TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE QUALITY ASSURANCE

FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

IN UNIVERSITIES

Hsin-Ke Lu and Chia-Hui Lo

Graduate Institute of Information Management, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan

Keywords: Continuing Education, Comprehensive Quality Assurance Framework, Lifelong Learning, TTQS.

Abstract: From the global popularity of lifelong learning, people are looking for opportunities to improve their

competence that triggers a booming market demand for continuing education. Developing a new strategy for

this new challenge becomes the critical mission for universities to pursue the excellence in continuing

education. To implement quality assurance mechanisms into administrative and operating systems, many

universities were seeking international accreditations, for example, ISO 9000 family, and were implementing

an organization-wide quality management system. However, in recent years, most universities started to

consider the appropriateness of quality management system and shift to educational quality assurance systems,

such as IWA 2:2003, ISO 10015, or Taiwan Training Quality System (TTQS), that guarantee a quality of

education. In this research, we conducted an analysis of related literature to track and compare different quality

assurance frameworks. Based on the analysis, practices and experiences in the selected case were considered to

modify and improve original models.

1 INTRODUCTION

In 2002, Taiwan became the 144th member of

World Trade Organization (WTO). Participation in

the global trade collaboration inevitably forces

Taiwan to face unprecedented challenges. Therefore,

the government must adjust relevant trade policies to

integrate local and global markets. In the signed

General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS),

Taiwan was committed to widening the service

market progressively, including higher education

services. The critical items of education services in

the agreement include:

 Allowance for foreigners to establish senior

high schools, vocational senior high schools,

and higher schools or educational institutions.

 Regarding distance learning, foreign schools

can provide cross-border educational services

to post-secondary students in Taiwan.

 Foreigners can establish short-term cram

schools according to Taiwan’s

“Supplementary and Continuing Education

Law.”

 Foreigners can establish study-abroad service

companies according to Taiwan’s “Company

Law.”

These commitments are the beginning of

Taiwan’s education industry to move toward the

global market. Under these changes, we can expect

market-oriented strategies to lead higher education

in Taiwan to a new horizon and force it to ward off

threats and fight for upcoming challenges and

opportunities.

Gumport (2000) stated that two distinct

perspectives on the nature of higher education exist:

treating higher education as an industry or as a social

institute. In fact, under the influences of global

knowledge economy, market forces have gradually

dominated the resources allocation in higher

education institutions. Modern universities are

facing the equilibrium problem between academic

principles and market demands, as these two values

cause structural conflicts between academic dignity

and business survival. Although numerous

universities still have the problem of incompatibility

between the two perspectives, Gumport (2000)

observed that the integration of the two values was

inevitable.

213

Lu H. and Lo C..

TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE QUALITY ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES.

DOI: 10.5220/0003312702130220

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2011), pages 213-220

ISBN: 978-989-8425-50-8

 2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

In brief, these developments facilitate the growth

of the continuing education industry, which serves

mainly the demands of a lifelong learning market.

Therefore, numerous universities are aggressively

directing themselves to the balance between

academic programs and market-driven continuing

education, and adapting themselves to the new era

(Chen, 2002). To integrate the two perspectives,

some universities have begun developing a

comprehensive model that forms the basis for the

positioning and administration of schooling.

As universities are paying much more attention

on the internal and market effectiveness under the

global trend of marketization in education (Dai,

2000), the educational quality management system

has become an important mechanism for universities

to reach for excellence (Cheng, 2005).

While many advanced countries have built their

own evaluation mechanisms for higher education,

more than ten universities in Taiwan are attempting

to improve their educational qualities by introducing

international accreditations, for example, ISO9000

family, to perform self-evaluation and continuous

improvement. However, the quality accreditation

structure of ISO 9001:2000 cannot fully conform to

the specific demands of the higher education

institutes. An adjustment is necessary for the

applicability of these standards to be a quality

assurance framework that continually improves

educational qualities.

