Clustering of Internal Quality Assurance System Standard Evaluation Data (Case Study: Department of Information Technology, Padang State Polytechnic)

Abstract

Law Number 12 of 2012 concerning Higher Education establishes a policy for institutional autonomy aimed at enhancing the quality of higher education through the Higher Education Quality Assurance System (SPM-PT). The SPM-PT framework comprises the Internal Quality Assurance System (SPMI), the External Quality Assurance System (SPME), and a Higher Education Database (PD Dikti). In the Information Technology department, evaluations are conducted annually. The SPMI cycle follows a five-stage process: Setting, Implementation, Evaluation, Control, and Improvement (P-P-E-P-P). Quality review takes place during the third stage—evaluation. Currently, the processing of data from auditor evaluations is time-consuming and prone to errors. Furthermore, given the numerous standard criteria assessed by auditors, the department must prioritize which criteria to address or improve first. To streamline the evaluation process, a more user-friendly data entry mechanism for auditors is required. Consequently, this research develops an Android-based application to facilitate the input of SPMI standard evaluation data. Additionally, the study categorizes standard criteria based on their relative impact on the quality of the academic program. This is achieved using a clustering algorithm—specifically, Hierarchical Clustering—which groups the criteria according to their interdependencies and influence on overall quality. This approach enables the identification of specific standard criteria that should be prioritized for improvement.