SELF-EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR VETERINARY EDUCATION ACCREDITATION AND HANDBOOK FOR DRAFTING REPORTS

Meaning of veterinary education accreditation

¡à Veterinary education accreditation can ensure social trust in veterinary medicine by determining whether its institutions have satisfied basic conditions as colleges of veterinary medicine by disclosing the results of its accreditation evaluations to society
¡à Colleges eligible for accreditation shall not be limited to departments or programs within universities, but shall include the entirety of operations of the parent institution
¡à Evaluation to confirm whether a candidate institution meets the Accreditation Standards must be performed by experts
¡à Accreditation can induce the meeting of minimum conditions in regards to the quality of education intended by the candidate institution and as required under the law with respect to the various factors constituting college management and education

Basic directions

¡à Students¡¯ study results and trends in the veterinary market are given high priority in evaluating the educational results of candidate institutions
¡Ü International standards with respect to student exchange and recognition of credits between countries are given due consideration
¡Ü Accreditation shall focus on the quality of student education in addition to educational conditions
¡Ü It is not enough for candidate institutions to present what topics and subjects are handled in their curriculum; it is necessary to show how effectively resources have been invested.
¡à Inducement of specialization by the candidate institution
¡Ü Accreditation must distinguish the unique characteristics of the candidate institution rather than conformity with objective evaluation criteria
¡Ü Accreditation must discover outstanding cases where the candidate institution has gone beyond meeting minimum standards in consideration of the established characteristics of universities in Korea
¡Ü Accreditation must recommend changes and improvements by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate institution

¡à Guarantees and improvements of candidate institution quality
¡Ü Accreditation shall focus on whether the quality of the candidate institution can be guaranteed with respect to minimum basic conditions
¡Ü Accreditation shall induce the establishment of an independent quality improvement and evaluation system at the candidate institution that can continuously improve the quality of the candidate institution
¡Ü Accreditation shall indicate whether the candidate institution¡¯s educational conditions and curriculum allow graduates to undertake clinical verteinary care, public health, and livestock sanitation duties as professional veterinarians
¡Ü Accreditation shall promote the standardization of education, and the movement of veterinarians between countries under an MRA through the attainment of international recognition of the quality of education of a candidate institution
¡à Accreditation shall ensure to the public that a candidate institution has satisfied minimum basic standards
¡Ü Accreditation shall guarantee that a candidate institution has satisfied minimum standards
¡Ü Accreditation shall allow a candidate institution to acquire a guarantee of quality by public disclosure of whether it has satisfied minimum standards

Expected results of accreditation of veterinary education institutions

¡à Candidate aspect: Deployment of autonomous self-inspection and evaluation systems
¡Ü Accreditation encourages a candidate institution to promote voluntary participation of all its constituents in the analysis of the candidate institution¡¯s strengths and weaknesses and to build a permanent evaluation system, and also encourages a candidate institution to address problems that are found and present desirable future development directions
¡Ü Accreditation furnishes objective data needed for securing physical and human resources
¡à Social aspect: Accreditation guarantees the quality of a candidate institution¡¯s education and provides it with credibility
¡Ü Provision of information to ensure the quality of the candidate institution¡¯s education
¡Ü Provision of credibility on the candidate institution¡¯s education
¡Ü Provision of safe livestock products, promotion of public health, increase in productivity of the livestock industry, and increased animal welfare through the fostering of highly skilled veterinarians.
¡à Government aspect: Building of a quality assurance system for higher education and securing of objective data information for financial support
¡Ü Securing of objective data required for university support
¡Ü Response to the needs of international society on quality assurance for higher education from a government perspective
¡Ü Use as veterinary policy data
¡à International aspect: Higher education quality assurance for promotion of international exchange and cooperation
¡Ü Promotion of exchange of human resources through international mutual recognition agreements
¡Ü Promotion of exchange of veterinarians under an MRA and standardization of education