2 THE CONTINUING

EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES

From the global popularity of lifelong learning,

higher education institutions have paid increasingly

more attention to continuing education and have

begun to promote continuing education units to a

higher administrative level in a university. In this

manner, the education provision model and scope

can be strategically defined and executed. In the

United States, the School of Continuing and

Professional Studies at New York University (NYU)

is one of the benchmarks in contemporary

continuing education. For adult learners studying for

career advancement or intellectual enhancement,

courses and programs range widely in subjects and

variety. Except for various non-degree courses, the

continuing education program at NYU offers 14

masters programs, 26 undergraduate programs,

various diploma programs, and professional

certificates (NYU, 2010). Meanwhile, Columbia

University established the Division of Special

Programs under the School of General Studies in

1995. After realizing the trend in lifelong learning,

Columbia University’s Board of Trustees

reorganized the department to The School of

Continuing Education in 2002, and granted its

authority to offer the Master degrees.

In Asia, the development of continuing

education in Hong Kong has gone through different

phases, which are the continuing education phase,

professional education phase, diploma education

phase, and lifelong learning phase. By consecutive

integration and expansion, continuing education in

Hong Kong has formed a new model of international

continuing education that is well conformed to a

knowledge-based economic society (Yang, 2007).

Under the influence of educational systems and the

openness of education regulations in the U.K., the

promotion of continuing education at the University

of Hong Kong is very active and aggressive. The

Department of Extra Mural Studies (DEMS) was

established in 1956, and was renamed the School of

Professional and Continuing Education

(HKUSPACE) in 1992. The school is the largest

institution for continuing education in Hong Kong

and has 12 teaching centers with an enrollment of

over 100 thousands students per year. Except for

HKUSPACE, the School of Continuing Education in

Hong Kong Baptist University was established in

1975. More than 5,000 students are enrolled in

undergraduate or postgraduate programs, while

approximately 40,000 students study part-time

programs annually. Since 1985, the school has even

provided various degree programs collaboratively

with different overseas educational institutions.

In Taiwan, the Ministry of Education (MOE)

announced related statements for higher education to

provide continuing education in 1989, and

regulations for establishing night school in 1991.

The most important event for the government to

promote lifelong learning was to design a set of

regulations for continuing education in higher

education, which were derived from Item 2 of

Article 26 in the “University Act.” The regulations

proclaim in writing that “Continuing education,

according to the educational vision of universities, is

meant to provide the educational activities that help

the public to gain intellectual skills and social

civilization.” Conversely, the regulations also

specify that “Continuing education in universities is

categorized into degree and non-degree programs;

the courses belonging to the former must conform to

the University Act; continuing education can be

given outside the school or in the form of distance

learning, or cross-border leaning.” These regulations

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and laws clearly delineate the business scopes and

operation models of continuing education, and form

the jural basis for universities to participate in

supplementing the mechanism of a lifelong learning

society.

The business scope of continuing education in

universities is profoundly influenced by the

aforementioned regulations and acts. However, the

primary trigger for universities to integrate degree

and non-degree programs was the amendment of the

University Act in 1994, which officially trimmed the

units and business of night school in higher

education. This policy indirectly contributed to a

new business model for continuing education in

universities to transform from professional-oriented

programs to the hybrid of education and professional

programs.

This study proposes an integration model

derived from the practices of continuing education in

Taiwan’s universities (see Fig. 1). There are two

core concepts in the new framework. The first is the

integration of resources from degree and non-degree

programs. From considerations of the process, the

systems and real operations of degree and non-

degree education are interwoven and complement

each other. The second concept in the framework

emphasizes the process to establish a continual

learning chain. By effectively allocating and

managing resources, higher education institutions

are more affordable to improve continually the

quality of education. To form a lifelong learning

cycle, universities have transformed their business

models into market-driven educational institutions.

Figure 1: Integrated strategy for educational and

professional oriented programs.

The new business scopes and strategies in

universities generate the need to modify quality

management systems. In this paper, we explore a

new quality assurance framework for higher

education in the face of above mentioned

developments.

3 RESEARCH METHODS

AND BACKGROUND

OF CASE

This research was conducted twofold: by literature

review and case study. Using literature review,

different considerations in quality assurance

frameworks were incorporated into the proposed

framework and comparisons among models were

tracked and presented. This analysis paved the way

for further modifications of TTQS model after

introducing practical experience into the conceptual

framework.

