Internal Review Panels
3.1 Internal Review Panels are convened on behalf of the TQEC. They consist of at least three internal members, drawn from different Schools/Departments, plus an external subject specialist (see 3.7) all of whom must be independent of the Department/programme(s) under review. One of the members will chair the Panel and the Secretary will be drawn from the Quality Enhancement and Validation section of Registry Services. Wherever possible, there should be at least one person on each review panel, in addition to the external subject specialist, who has some familiarity with the subject area.
3.2 Where a programme with specialized features is under review (e.g. a Foundation degree or one that is run through collaborative provision or by flexible and distributed learning (including distance and e-learning)) the external subject specialist would be expected to have knowledge and experience of these specialized features as well as of the discipline itself. Where possible, at least one of the internal members of the panel should also have such specialized knowledge and experience.
3.3 The members of the Panel may include individuals who have varying experience of internal review and quality assurance/enhancement. However, where a less experienced member is present they will be mentored by those on the Panel with more experience of these areas.
3.4 The overall membership of each Panel should aim to represent a balance of age, gender, ethnicity, academic and professional expertise, background and review experience.
3.5 A Department/programme contact should be nominated from the programme(s) of study under review to act as the key contact point between the Panel and the Department/programme team.
3.6 The Chair of each Panel should consider the involvement of the relevant Subject Librarian and ITS (IT Services) in the review. This may include inviting them to attend the review itself or to submit a written report to the Panel on learning resources provision within the subject and liaison between the Subject Librarian/learning support staff and the Department/programme team. In all cases, the relevant Subject Librarian should be kept informed about all forthcoming reviews. The degree of involvement should be determined by the extent to which learning resources are to be discussed at the review. For example, it may be appropriate to have greater involvement of learning support staff when programmes which are involved with collaborative provision and flexible and distributed learning (including distance and e-learning) are under review. Involvement of the Subject Librarian and relevant ITS staff in the drafting of the self-evaluation is detailed below (see 5.1.8).