Process for accreditation of veterinary education institutions

¡à Accreditation of a candidate institution shall adhere to the following proceedings from initial application up to the final judgment
¡à Application for accreditation evaluation: Submission of an application shall be in accordance with the accreditation schedule for the relevant year at each college
¡à Receipt of the self-evaluation report: The candidate institution shall independently perform evaluation to determine compliance with the evaluation criteria presented by ABOVEK, and shall put the results into a report and submit it to ABOVEK
¡à Formation of the evaluation team: Evaluation committee members shall be selected and an evaluation team shall be formed
¡à Self-evaluation report and on-site evaluation report: Evaluation shall be performed on the self-evaluation report submitted by each candidate institution in application of the accreditation standards. Any matters that must be confirmed with respect to the details of the self-evaluation report and the written evaluation shall be directly confirmed at the candidate institution.
¡à Deliberations on the preliminary and final evaluation report: After the conclusion of the on-site evaluation, a preliminary evaluation report shall be prepared, ensuring that judgments on similar matters are not contradictory. After deliberations, the final evaluation report shall be drafted.
¡à Approval: Approval shall be in accordance with the results of the final evaluation report
¡à Review of the evaluation report: Review of the final evaluation report at the candidate institution
¡à Acceptance of the results of review: When there are no objections, the results of review of the final evaluation report shall be accepted as the final results
¡à Request for appeal: If there is an objection, the candidate institution shall present its objection and the cause thereof to ABOVEK, and shall request redeliberation on the final evaluation report.
¡à Receipt of appeal: If there is an appeal, ABOVEK shall accept the request and convene the appeals committee
¡à Notification of the results of appeal: The appeals committee shall go over the details of the objection submitted by the candidate institution and shall perform a final evaluation. The appeals committee shall then notify the candidate institution of its accreditation status

Self-evaluation report

The self-evaluation report (hereafter ¡°SER¡±) constitutes essential information collected by the candidate institution through in-depth analysis and evaluation of its overall education, research, community service, faculty, students, facilities & resources, finances, administrative status, and developmental planning in accordance with the Accreditation Standards presented by ABOVEK. Accordingly, the SER constitutes highly critical data in the accreditation evaluation, and is the base data for the following accreditation procedures to be undergone in the order presented.

Requirements for the SER

The SER is the base data for the written and on-site evaluations, and is an important part of the accreditation evaluation process. The SER discloses the efforts by the candidate institution to manage and improve the quality of its basic veterinary medical education programs as well as the results thereof, and must be guaranteed as to its credibility and propriety. Accordingly, the SER must include the candidate institution¡¯s administrative units, its strong and weak points, and its goals. The SER can be prepared using the forms presented for this purpose by ABOVEK, or may otherwise be independently prepared by the candidate institution, provided that the table format presented by ABOVEK must be used.

In order to more smoothly conduct the written evaluation in advance of the on-site evaluation by the evaluation team, the SER shall include base data for the candidate institution, as well as any other data needed in evaluation.

Considerations when preparing the SER

(1) If no particular time frame has been specified for the submission of data, base data shall be for the last three years. (e.g.: base data for a candidate institution evaluated in 2012 shall be from March 1, 2009 to February 28, 2012).
(2) Universities that divide their curricula into pre-vet and veterinary courses in a six-year program must include the curriculum and conditions of their pre-vet education in the base data.
(3) All standards are mandatory criteria to be met by all candidate institutions.
(4) ¡°Addenda¡± shall refer to data within the reference data attached to the candidate institution¡¯s SER, and ¡°submitted documentation¡± shall refer to data confirmed by an evaluation committee member during on-site evaluation. ¡°On-site confirmation¡± data is data that cannot be submitted, but must be confirmed by a committee member during on-site evaluation.

Purpose for self-evaluation research

Self-evaluation research is intended to shed the maximum light on the characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and problems of the candidate institution through systematic analysis and evaluation of its educational conditions, and its purpose is to thoroughly understand and improve the candidate institution. In other words, self-evaluation research determines the degree to which accreditation evaluation standards have been satisfied by the candidate institution, and by confirming and improving deficient areas, can become a driver for the candidate institution¡¯s development.

Proceedings for self-evaluation research

Proceedings for self-evaluation research can be divided into four stages.
Preparation for self-evaluation research
Performance of self-evaluation research
Drafting of the report of results of self-evaluation research
Application of self-evaluation research results
The following explains the self-evaluation research proceedings for each stage. More detailed
proceedings can be determined by the Self-Evaluation Committee (hereafter ¡°SEC¡±).