The second method used in this research was a

case study. The selected case, School of Continuing

Education in Chinese Culture University (CCU-

SCE), was one of benchmark universities in

continuing education and lifelong learning field in

Taiwan. The main programs in CCU-SCE include

degree and non-degree programs. In 2006, Taiwan’s

Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) launched a pilot

project that introduced TTQS to educational

institutions that executed programs under

governmental sponsorship. CCU-SCE was selected

to join the project and rebuild its educational quality

assurance framework. CCU-SCE was the first

university granted a TTQS certificate, and at the

same time, won the first National HRD (Human

Resources Development) InnoPrize, which is the

highest honour in Taiwan’s HRD field.

The primary advantage for selecting CCU-SCE

as the research site was its extensive design for

versatile courses and training. CCU-SCE was a

typical and comprehensive institution for lifelong

learning and professional education. The multi-

faceted nature of CCU-SCE’s businesses caused the

integration of quality assurance frameworks to be

significantly more difficult. Therefore, CCU-SCE

was not only selected as a representative

organization of higher education institutions in the

continuing education, but also for its hybrid

orientation in programs and schooling design.

During the project, the pilot team had to adjust

continually and integrate existing quality assurance

framework of ISO 9001 with TTQS. In this manner,

the new quality assurance framework, which more

effectively conformed to organizational operations,

was necessarily generated.

The project could be divided into four phases:

commencement and training, framework re-forming,

rules and regulations adjustment, and system

introduction and pre-usage training. Data were

collected in every phase concerning the questions,

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215

doubts or difficulties the project team confronted.

After one year of observations, the deficiency of the

original TTQS model emerged as a serious problem

and caught the attention of this study.

As CCU-SCE is leading the way to extend

current continuing education scope in universities,

this study expects the experience in CCU-SCE in

implementing TTQS and the thus the derived

modified model could be a representative reference

to other educational institutions.

4 A REVIEW OF HIGHER

EDUCATION QUALITY

ASSURANCE SYSTEMS

The challenges and impacts of a global knowledge

economy accelerate higher education toward

marketization. In the WTO, education is categorized

at the fifth of 12 types of service industries, and the

third industry in United Nations (UN) policies and

regulations. The forms of education service include

border-crossing courses, consumption abroad,

commercial presence, and presence of natural

persons. According to the Verbik & Lasanowski

(2007)’s report of the patterns and trends of mobility

of international students, there were nearly 2.7

million international students. Students in the United

States, Britain, and Australia accounted for

approximately 45 %, that is, 1.2 million. Nearly 550

thousand foreign students reside in the United States.

This has resulted in an increase of 11 billion U.S.

dollars in U.S.’s exchange annually. Meanwhile,

revenues from international students have accounted

for more than 7 billion U.S. dollars in the United

Kingdom and approximately 5 billion U.S. dollars in

Australia every year. The output value of higher

education in these advanced countries is rising

dramatically, that education service is gradually

becoming a critical trade item (Verbik &

Lasanowski, 2007).

Under the new paradigm that redefines the

business model of higher education, every university

must surely contend with the issues of resource

integration, management efficiency, and educational

performance. Therefore, higher education

institutions pay increasingly more attention to the

implementation of quality assurance systems, which

focus both on internal and market effectiveness for

governance and management. Quality assurance is

becoming a core strategy to enhance the competence

of higher education institutions and increase

competitive advantages (Cheng, 2005). Following

the global evolution of higher education, Taiwan’s

universities have implemented systematic evaluation

mechanisms to ensure educational quality and

continuous improvement in operations and

management. ISO 9001:2000, ISO/IWA 2:2003 and

TTQS are introduced and summarized in the

following sections, and are used as the conceptual

basis of our proposed framework.

4.1 ISO 9001:2000

ISO 9001 quality management family was released

by the ISO Technical Committee (ISO/TC 176) in

1987, and was revised in 1994. The provisions and

core schema of these versions serve mainly the

operating processes of the manufacturing industry.

However, in response to the growth of the global

service industry, the revision of ISO 9001 and ISO

9001:2000 was deliberately generated to be used in

the service industry (Huang, 2001). As such, a new

set of more generalized specifications were formed

by integrating ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003.

The main differences between ISO 9001:2000

and ISO 9001:1994 are shown in the dimensions of

process-oriented, customer satisfaction, and in

continuous improvement (Cheng & Guan, 2002).

