1. Introduction

According to the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG), Further/Higher Education Institutions need to have access to processes that allow them to raise issues of concern with the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA), which in turn handles such issues professionally and by means of a clearly defined process that is consistently applied.

2. Object of the present policy

An institution may submit to the Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) appeals referring to all formal outcomes of the external quality assurance processes, namely:

1. decisions to deny or revoke provider accreditation or update;
2. decisions to deny or revoke programme accreditation or update;
3. decisions relating to the period of quality assurance audits;
4. statements, requirements, and recommendations in the Quality Assurance audit report.

The policy applies to all accredited further and higher education providers namely:

1. self-accredited providers;
2. universities;
3. higher education providers;
4. further and higher education providers;
5. further education providers;
6. tuition centres.

3. Grounds for appeals

Institutions may only introduce an appeal if they can demonstrate with documented evidence that:

1. The MFHEA has violated its own written procedures or that there were procedural flaws, such as processes which were not consistently implemented;
2. the criteria have not been correctly applied;
3. there is a proven ethical concern, i.e. conflict of interest, referring to the panel members or members of QAC;
4. the decision/conclusion is inconsistent with the materials and facts presented by the applicant before and during the evaluation visit;
5. the decision is not based on and/or supported by sound evidence and arguments as reflected in the audit report.

4. Submission of Appeals

 In order to be formally accepted as an appeal, the request must meet the following cumulative conditions. It must:

1. be submitted to MFHEA within twenty (20) running days of notification by the Authority. The Authority’s decision shall be notified via email and by means of a registered letter. To avoid any doubt, the twenty days start running from the following day after the email has been sent;
2. be formulated in writing by the Head of the institution’s governing body and include their signature;
3. be clearly marked as an appeal against a particular decision of the Authority, which must be properly identified;
4. include written arguments and evidence to demonstrate the existence of at least one of the grounds described under Point 3 (Grounds for Appeals); and additionally
5. any fees related to the appeal as per these procedures are paid in full.

The audit report, the evaluation of the license application, and the decision of the Authority all exclusively reflect the institutional reality and state of affairs at the moment of the site visit/license application. Therefore, information or documents not previously submitted will not be considered in determining the merits of the appeal. However, additional documents or evidence may be admitted only if these provide evidence of a conflict of interest or improper application of these procedures.

Once the MFHEA confirms that the eligibility conditions listed above are cumulatively fulfilled, the petitioner shall be notified via electronic communication, within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the petition, that the appeal has been accepted and will be analysed.

5. Procedure for dealing with appeals

After MFHEA confirmation that the eligibility conditions are fulfilled, the appeal shall be formally directed to the Appeals Committee.

MFHEA shall have a pool of members out of which three (3) members are selected for each appeal.

The Appeals Committee for each appeal shall have three members, and shall be composed as follows:

1. two members familiar with Quality Assurance;
2. one (1) student who is external to the institution introducing the appeal.

The Appeals Committee shall elect a Chairperson from among its members during its first meeting.

The Appeals Committee shall be chosen by the Authority from amongst the pool of members available and shall have the task of analysing the evidence which the petitioner has submitted in support of its grounds, and shall subsequently determine whether to:

1. dismiss the appeal; or
2. uphold appellants’ arguments (this may be partial); or
3. order that a new evaluation should be conducted at the expense of MFHEA.

The decisions of the Appeals Committee are made by a simple majority. Members of the Committee should declare that they do not have any conflict of interest and should refrain from taking on the role if this is immediately discovered.  Should one of the members be in a situation that could potentially limit their capacity to make objective and professional judgments, in particular considering the provisions for conflict of interest as reflected in MFHEA Code of Ethics, the respective member shall not express their views on the particular case and shall abstain from voting. Should there be an equal number of votes, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote. The Committee shall reach a decision.

The decisions of the Appeals Committee will be enclosed in a written reasoned report formally submitted to MFHEA within four (4) months from the day of appointment of the Committee with the possibility to request an extension of a maximum two (2) months in extraordinary circumstances. This extension may only be requested once. The MFHEA shall forward the report to the petitioner within five (5) working days from the date the report by the Committee is discussed at Board level.

The form and the procedures of the meetings of the Appeals Committee shall be determined by the Committee and may take place virtually or physically. The work of and communication between the members of the Appeals Committee is facilitated by the MFHEA Head responsible for Quality Assurance, or their nominee, in order to: (i) provide the members with the necessary information related to the appeal and the present procedure; (ii) ensure that translation/interpreting is available; and (iii) to ensure that the judgments and decisions of the Committee are properly recorded.

6. Final provisions

The resolution of the appeal is final and may not be the subject of a new appeal to the MFHEA. Parties who remain dissatisfied with the decisions of the Appeals Committee may seek redress in a court of Law.

7. Appeal’s Fees

Together with the submission of appeal as per clause 4, appellant must pay the following fees:

The Appeals Committee may decide to order the refund of up to 75% of the fee to the appellant.