Stage 1: Preparation for self-evaluation research

First, a SEC must be formed, and the appropriate budgets must be secured. The SEC should include main faculty from the candidate institution.
Second, SEC shall be formed. SEC members shall be designated for each evaluation area, and a SEC shall be formed with an administrative role.
Third, a self-evaluation research plan shall be established. SEC members shall establish an evaluation plan for each evaluation area, and a SER shall be prepared after data is collected and the evaluation is performed.
Important considerations in the self-evaluation research plan include promotion of awareness of the need for self-evaluation research among faculty and other related parties, and promotion of the value of self-evaluation as an opportunity for development of the candidate institution

Stage 2: Performance of the self-evaluation research

If organizations, performance plans, and budgets for the self-evaluation are secured by the candidate institution, the evaluation must then be performed. When performing the evaluation, detailed data must be collected in accordance with the self-evaluation research guidelines upon provision of a briefing on self-evaluation to the research committees and related parties.

Stage 3: Drafting of the SER

The candidate institution shall collect results it has independently evaluated, and shall draft a SER. The SER shall be drafted for each evaluation area, and shall be supplemented and revised upon final collection of data. The final SER shall be drafted according to the format presented by ABOVEK, and shall be presented to the office of ABOVEK upon completion.

Stage 4: Use of the evaluation results

The goal of self-evaluation research shall be understanding of the unique characteristics of the candidate institution through the evaluation process. The candidate institution shall confirm whether the curriculum is operating in accordance with those characteristics, and if deficiencies are discovered, shall revise such deficiencies for the improvement of its education. The results of the self-evaluation research are to be used not only for the written and on-site evaluation performed by ABOVEK, but shall also be used internally to promote awareness of the candidate institution¡¯s veterinary education among faculty, students, and other related parties, as well as for the improvement of the candidate institution¡¯s educational conditions and curriculum.

Format and drafting guidelines for the SER

1) Foreword
This shall be drafted by the highest person in charge at the candidate institution. The foreword shall indicate that sufficient data has been collected for the self-evaluation research and that such data has been prepared based on facts and has been accurately assessed. The foreword shall include the meaning and assessments of change and development at the candidate institution to be induced by the self-evaluation and the on-site evaluation. In addition the foreword shall include messages of congratulation to faculty and organizations that have assisted in its preparation.

2) Section 1: Introduction
The introduction shall delineate the entire process of the self-evaluation, from planning (including goals, content, and methods etc.) to evaluation and the preparation of the report. The introduction shall also record in detail the preparations and planning for the evaluation, the collection of data, the formation of the planning and research committees, the distribution of roles therein, the credibility of analysis and evaluation, and the means for ensuring such credibility.

3) Section 2: Self-evaluation research results
These guidelines present the standards for accreditation evaluation in each area as delineated in the forms, and the disclosures required thereby. The self-evaluation research results shall refer to the disclosures in the results of the self-evaluation research for each accreditation standard, and shall be accurately presented, and shall also record efforts for improvement and development plans for any areas found deficient.

4) Section 3: Overview and discussion
The evaluation results for each area shall be assembled and a conclusion shall be deduced. The characteristics, strengths, and problems of the candidate institution shall be indicated, and solutions and development directions shall be presented. Suggestions on the results of the self-evaluation and future development directions shall also be included.

5) Addenda: Data required by the evaluation standards
Data required for evaluation presented for each evaluation area shall be prepared in the addenda. Books and other data shall be prepared and submitted for the on-site evaluation.

SER Submission Guideline

1) Paper size
¡Ü Size: A4, both sides
2) Binding
¡Ü Self-evaluation report: 15 copies
¡Ü Addenda: 15 copies (separately bound for each area)
¡Ü One compact disc: SER and the addenda in electronic format
¡Ü Other: The SER and the addenda shall be separately bound, and addenda shall be separately bound for each area.
3) Submission and inquiries
¡Ü Site: ABOVEK
Veterinary Science Building, 272-5 Seohyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, SEOUL 463-824, KOREA
¡Ü Inquiries: email: abovek@abovek.or.kr / Accreditation call center 031-704-8682~8686
¡Ü Homepage: www.abovek.or.kr/

SER Forms

¡Ü The SER shall be prepared in reference to the forms presented below. If a table form is provided by ABOVEK among the reference data, the form shall be attached to the data.
2) Binding
¡Ü Tables presented in the text and addenda may be adjusted for size, and lacking any separate instructions to the contrary, required items may not be added, removed, or revised.
¡Ü Tables inserted within the text may not be substituted for required disclosures. Even if data can be presented in tabular format, such data must be explained in text form.