ISO 9001:2000 is a process-oriented quality

assurance framework, which systematically focuses

on the interrelationship between a sequence of

processes (Input-Process-Output). Starting from the

input of customer demands, through the operation of

the system, and ending at the output of customer

satisfaction, ISO 9001:2000 places emphasis on

continuous improvement in the whole process.

Referencing total quality management (TQM), this

framework is primarily based on the following eight

dimensions: customer focused organization,

leadership, involvement of people, process approach,

system approach to management, continuous

improvement, factual approach to decision-making,

and mutual beneficial supplier relationship.

In recent years, Taiwan’s higher education

system has aggressively introduced the ISO 9001

quality management system, including its processes

for continuous improvement of systems and the

assurance of conformity to both stakeholders and

applicable regulatory requirements. Several

universities, such as NCHU, NCTU, NSYSU, NCU,

CYU, YZU, FJU, CCU, KNU, TCU, and NTTU,

have been accrediated. Earlier on, the certification of

ISO 9001 was mainly based on the 1994 version.

However, all certified universities have upgraded

progressively to ISO 9001: 2000.

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4.2 ISO/IWA 2:2003

The quality assurance framework of ISO 9001:1994

and its prior versions were mainly designed for the

manufacturing industry; therefore, ISO revised its

version to ISO 9001:2000 to response specific needs

of the service industry that considered characteristics

and terminology of the service industry. Furthermore,

regarding the specialties and uniqueness of the

education industry, the ISO committee held an

experts workshop in Mexico to develop a new

international standard, ISO/IWA 2:2003, for the

appropriateness and applicability of ISO in the

global education institutes. The workshop gathered

standard Office (DGN), Latin American quality

Agency (INLAC), Mexican joint quality groups, and

convened global education quality experts, scholars,

and professionals in the Technical Committee. The

new agreements from this international workshop

considered the characteristics, nature, practical needs,

and changing environment of the education industry.

After refocusing and customizing adjustments,

ISO/IWA 2:2003 evolved into the new recognized

educational quality assurance framework of the

global education industry.

ISO/IWA 2:2003, derived from ISO 9001:2000,

is a student-oriented quality assurance framework.

Therefore, in actual applications in Taiwan’s higher

education, numerous universities that adopted ISO

9001 also integrated the specifications of ISO/IWA

2:2003 to improve educational quality management.

By this hybrid strategy, the I-P-O model and the

review mechanism were integrated for continuous

improvement. For example, customer feedback is

presented in statistics for quality management

departments to ensure the continuous improvement

of educational quality and performance.

The higher education institutions can

systematically explore and organize crucial

organizational knowledge and concepts by

implementing ISO/IWA 2:2003. All knowledge and

the core processes of knowledge extraction can be

explored, clarified, categorized, organized, and

consolidated by standardized documentation, and

can become the institutions’ essential information

assets. Accumulated knowledge and experience will

cause the quality of educational operation to be

increasingly stable through continuous

improvements. Currently, ISO 9001:2000 still

dominates the quality management certification

market in Taiwan’s higher education. However,

ISO/IWA 2:2003 are receiving increasingly more

attention. Most ISO 9001 certified universities have

strong intentions to integrate ISO/IWA 2:2003 for

improving the effectiveness of educational quality

assurance systems.

4.3 ISO 10015 and TTQS

ISO 10015, a training quality management system, is

derived from section 6.2.2 of ISO 9001:2000 and

human capital management specifications. This

comprehensive framework of human resource

development in an organization is regarded as a

critical reference model for members of WTO to

guide their national human capital policies. In brief,

the purposes of ISO 10015 are helping organizations

achieve their goals, complete their missions,

improve the quality of products and services, and

enhance operational performance through personnel

training. The focus on training in ISO 10015 is a

perfect supplement to ISO 9001. Moreover, because

of this focus, ISO 10015 is increasingly

implemented as an independent quality management

system to assure the performance of the

development of human capital.

Based on the Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA)

model proposed by the quality management

literature, the process of ISO 10015 involves four

steps: 1. the definition of training needs; 2. the

planning and design of training; 3. Training; and 4.

evaluation of the performance of the training.

During this process, every step must be monitored

and continuously improved.

Because of quality assurance requirements from

training institutes, Taiwan’s Council of Labor

Affairs (CLA) initiated many projects to transplant

international quality certification schema to Taiwan.

