University autonomy has been a topic of wide discussions in academic world, especially in connection with educational reform and the pursuit of academic excellence. It has been perceived that autonomous universities cannot achieve their goals of being excellent without proper implementation of the principles of good governance, in which quality represents one the most important issues of public interest. According to high expectation in performance excellence, four public autonomous universities have been established in Thailand since 1993. Therefore, in the present stage, effective measurement and processes are required to assess quality of those public autonomous universities. Although the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria and framework have been widely accepted as a means of self-assessment to enhance performance of business and health organizations, there has been limited concrete theoretical and empirical evidence for their validity when applied in higher-education institutions. Since its inception in 1987, the MBNQA criteria have evolved from measurement of organizational quality to a guideline for business companies moving toward performance excellence. The dimensions, examination items, and framework of the MBNQA criteria present the underlying relationships between the various quality measurement constructs and between quality management and organizational performance. Most importantly, the MBNQA criteria provide a comprehensive framework or tool for self-assessment and help organizations develop a common language and philosophy concerning quality. Literature survey showed two major applications of MBNQA in higher education institutions namely, the organizational effectiveness and the relationship between learning and the curriculum. The framework of the Baldrige National Quality Program: Education Criteria for Performance Excellence (2004) consists of four basic elements namely, driver, system, measures of progress, and goals, whereas the core concepts embodied in the MBNQA criteria consists of seven key dimensions that explain what processes, procedures, and outcomes are associated with a quality organization. They are; (1) leadership, (2) strategic development, (3) measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, (4) faculty and staff focus, (5) process management, (6) student, stakeholder, and market focus and satisfaction, and (7) organizational performance results; among which quality leadership has been pointed out to be the most important key driver in the MBNQA criteria. The purpose of the present research is to develop a systematic method for the assessment of quality of a public autonomous university in Thailand, using the Baldrige education criteria and framework, as well as descriptive statistics and a structural equation model (SEM), with the emphasis is on organizational performance and effectiveness.

To investigate the seven dimensions, the standard MBNQA questionnaire was adopted, with some modifications to comply with the context of Thai higher education. The levels of the practice of the key elements in the MBNQA application guidelines were measured through 110 items, rated using a seven-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was scrutinized by four former vice rectors for planning of the university, who provided valuable comments in terms of wording and some other useful information. To assess the internal consistency and reliability, the Cronbach’s alpha (α) was employed. Structural equation modeling was applied to study quality-related performance and the casual relationships between all the key dimensions, especially those in the system and outcomes. The questionnaire was pre-tested before bringing to 300 participants; senior administrators, faculties, supporting staffs, stakeholders, and students. The fitness of the proposed model was tested and confirmed using a maximum likelihood fitting function; chi-square, RMSEA and CFI

Due to the competitions for scarce resources, higher education institutions in all countries have to demonstrate their quality, productivities, effectiveness, and efficiencies to the public. In Thailand, university autonomy has been a magic phrase for higher education institutions aiming at achiving the goals of being exellent in all of their missions. Since autonomous universities have been established in Thailand for more than fifteen years, their quality has been subject to serious evaluations. Attempt has been made in the present study to apply the MBNQA criteria and framework to assess quality of a public autonomous university in Thailand. A reliable theoretical model that could help manage quality of the university was also provided. The importance of this study relied on the fact that it attempted to test the proposed model both at the theoretical construct level and at the criteria level.