Strategic Responses to Teaching Quality Accountability: A Case Study of a Regional University in China from a Decoupling Perspective.

In order to improve the quality of undergraduate teaching, the Chinese government has been implementing a scheme of institutional accountability in a bid to ensure the adequacy of university quality assurance measures. This study employed a qualitative method to explore the responses of administrative personnel and the perceptions of academics at a local comprehensive university, which has recently experienced a new round of external review mechanisms. Through in-depth interviews conducted with 23 staff members from four units, we found the university had adopted flexible strategies to respond to the external pressures. The reasons can be categorized under five 'C's: the Cause of the institutional review, the Constituents for the university and academics, accountability Control measures, the Content of the external review and the Context of this particular university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]