CALL FOR PROGRAMME REVIEWERS AND ASSESSORS FOR EAC REGIONAL

PROGRAMME ACCREDITATION

1. Background
The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) is a strategic institution of the East Africa
Community (EAC) responsible for coordinating the development of human resources and
research in EAC Higher Education Institutions. By this broad mandate, IUCEA is required to
establish a regional harmonised higher education system and facilitate maintenance of
internationally comparable education standards in East Africa to promote the region’s
competitiveness in higher education.
Over the past years, IUCEA in partnership with the national councils and commissions for
higher education has facilitated the development of a functional Regional Qualify Assurance
System for East Africa. This system is encored in the IUCEA Act of 2009 and in the EAC
Common Market Protocol of 2010. This system, whose main goal is harmonization of higher
education in East Africa, is defined by quality assurance handbooks for internal and external
assessment of quality, programme benchmarks, standards and guidelines for postgraduate
studies and principles and guidelines for quality assurance in higher education. IUCEA has
also facilitated the development of an East African Qualifications Framework for Higher
Education (EAQFHE), which is a generic instrument for anchoring national qualifications
frameworks for the purpose of harmonisation and synchronisation of education and training
systems and for comparing the qualifications attained in the EAC.
Cognizant of its mandate and considering the above-mentioned developments in the higher
education system, IUCEA has now embarked on a process of regional accreditation of
programme to help in harmonization of quality, promote mobility of students, staff and
skills. Accreditation of programmes is universally accepted as a means of quality assurance.
This, as it is the case elsewhere across the globe and in the East African Community region,
is a good practice. It is now widely accepted that prior to a programme being offered, it
should be accredited by the National Commissions/Council or any other accrediting body
using prescribed quality assurance standards and guidelines. Whereas the practice of
national accreditation of programmes has been in place for many years in the EAC, there is
currently no system for regional/international accreditation of programmes within the EAC
region. However, potential international funding agencies often request for evidence of
regional/international accreditation as one of the requirements for funding potential
projects in higher education institutions.
In addition, where the same or similar programmes are designed to be offered in different
universities, regional accreditation helps in ensuring ease of comparability, transfer of
credits and ultimately student mobility and recognition of qualifications.
Absence of regional accreditation in the EAC region has necessitated some Higher Education
Institutions to consider seeking for expensive international accreditation of their
programmes from agencies in developed countries, which have established and recognized
Quality Assurance systems. It is against this background that IUCEA developed Standards,
Guideline, Procedures and Processes for EAC regional accreditation of programmes to
provide appropriate framework to guide the accreditation process of programmes at the EAC
regional levels.
In this respect, IUCEA is now seeking to engage experts as programme reviewers and
assessors. The experts will support in the review of the programmes and assess the quality
of facilities and staffing of programmes in East African higher education institutions and
beyond. The reviewers/assessors are expected to be independent, and to conduct the
assessment with a high level of objectivity and integrity using the programme accreditation
framework already approved.
The Accreditation Programme will commence in June 2023. As part of the preparation, IUCEA
therefore invites applications from qualified academia from the cluster discipline areas
listed below to express interest and participate in the accreditation process. Successful
applicants will be trained and engaged during the programme accreditation cycle. The
cluster disciplines include the following:

Discipline (Cluster Area)

a) Agriculture: (Crop & Animal Production/ Forestry/ Horticulture/ Agri-business,
Animal Health, Agro-Processing, Floriculture/Fisheries and Aquaculture/Soil
Science/ Land use and Management)
b) Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
c) Health Sciences (Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Laboratory Sciences, Imaging)
d) Animal Health (Animal production, Tropical Animal Health, Epidemiology, Molecular
Biology, One Health, One Health Analytical Epidemiology, Vet Anatomy, Vet
Physiology)
e) Data Science (Statistics, Actuarial Science, Biostatistics, Econometrics, Population
& Demography)
f) ICT (Computer Sciences, Information Sciences, Information Systems, Software
Engineering)
g) Engineering (Water Engineering, Civil, Electrical, Process, Chemical, Renewable
Energy)
h) Science Education (Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, ICT,
Physical Education, Sport Sciences, Professional Education disciplines)
 2. Eligibility

a) Evidence of experience in programme review and assessment

b) Evidence of knowledge and participation in programme development
c) Possess PhD qualification with core qualification in the specialization or cluster
discipline above.
d) Hold position of Senior Lecturer and above at a recognised University or Academic
Institution
e) Reviewers from research and other Institution should possess PhD in the relevant
area and have experience in programme reviews.
f) Knowledge of higher education quality assurance systems in East Africa will be an
added advantage.

3. Duties and Responsibilities

a) Independently review submitted programme documents and provide feedback.

b) Participate in the assessment of facilities and staffing level of programme submitted
for accreditation.
c) Provide technical support to assessment teams on matters of accreditation.
d) Advise IUCEA on programme reviews and improvements to be made in the
accreditation process.
e) Provide comprehensive report on the accreditation of a programme under review.

Facilitation of Successful Applicants

Please note that successful applicants will have the opportunity for further training in
International Programme Accreditation and from time-to-time be invited to review
programme within and outside the EAC region.
Trained assessors invited to review and assess programmes for accreditation will be
facilitated during the programme assessment process in line with the approved policy rates.

Application Process and Procedure

Please email your application, CV and relevant academic and professional qualifications
before the closing date of 25th April 2023 to: info@iucea.org and copy to rayine@iucea.org

Note: Please indicate your field of specialization and the University or Universities
where you are currently lecturing in the subject line on your email application. Only
Successful applicants will be contacted and will be required to take part in capacity
building training.