Course Performance Reports Procedures

Intent

These procedures provide the details for the completion of annual Course Performance Reports.  Key findings from the Course Performance Reports will be used by Divisions and Colleges in reviewing and planning changes to academic programs and to inform the development of Division and College plans.

Course Performance Reports are framed under the following principles:

• All JCU academic courses of study leading to an award are required to comply with TEQSA and AQF requirements.
• All JCU courses of study are required to participate in the university’s course and subject quality review cycles, including but not limited to:
  • Annual course review  (Course Performance Reporting); and
  • Internal review every 5-7 years (Comprehensive Course Review, including those courses subject to Professional Accreditation)
• Divisions are responsible to ensure all comprehensive course review requirements (internal and external) are met.  Division governance responsibility rests with the Division Board of Study.
• Comprehensive course reviews will be discipline focused across all AQF levels.

Scope

These procedures apply to all Course Coordinators, College Deans, Associate Deans Learning and Teaching, Directors of Academic Quality and Strategy and other staff with designated responsibilities for preparing and approving the Course Performance Reports.

Definitions

Course: an approved Higher Education Award of the University as defined in the Policy Glossary

Course Performance Report (CPR): An annual report completed by the Course Coordinators for designated undergraduate and postgraduate courses as listed within the Course Performance Report template.

Procedures

1. Course Performance Report Preparation and Approval

1.1 The courses that require a Course Performance Report will be determined annually by each Division and Director of Academic Quality and Strategy. The clustering of some courses for reporting purposes may be approved by the Directors of Academic Quality and Strategy.

1.2 A Course Performance Report is to be completed annually by the Course Coordinator for each course listed in the Course Performance Report template.

1.3 The report will contain key course performance data, current for the previous year, as provided by the Planning, Performance and Analytics Directorate via the Cognos reporting service.  The data for reports can be found at JCU Course Performance Report Live - IBM Cognos Viewer

1.4 The Course Coordinator consults with key staff who have taught into the course so that the report is a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the course.  First Year Coordinators should be included where relevant in these discussions.

1.5 A Course Performance Report template is provided each year.  The template sets out the core information required.

1.6 The Course Coordinator and College Dean, or nominated Academic Head, will sign off on the completed  Course Performance Reports and forward it to the respective Director of Academic Quality and Strategy for final submission to Education Division. The final submission will include an overarching executive summary provided by the College Dean in consultation with the Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching.

1.7 Executive summary documents are compiled by the Education Division and submitted to Education Committee.

2. Follow-up Reporting on the Course Performance Reports

2.1 Analysis and follow-up of Dean Executive Summaries will be undertaken by the Academic Divisions and other key stakeholders (e.g. the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Students, the Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Student Engagement) as appropriate.

2.2 The process for consideration by key University level committees of Course Performance Reports analyses and action plans will be determined annually with a view to informing university wide strategies for course enhancement.

2.3 Course Performance Reports will be placed on the University’s intranet for reference by the relevant committees as required.

2.4 Relevant staff and committees at the College and Academic Division level are expected to  take an active role in the review of the Course Performance Reports and associated reports on findings. Overseeing the development and implementation of the strategies or actions identified in the Course Performance Reports is a key quality assurance and enhancement role for these staff and committees. Key strategies should be captured in the Academic Division and College planning processes.

2.5 Completed Course Performance Reports will contribute to cyclical Comprehensive Course Reviews.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

4. Available data

4.1 The data to be analysed by the Course Coordinator for the Course Performance Report is contained within the Cognos reports provided by Planning Performance and Analytics.  Data will be provided for the last five years to enable longitudinal analysis.

4.2 The Cognos report includes a number of primary and secondary ‘traffic lights’ for a proportion of the data sets to assist Course Coordinators to more easily analyse the data.

4.3 Data sets are reviewed annually and will comply with the template set in November of the previous year, and may include such areas as course demand, course outcomes, retention, student experience, and external stakeholder feedback.

Related policy instruments

Curriculum Approval, Accreditation, Monitoring, Review and Improvement Policy

Administration

NOTE: Printed copies of this policy are uncontrolled, and currency can only be assured at the time of printing.

Approval Details

Revision History