Quality by Design: Towards the One-Page Quality Portfolio

This paper explores the concept of quality and finds that quality is not inherent in an activity or artefact but is an organisationally defined concept to be derived from attributes that are inherent. Therefore we need to specify what it is that counts as quality in any particular artefact or activity. It considers an approach, "Quality, by design", that accommodates the specification of the quality attributes and the design of artefacts and activities that embed those attributes. It has suggested that academic responsibility can be a motivation and an enabler for quality improvement by academics. A corollary of "Quality, by design" is there should be no overaching quality assurance system separate from the work itself. Because quality is embedded differently in all levels and kinds of artefacts and activities, there is no need for more - quality is assured where the work is done. A quality portfolio should therefore consist only of a method for a quality auditor to access the operational, real, quality work of the university.