To ensure quality and performance of training and to

enhance competitiveness of labor, the CLA proposed

the Taiwan Training Quality System (TTQS)

framework, which emphasized compliance with

managerial needs from industries. The Taiwan

Training Quality System (TTQS) also aimed to

assure quality improvement of training, and

strengthen productivity and competitiveness of

human capital. Generally, TTQS synthesized ISO

10015, the European vocational training policy, UK

Investors in People program (IIP), Australian

vocational training policies, and the characteristics

of domestic industry, and then, incorporated them

into a comprehensive framework. To maintain its

practical effectiveness, the TTQS project invited

internationally related authorities and experts to join

the committee for the considerations of the industrial

context.

The Taiwan Training Quality System (TTQS)

consists of three main modules: the standard

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measurement of training, strategy and policy of

training, and organizational communication tools.

Originating from ISO 10015, TTQS modifies the

four-stage model of PDCA into a five-function

model (Figure 2). The process of the framework

involves five steps: P (planning), D (design), D

(delivery), R (review), and O (outcome); therefore, it

is called the PDDRO model. The framework is used

to confirm training quality in enterprises that receive

consultation services, and to ensure the liability and

accuracy of the training processes. The framework

entails 16 quality indicators and weight scales, and

reviews of these indicators for continuous

improvement of quality.

Figure 2: The five dimensions of PDDRO of TTQS.

In recent years, professional training has been

held not only by vocational training centers, but also

by other co-signed organizations and continuing

education institutions in higher education. Higher

education, especially, has become a main training

partner of the government, which offers plans for

upgrading corporate human resources. To evaluate

the quality of training institutions and the resulting

performances of professional training, Taiwan’s

CLA introduced TTQS model to training institutions

as the quality assurance framework. Therefore,

many universities, which joined the government

projects, are required to obtain the TTQS

accreditation.

5 A COMPREHENSIVE QUALITY

ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK

FOR CONTINUING

EDUCATION

The Taiwan Training Quality System (TTQS) is

developed for accessing the quality in trainings;

therefore, it can be used to assist the management

and continuous improvement of educational quality

in higher education. However, in practical

operations of continuing education institutes, the

business scope and processes are much broader. For

example, the business scope extends to lifelong

learning courses, and the business processes are

influenced by market demands. Therefore, the

planning, marketing and enrolments of students for

both educational and professional courses have to be

considered in quality assurance framework of higher

education.

The phenomena can be analyzed by two

dimensions: operation process and business focus,

acquired from observations in the research field.

According to the observations in CCU-SCE, the

operation processes can be divided into business

cycle and learning cycle. The former focuses on

market-oriented businesses, which guides courses

planning to fulfil market demands. After enrolments

of students, the process flows into learning cycle,

which focuses on the teaching and learning qualities.

By continuingly inspecting learning activities, the

in-learning and after-learning improvements can be

assured.

The other dimension for discussing practical

operations in higher education is the business focus.

CCU-SCE is a typical case that demonstrates the

transition in Taiwan’s continuing education. The

business covers from degree to non-degree programs,

or educational to professional ones.

Figure 3: Business Scope and Types of Continuing

Education of CCU-SCE.

By the two dimensions, the business types of

continuing education in CCU-SCE were classified

into four:

 PB-PL: From pre-training planning to learning

quality management for professional programs.

 EB-EL: From pre-training planning to

learning quality management for educational

programs.

 PB-PL-EL: Same as PB-PL, plus guiding

students enrolled in professional programs to

attend educational courses.

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 EB-EL-PL: Same as EB-EL, plus guiding

students enrolled in educational programs to

attend professional courses.

Since the original design for TTQS framework

was used for assessing courses that were actually

delivered, when CCU-SCE extended their programs

to non-degree programs, many courses were planned

but not delivered, due to unexpected demand

changes on the market. The concerns for these

planned-undelivered courses were omitted from the

original TTQS. Consequently, when CCU-SCE

executed CLA’s TTQS pilot project, the project

team could not find proper assessment rules

covering all the programs and processes. To close

the gap between existing models and the practical

needs, the modified framework is proposed.

