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The purpose of this paper is to study the extent and the quality of student involvement in the quality assurance process (QAP) in Egyptian higher education institutions (HEIs).

In this study, two qualitative methods were used to explore the extent and the quality of student involvement; these were focus groups and interviews. The aim of the study was achieved by collecting data from samples of students and staff members belonging to 14 public and private universities and institutes in Egypt.

The results indicated that students were not efficiently involved in the QAP at the Egyptian HEIs. They were involved in responding to QA-related questionnaires to a large extent in the case when the HEI was on its way to be accredited or if it was accredited already. It revealed that students were not widely involved in committees regarding QAP. They were invited to meet the external review panel members that were sent by the national accreditation body, but they did not participate in writing the self-evaluation report or even reviewing it. Three factors influencing the extent of student involvement are highlighted.

The paper provides an empirical insight of the extent and the quality of student involvement in Egyptian HEIs. The importance of this study comes from the fact that after the Egypt’s uprising in January 25, 2011; community pressures appeared to precede positive changes, specifically in the educational sector. From that point of time, higher education (HE) students wanted to be seen as partners in developing their HEIs. Therefore, this study introduces a set of recommendations to increase student involvement to three main Egyptian institutions; these are the ministry of HE, the national quality assurance body and the HEIs.

This paper aims to critically review and discuss different definitions of the concepts of quality, quality assurance (QA) and quality enhancement (QE) in higher education (HE) with presenting critical perspectives of the literature.

The paper looks at literature concerns with the meaning of quality, QA and QE, regarding HE context. It analysis and critically reviews the different definitions of these key concepts.

This paper suggests that the concepts of QA and QE should be dealt as part of a continuum and showed the need for both as an ongoing process in HE institutions.

The paper provides a unique analysis of the widely cited pieces of research regarding the concept of quality, QA and QE. It contributes to increase the understanding of those key concepts in HE sector, its origin and mean stream view. It outlines the importance of having a clear understanding of these terms and highlights the difficulties of having a unified definition.

This paper aims to create a theoretical model of student involvement in the institutional quality assurance process at their universities.

The model suggested in this paper was created and developed from a critical examination of relevant literature on stakeholder involvement in decision making and quality assurance processes, regarding different disciplines.

This paper presents a theoretical model of student involvement in the institutional quality assurance with its diminutions, categories and 20 rungs of student activities. It suggests a definition of student involvement term, regarding participating in the quality assurance process at higher education institutions. The importance of involving students in quality assurance procedures has been discussed. The paper provides some international experiences about student involvement in institutional QAP depending on the categories of student involvement activities that were suggested in the theoretical model.

The paper reveals a comprehensive model of student involvement that allows a full understanding of the extent and nature of the activities which higher education students undertake when they involve themselves in the quality assurance process at their institution.