Welcome to the Internal Quality Assurance Unit (IQAU – SVIAS) of the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. This cell is directed towards enhancing the quality of education at the institute level.

The primary responsibility of IQAU is to promote internalization of best practices among the individuals as well within all spheres of governance and management relating to academic administrative system of the institute to promote continuous the quality enhancement. 

The fundamental aim of the IQAU is to put in place comprehensive plans, mechanisms and systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of provision of all services and activities of the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies, Eastern University, Sri Lanka.

Quality Principles

The SVIAS believes that the following principles should inform its approach to quality assurance:

• Quality assurance should not detract from or become a substitute for quality,
• Quality assurance operates at the institute and departmental as well as unit/ center levels, with the responsibilities that this entails (including resolving short-term breakdowns and gathering and using regular feedback on academic development and planning, study programmes), within a broader context where the senate, Academic Boards: Faculty Boards and Management Committees, have collective responsibility for the standard of the SVIAS’s academic awards,
• Quality assurance should be a preliminary to quality enhancement and a greater proportion of energy and resource should be devoted to the latter,
• Good quality internal evidence, including student opinion, external examiner reports and student performance data, should be used to support quality assurance and enhancement processes.
• The findings from quality assurance should be made in such a way as to share different practices and innovations across departments and to show students that quality is taken seriously,
• Departmental teaching, learning and assessment practices should be subject to review, for example through use if teaching observation, as a means both of assuring quality, of aiding staff development and of sharing different practice,
• The SVIAS must be in a position to demonstrate its standards to its students and their stakeholder.

Composition of the Coordinating Committee

• • Director/ Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies, Eastern University, Sri Lanka.
  • Head/Department of Carnatic Music
  • Head/Department of Dance, Drama and Theatre
  • Head/Department of Visual & Technological Art
  • Coordinator/Unit of Information and Communication Technology
  • Coordinator/Language Learning Zone
  • Senior Assistant Librarian
  • AR/Student Welfare 

Functions and Responsibilities

IQAU shall design action plans and implementation mechanisms to ensure that the Quality principles (Best practices) are actually practiced by the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The ‘‘best practices” are dynamic and continuous. They are the result of identification, experimentation, reflection, feedback and innovation based on experience. Best practices are amenable to documentation and have the potential for replication; they are transparent, accountable, affordable and accessible to both staff and students, and add value to an institution. They are contextual and influenced by many factors. Best Practices show the path to success through continuous improvement leading to the benchmark of excellence.

Academic Accountability: Codes of Academic Ethics and Work Norms

Scope

The provisions of this Code and Work norm apply to persons whose service to the University includes teaching, scholarship, librarianship, and academic administration. Such persons are referred to in the Code as “Academic Personnel.” References in the Code to “Faculty” include permanent members of the faculty, librarians, and persons whose service are obtained on tenure.

Preamble: Academic Freedom and Responsibilities

It is important that academics are permitted and nurtured to pursue activities that enhance their intellect and be open and flexible in their academic activities – the academic freedom which is crucial for the person’s as well as the University’s academic advancement. However, while appreciating the academic freedom enjoyed by the academic community, it is necessary to recognize and accept certain duties and responsibilities that have to be fulfilled by a university academic. While some of these activities are essential others are voluntary on the part of the teacher. Nevertheless, the latter is crucial for the well- being of all stakeholders of the university community. Thus, it is imperative that university academics take up these activities and when so done that they are recognized and appreciated in some manner.

Hence, it is important to work out academic workloads and work norms so that each individual would be accountable to what is undertaken by him/her.

Academic Ethics

University is a community of scholars, which actively pursues truth and, through its critical scholarship and research, seeks knowledge to enlighten and transform society. In so doing it recognises the intellectual and moral dimensions of teaching as a means by which human beings may reach their full potential.

The pursuit of knowledge in all disciplines requires a profound respect for all persons, a willingness to take different points of view seriously, and an openness to new and challenging ideas. This demands that academic staff show commitment to the search for understanding and wisdom in their teaching. By showing their commitment to, and genuine love of, learning, they will encourage their students to be motivated to discipline and form their minds so that they gain an integrated understanding of what they study.

This Code of Ethics in Teaching flows out of an understanding of scholarly work as demanding the highest possible professional standards of rigour and academic excellence from staff. It articulates the following principles to shape the framework of relationships and interactions, in which academic staff and students engage in teaching and learning.