
that emphasizes international-level quality creation suitable for the organization, and
focuses on standardization and exploration for the most suitable quality assurance for
each context
The study on the effects of the internal quality assurance system to the quality
of Master of Public Administration programs in Thailand reveals that programs in the
case studies similarly define education quality in 4 aspects: graduate quality,
academic work quality, instructor quality and management quality. In the case studies
affiliated to research universities, there is a definition of international accreditation
which constitutes an additional quality aspect. Overall, the case studies indicate
relatively low effects between their own quality and internal quality assurance, the
effect emphasizes awareness building in involved actors and the quality creation
process in program and faculty management, rather than program output quality, such
as graduate quality and academic work quality.
The study on development guidelines for the implementation of quality
assurance in public administration programs in Thailand reveals that, at the policy
level, development of quality assurance should be continuous and clear, with a
balance between quality control and institute-level quality assurance autonomy, with
consideration of the relatively high disparity between public administration programs.
For the development of quality assurance criteria, the criteria should be reviewed and
defined so as to be more consistent in a public administration program learning
management context. At the faculty- and program-level management, it is desirable to
design a director preparatory system to instill quality assurance understanding in order
to integrate quality assurance into work aspects of the faculty or program. Also,
development of information technology based on reality to allow realistic quality
management and reduce paperwork and data preparation for quality assurance, an
evaluation system that satisfies minimum quality assurance standards of the faculty,
and the creation of personnel proficiency for long-term program sustainability, are
also recommended.
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