Accreditation of Courses and/or Disciplines

Intent

This policy specifies the University approval and monitoring processes for all external accreditations of courses and/or disciplines.

Scope

This policy is concerned with both mandatory and voluntary external accreditations of courses and/or disciplines.

Definitions

Mandatory accreditation – accreditation that is a pre-requisite for course graduates to be registered or otherwise licensed to practice in a regulated profession.*

Voluntary accreditation – accreditation that is undertaken at the discretion of the University.This includes accreditation that is a prerequisite for graduates to be members of the relevant professional body but not a pre-requisite for graduates to practice in the relevant profession.*

• Note the term accreditation as used in this policy encompasses provisional, interim or conditional accreditation as well as re-accreditation.

Accrediting body – the body responsible for accrediting courses and/or disciplines on behalf of the profession.

Accreditation submission – the documentation submitted by the University to the accrediting body as a set requirement of the accreditation process.

Accreditation report – the report produced by the accrediting body on the outcomes of the accreditation process.

Accreditation response – the response provided by the University to the accrediting body regarding the accreditation report.

Policy

External accreditation by professional bodies entails a significant investment of University staffing resources and brings a range of benefits to the University, its courses/disciplines and its students.These include:

• recognition of graduates by employers;

• graduate employment mobility and eligibility for professional body membership;

• independent quality assurance and enhancement;

• opportunities for comparisons against national and internationally endorsed standards; and

• reputational benefits that flow from the above.

In recognition of these benefits, and of the resource impacts that may arise, the University follows the procedures set out below.This is to ensure that accreditation submissions, outcomes and responses, as an integral part of the University’s quality enhancement framework, are approved, monitored and reviewed at senior levels within Faculties and through to Academic Board.

Procedures

1. All course/discipline accreditation submissions prepared by School staff will be approved by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor or his/her delegate(s).

2. Visits to the University by representatives of an accrediting body for the purposes of accreditation will include an interview on completion of the visit with the Vice-Chancellor and/or Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic or, where unavailable, their nominee.

3. Upon receipt of the accreditation report, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor will provide the Chairs of Education Committee and Academic Board with a copy of the report and, for their joint approval, the proposed Faculty/School response.

3.1 Where an accreditation report recommendations warrant, a Faculty/School action plan to address those recommendations will also be provided for approval.

3.2 The accreditation report and response (and action plan as required) will be provided to the Chairs of Education Committee and Academic Board within three months of receipt of the accreditation report, or sooner if the accrediting body has stipulated a shorter timeframe for response.

4. Upon approval of the accreditation response (and action plan as required), by the Chairs of Education Committee and Academic Board, a copy of each of these and the accreditation report will be provided for noting to Academic Board, via Education Committee.

4.1 The accreditation report and approved response (and action plan as required) will go to the Education Committee meeting following the approval.

5. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor will ensure that for each accredited course/discipline with a current accreditation action plan, a progress report on the action plan is included in the annual Course Performance Report each year until the action plan is completed.

5.1 Faculty Academic Program Reports will include advice on any significant issues arising from accreditation report recommendations.

6. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor will submit Faculty proposals to initiate new or to cease existing voluntary accreditation for approval by Academic Board via Education Committee.

6. 1 Proposals will provide a strategic assessment and statement that sets out the balance between the benefits of accreditation and the resourcing required to achieve and maintain the accreditation.The risks associated with ceasing, or failing to achieve, the accreditation should be clearly identified, along with any mitigating strategies.

6.2 Proposals will be submitted at least 12 months before the accreditation is expected to take place, except in exceptional circumstances.

6.3 Where the new accreditation applies to a proposed new course, Faculties should normally submit the proposal for accreditation along with the course approval documentation so that it can be considered in the course approval process.

7. Proposals to Academic Board for new courses or changes to existing course/discipline arrangements will outline any professional accreditation implications associated with these proposals.

7.1 Where required, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor will ensure that the accrediting body receives timely advice regarding the changes.

8. To ensure that external accreditation is fully integrated into the University’s Quality Enhancement Framework, the Quality Enhancement Office will:

8.1 establish and maintain a schedule of all University accreditations and hold copies of all accreditation reports, responses, action plans and progress reports;

8.2 at the first meeting of each academic year, provide Academic Board, via Education Committee, with a list of the accreditations scheduled for that year;

8.3 liaise with Faculties to confirm the timing of, and policy requirements for, the submission of accreditation proposals and reports, responses and action plans to Academic Board via Education Committee

8.3.1 the timing details will be provided to the Governance Support Unit to inform the preparation of relevant meeting agendas; and

8.4 advise Academic Board via Education Committee of any accreditation issues identified through review of accreditation outcomes and annual Course Performance and Academic Program Reports, including integration into the annual planning cycle, University wide themes and good practice examples.

Approval Details

Policy sponsor:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Approval authority:	Academic Board
Version no:	12-1
Date for next review:	12/09/2016

Modification History

Version no.	Approval date	Implementation date	Details
12-1	12/03/2012	13/03/2012
11-2	12/09/2011	13/09/2011
11-1	28/02/2011	01/03/2011
09-1	09/10/2009	10/10/2009

Stella Coppola last updated this page on 26 Mar 2013.