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Purpose The paper documents the roles played by the institutional quality assurance cells (IQACs) to implement the University Grants Commission (UGC) directive to shift to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Bangladesh. It highlights the government's efforts to ensure quality education, particularly in utilizing IQACs in the various public and private universities. The paper starts with the pandemic situation in the country, followed by the overall responses of the government, including its directives regarding the conduct of higher education. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilizes as framework the Sloan Consortium's Five Pillars of Quality Online Learning – learning effectiveness, student satisfaction, teacher satisfaction, scale and access. The paper then analyzes the oral reports of 26 IQACs, which were presented to government officials in two meetings. Findings From the analysis, it is apparent that IQACs have contributed toward the shift to full online education during the pandemic period. Universities responded to the crisis mainly in the areas of governance, teaching and learning and student support services. To guide policy formulation, the IQACs (with the help of other university units) conducted surveys among their faculty and students regarding their access to Internet, financial difficulties and mental health situation. From here, they drafted academic policies (attendance, student assessment and online teaching), conducted capacity building activities, monitored faculty performance, formulated guidelines on student online behavior and encouraged stakeholders to trust the online system. Originality/value The study is original since (like many countries) the pandemic has forced education activities to go online. It looks at both the macro level (the concerns of the University Grants Commission or UGC concerning quality education in an online setting) and the micro level (what universities have undertaken to address the concerns of the UGC).

UGC's responses to the pandemic: roles of Institutional Quality Assurance Cells in Bangladesh