Received July 14, 2020; Revised July 24, 2020; Accepted July 24, 2020

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to determine how academic staff in Ugandan universities are implementing internal quality assurance (IQA) practices in their universities. The study examined the internal and external factors that determine an individual academic staff‘s perception of the IQA practices using a concurrent mixed methods design. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 321 respondents using self-administered questionnaires and key informant interviews. Data analysis and interpretation was grounded on Lipsky’s (1980) theory of street level bureaucracy and Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior. The analyses which reflect the views of a pragmatic realist, show that academic staff are positive about the presence of IQA practices in their universities, but they are not involved in the policy planning and they do not get relevant feedback from the different IQA activities they undertake. There was evidence of little understanding and application of institutional research (IR) to inform quality assurance and other management practices.
This research thus recommends the adoption of an evidence-based dialogue (EBD) model. This model is an original proposition that provides a framework to integrate institutional research with IQA practices as well as facilitating constructive communication between university management and academic staff