Internal Facilitators - Quality Office, Trinity Teaching and Learning

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What is an Internal Facilitator (IF)?

An Internal Facilitator is a senior member of staff at Trinity College who plays a key supporting role during a Quality Review.They are not a member of the Review Team and do not have a role in drafting the review recommendations.

How is the Internal Facilitator (IF) appointed?

The Internal Facilitator is appointed in consultation with the Area under review. The criteria for selection of the Internal Facilitator is that they:

are at senior management level within Trinity;
come from outside the Area under review;
are from a cognate Area but are not involved in joint teaching, research programmes or collaborative projects etc.;

What is the role of the Internal Facilitator (IF)?

The role of the Internal Facilitator is:

to act in an advisory capacity, accompanying the External Reviewers throughout the review and attending all meetings during the site visit;
to facilitate the review process and ensure that meetings run to schedule;
to act as liaison between the Reviewers, the Area under review and the Quality Office;
to ensure that requests for additional documentation or meetings by the Reviewers are met in a timely fashion;
to provide the university and sectoral/national context to the Reviewers when required;
to ensure that there is clarity amongst the Reviewers regarding deadlines for submission of the draft and final reports and that there is agreement as to who will collate and send the final report to the College;
The Internal Facilitator does not participate in the drafting of the report.

What does being an Internal Facilitator (IF) involve?

The Internal Facilitator (IF) receives the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and the schedule of meetings when the External Reviewers receive it (approximately 4 weeks before the site visit).

The Quality Office will organize a briefing meeting with the Internal Facilitator in the weeks before the review to answer any queries regarding the review process, their role in the review process and the review documentation. The Internal Facilitator will receive any additional information or updates to the schedule of meetings that the Reviewers may request.

The Internal Facilitator should familiarize themselves with the location of the Area under Review and the venues for the various meetings. They should also know the location of the Hotel where the reviewers are accommodated and the dinner venue (Quality Office to advise), as they may be required to escort the Reviewers to the dinner with College Officers on Day 1.

The Internal Facilitator is required to attend all of the meetings on the schedule unless otherwise directed by the Quality Office or the Reviewers, and to attend the dinner with College Officers on the first night.

If you have any queries regarding the role of the Internal Facilitator, please contact the Quality Office at quality.officer@tcd.ie