The development of quality programs in higher education using multiple stakeholder requirements

Developing quality programs in higher education, across international jurisdictions, is becoming more challenging as a variety of stakeholders demand greater input into curriculum development processes. These multiple stakeholder requirements include professional bodies, governments, ‘consumers’ of higher education qualifications and institutional requirements themselves. This paper will examine what constitutes quality in program design and how integrating standards can drive quality program development. It will further describe a process to drive what the authors describe as both internal (within course/subject) and external (within program) alignment to intentionally design programs that meet both quality markers and the requirements of stakeholders.
(Please note that every attempt has been made to use internationally recognised terminology. In the institution of the authors, a course is a program/qualification. Individual units are designated as subjects, which equate in many institutions to courses or units).