A trial audit will be conducted this month as part of CQU’s preparation activities for the AQUA Audit later this year.

A panel of three experienced AUQA auditors have agreed to conduct the trial audit and a Trial Performance Portfolio has been recently submitted to them.

The Trial Performance Portfolio was prepared using the reports from the Self Review which was conducted at the end of 2004, and other organisational reports.

The trial auditors will base their audit upon the Trial Performance Portfolio, and will test its validity through interviews, where necessary requesting further written evidence.

This is an important opportunity to test the Trial Performance Portfolio, identify strengths and weaknesses across quality systems and give staff a ‘dry run’ of the AUQA Audit process.

The trial auditors will visit three CQU campuses:.

 CQU - Melbourne International Campus on March 8.

 CQU - Sydney International Campus March 23.

 CQU - Rockhampton Campus March 30 March to April 1.

The trial auditors request specific attendees in the interviews they conduct. They will advise CQU of a list of participants, categorised by either by individual position or general characteristics of those to be interviewed. Generally, a person will only be interviewed once, even if the person holds multiple responsibilities.

The Trial Audit Panel is lead by Emeritus Professor Gus Gutherie (pictured) and includes Dr John Grant and Dr Anne Martin.

Professor Gus Guthrie AM has held senior positions in Australian higher education: Vice-Chancellor, University of Technology (Sydney); President of the New South Wales Institute of Technology, and founding Dean of the School of Science at Griffith University.

He has an international reputation as a researcher in organic chemistry and holds PhD and DSc degrees from London University. Professor Guthrie was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1996 for his services to higher education and has been invited to lead the recently established Science and Technology Unit within the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Professor Guthrie is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, of the Royal Australian Institute of Chemistry and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Over the coming weeks information sessions will be run to share the findings of the Self Review, and to outline the Trial Audit and AUQA Audit activities.

For more information about the Trial Audit, preparation for the AUQA Audit, or quality in general, go to the CQU quality website: http://www.quality.cqu.edu.au/ or email cquality@cqu.edu.au.