5.1 Learning Cycle and Business Cycle

In surveys of TTQS certificated universities in

Taiwan, reports have insightfully shown that TTQS

has focused mainly on the quality assurance of

learning. Little attention has been paid on the

processes of pre-training, such as planning, design,

and marketing processes. Conversely, TTQS was

designed and customized for HRD programs in

organizations or governmental projects, of which all

students were enrolled from authorities instead of

the open market. Nevertheless, in the continuing

education institutes of universities, business scope

covers trainings not only from government

sponsored projects and company delegated programs,

but from degree programs, credited programs, and

professional programs. Continuing education in

universities unquestionably requires a new quality

assurance framework that incorporates business

developments, recruitment, market feedback, and

quality control. As such, all processes in a business

cycle and learning cycle can be assessed and

improved by implementing quality assurance

frameworks. Currently, TTQS certificated

universities are diligently attempting to consolidate

the whole operational processes into a

comprehensive quality assurance framework.

The strong demand for modified quality

assurance frameworks from CCU-SCE induced this

study to propose a new model that balances sponsor-

oriented and business-oriented programs. The

proposed TTQS PDDRO model (see Fig. 4), named

modified TTQS business and quality integration

model, separated the quality management activities

into two main cycles: business assurance and

learning quality assurance.

The business cycle stresses market orientation

processes, including planning, design, and marketing,

and forms a sub-framework of quality assurance to

guide and review all processes in pre-training.

Practically, if the result that derived from business

cycle cannot fulfil market demands, continuous

adjustments will be necessary. Therefore, the results

of business cycle decide the initiation of learning

cycle.

Figure 4: The Modified TTQS Model of integration of

business and learning cycles.

The learning quality assurance cycle stressed the

quality assurance process, which contained planning,

delivery, and outcome. The three core steps were

reviewed and improved according to the learning

quality framework, which is the other sub-

framework of the integrated quality assurance

framework.

5.2 A Comprehensive Model

of Quality Assurance

Apparently, the continuing education institutes in

universities have extended their business scope by

integrating educational and professional programs.

Thus, they have become a cornerstone of a society

based on the knowledge-economy.

Accordingly, CCU-SCE, the selected research

case, synthesizes the educational and professional-

oriented courses by convergence of planning,

development, and evaluation processes. In response

to new rules of operations, CCU-SCE aggressively

explores a new quality assurance framework to

ensure the integration of core processes, and

implements the continuous improvement of

educational quality.

By integrating two focuses and the two cycles, a

comprehensive model of quality assurance

framework was proposed (see Fig. 5). Both focuses

of educational and professional programs were

considered, and the pre-training business assurance

process and learning quality assurance processes

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were integrated into the new framework, assuring

that extended market-driven programs are involved

in the assessment process.

Figure 5: A Comprehensive Model of Quality Assurance

Framework.

While the whole schooling cycle, including the

pre-training and leaning cycles, are covered in the

quality assurance framework, this comprehensive

model diminished the gap between the existing

TTQS framework and the practical needs.

6 CONCLUSIONS

Following the trend of education marketization,

continuing education in universities is playing an

active role when facing the radical growth in market

and industry demands. For this reason, the

management of continuing education increasingly

emphasize both internal efficiency and market

effectiveness by quality assurance mechanisms.

The implementation of a quality assurance

framework in the educational field depends on every

university’s operating practices and resources. To

accumulate a comprehensive and continuous quality

assurance framework, two principles should be

addressed.

First, developing the framework of one’s own

university is necessary. Regardless of the processes

of ISO 10015, ISO/IWA 2:2003 or TTQS, that is,

the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) or PDDRO

(Planning-Design–Delivery-Review-Outcome)

cycles, they cannot satisfyingly conform to demands

of a university without modification. Therefore, this

paper proposes the modified model for reference.

Second, quality assurance framework should

cover both the pre-training business cycle and

learning cycle. Furthermore, continuing education

programs in universities should include education

courses that are market-driven and training courses

that are project-driven. The core dimensions,

procedures, and quality checking indices of the

different types of programs should be integrated into

a unified training quality assurance framework. In

this way, not only can the synergy in maintenance of

quality systems be assured, but also the continuous

improvement of quality for all training programs and

processes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Taiwan’s Council of

Labor Affairs (CLA) and School of Continuing

Education, Chinese Culture University (CCU-SCE)

for their support for this research.

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