Student Involvement in University Quality Enhancement

Abstract

Calls to improve the quality of higher education have become more prominent in recent years everywhere. The quality of higher education has been gaining attention around the world, especially in view of ‘massification’ and the rising cost of higher education. An ever-larger share of population in individual countries is enrolled in higher education. This situation offers immense opportunities for human capital development through quality higher education. Equally, poor educational conditions incur significant costs in terms of missed learning opportunities and unsatisfactory student experience. As higher education has increasingly become linked to economic progress and social well-being, governments demand accountability and evidence for quality in return for public money invested into higher education (Klemenčič, Ščukanec and Komljenovič, 2015). The increase in higher education enrolments puts pressure on the quality of higher education provisions, as it becomes more difficult to give students the educational treatment that they tend to value most: personalized, with flexibility in terms of modes of learning and materials, and ample one-on-one time with teachers and advisors (McCormick, Kinzie and Gonyea, 2013). The pressure is greater in mainstream, non-elite institutions that have often expanded beyond their capacities, and that cater for the majority of students within national higher education systems. The increased diversity of student populations, with different backgrounds, expectations and learning needs, present further challenges for institutions to develop conditions that enable quality higher education for all.