/ Published in Campus News

KIC launches its Online Policy Manual

As an institution which focuses on continuous improvement, and in the context of supporting faculty and staff to perform their roles more effectively and efficiently, the College has this week launched its new KIC Online Policy Manual (OPM).

The new OPM is the result of a collaborative project carried out during January, February and March 2021 led by the Institutional Quality, Effectiveness & Accreditation (IQEA) Team (providing project oversight & OPM content) and involving IT Services (technical support) and Marketing & Communications (design & build).

The first meeting to discuss the OPM project was held on 20 January 2021 and in the 8 weeks leading up to the CAA Audit Visit (which started 21 March), the project participants carried out various activities to develop the OPM:

  • IQEA team reviewed and edited all 96 KIC policies into formats suitable for use in the OPM; referenced all policies in alignment with CAA Standards 2019 (to enable staff to link KIC policy with CAA requirement and guidance); devised guidance text for the OPM page
  • ITS provided initial technological suggestions and input
  • Marcomms provided demos of options; designed the selected OPM web-based solution; then linked all policies in the OPM to the ‘back-office’ storage area
Advantages of the OPM over the previous approach are:
  • Reducing reliance on paper, in order to support KIC’s drive towards sustainability and environment-friendliness
  • Compliance with CAA requirement to have a resource that contains all the policies and procedures of the institution and meets specific requirements
  • Ease of access for all KIC staff to approved policies and procedures
The OPM had its ‘soft launch’ at the start of the CAA Audit, when IQEA shared it with CAA ERT members (to access KIC policies as required by Visit mandate) and also with KIC management for their use and feedback. Since the Visit, some adjustments have been made to optimize the OPM.
The official launch of the OPM took place this week and the IQEA team has been pleased to receive positive feedback from users across KIC.

KIC’s President, Dr Assem Al-Hajj, welcomed the new KIC Online Policy Manual, noting that it is a significant step forward in KIC’s efforts to digitalize its operations for greater efficiency and he added his thanks to all those who participated in the OPM Project.