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Short Course and Non-Award Course Management Procedure

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Section 1 - Future Education Division Introduction/Background

(1) The University of Wollongong (UOW) is committed to supporting the lifelong learning of learners, students, staff, community members, graduates and industry professionals. The University offers a range of opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills in flexible ways that enable the University’s learner community to succeed at all stages of their learning journey.

(2) Pursuant to the Course Policy, the Course Portfolio Policy Framework sets out the overall framework for managing course-related matters at UOW.

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Section 2 - Scope/Purpose

(3) This Procedure applies to all non-award and short courses offered by UOW’s onshore campuses. Offerings can be made available both onshore and globally.

(4) This Procedure outlines the design, approval and review processes for non-award and short courses.

(5) This Procedure does not apply to award courses offered by UOW. The Course and Subject Approval Procedures, Course Design Procedures and Course Monitoring and Review Procedures cover the equivalent scope of requirements for award courses.

(6) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) may exempt a short course or a suite of short courses from the application of the provisions of these Procedures, either generally or for a specified period of time.

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Section 3 - Design

(7) UOW short course and non-award course opportunities will be designed with the following features:

  1. Transformative – supporting individuals’ personal and professional development;
  2. Flexible – enabling learners to engage in flexible ways based on their needs;
  3. Engaged – meeting the changing needs of our communities, education sector, industry and public sector, both domestically and internationally;
  4. Diverse – including informal and formal learning opportunities, which can be offered at any stage of an individual’s education lifecycle and structured in any delivery mode; and
  5. Aligned – drawing on UOW’s disciplinary strengths and aligned to the UOW strategic goals, including interdisciplinary engagement and engagement with participants who have been impacted by social-cultural or economic factors.

(8) Each non-award and short course will:

  1. align with the strategic directions of the University, the Faculty or the academic unit;
  2. be relevant to participant, graduate, industry and/or community needs; and
  3. be a distinct offering within UOW’s course portfolio.

(9) A short course or non-award activity must use a title that makes it clear it is not an Australian Qualifications Framework award course. Terminology is otherwise flexible and may be aligned to industry practice and/or market expectations.

(10) Learning Outcomes must be specified for each short course or non-award course.

(11) Any minimum entry requirements or assumed knowledge must be communicated to prospective participants.

(12) Participation requirements and anticipated participant workload should be clearly outlined to prospective participants, including volume of learning and duration.

Non-Award Courses

(13) Non-award courses must be:

  1. reportable under the Higher Education Support Act 2003;
  2. funded by the Australian government;
  3. allow students to access Commonwealth supported places; or
  4. allow students to undertake study in reportable subjects.

(14) Non-award courses, that satisfy clause 3.7 may:

  1. provide research skills and which are embedded as part of a research degree program for Level 10 AQF qualification (for example: Research Methods, Research Principles, and Fundamentals of Research courses);
  2. enable students to undertake one or more UOW subjects, which do not constitute an award course (e.g. Study Abroad/Exchange or single subject enrolment; cross institutional study)
  3. enable students to demonstrate competence that would allow them to successfully gain entry to a UOW award course (e.g. enabling programs)
  4. be any other course designated by the government as reportable, which is not an award course.

(15) Courses that are neither reportable nor funded are not non-award courses and therefore should follow the requirements for short courses.

(16) Assessment is required within non-award courses that guarantee entry to a UOW Award.

(17) Fees are set and managed in accordance with the Fees Policy.

Short Courses

(18) Short courses may be:

  1. microcredentials;
  2. continuing education;
  3. continuing professional development; or
  4. pathway programs (excluding enabling programs).

(19) Short courses may be designed as a suite of related offerings. They may be designed with a coherence to a UOW Award Course to prepare learners with the requisite knowledge or skills to succeed and/or to provide credit towards an Award Course.

(20) Short courses can be delivered through any of the University’s approved delivery modes.

(21) Short courses that will be given a notional credit value must also align to the additional requirements of a microcredential.

(22) Fees are to be set during the approval process.

Microcredentials

(23) A microcredential must be mapped to an appropriate AQF level.

(24) Each microcredential is assigned a notional credit point value (2 credit points minimum).

(25) Credit arrangements for a microcredential must be identified at the time of approval. Limits on credit outlined in the UOW Credit for Prior Learning Policy and Credit for Prior Learning Procedures will apply.

(26) Applicants seeking entry to an Award course and applying for credit associated with the microcredential will need to meet the entry requirements of the Award course and provide evidence of their completion of microcredential.

(27) Each microcredential must include compulsory assessment that must:

  1. assure those learning outcomes;
  2. be appropriate to the relevant mapped AQF level;
  3. be academically robust to align with UOW’s reputation as a quality education provider;
  4. be appropriate for the mode(s) of delivery, the level of learning, and the learning outcomes;
  5. be fair, valid and consistent;
  6. contain or involve some form of summative assessment(s); and
  7. address the UOW Assessment and Feedback Principles.
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Section 4 - New Course Approval Process

Faculty Short-Course Proposals

(28) The Faculty is responsible for developing the proposal for a New Offering of a short course, in accordance with the requisite approval form together with required supporting documentation

(29) The Faculty is responsible for undertaking appropriate consultation with other faculties, academic and support units, and to manage any identified impacts arising from the proposal.

(30) The Faculty may seek a viability assessment from the Enabling Hub to provide market intelligence, including advice on fees and market demand.

(31) The proposal requires endorsement from the Faculty Education Committee.

(32) Depending on the Faculty governance structure, there may be additional groups or sub-committee(s) that are required to endorse the proposal before the Faculty Education Committee.

(33) The relevant Faculty Executive Dean is the final approval authority for short course approvals owned by that Faculty.

(34) Where a Faculty short course is proposed to be offered in partnership, the relevant Faculty Executive Dean will the delegated authority for approving the partnership in accordance with the requirements in section 8.

Non-Faculty Short Course Proposals

(35) The relevant Unit is responsible for developing the proposal for a New Offering in accordance with the requisite approval form together with required supporting documentation

(36) The relevant Unit is responsible for undertaking appropriate consultation with faculties, academic and support units, and to manage any identified impacts arising from the proposal.

(37) The relevant Unit may seek a viability assessment from the Enabling Hub to provide market intelligence, including advice on fees and market demand.

(38) The proposal requires endorsement from the Director of the relevant Unit.

(39) Where credit is being offered by a Faculty the endorsement of the Faculty Education Committee (FEC) must be provided.

(40) Short course proposals are submitted to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) through Future Education Division (Future Ed) for approval.

(41) Future Ed may seek clarification of any issues identified with a short course proposal prior to forwarding the proposal to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life).

(42) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) is the Delegated Authority for the approval of short course proposals, having regard to any recommendations made by Future Ed regarding the proposal.

(43) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) may approve short course proposals subject to the resolution of any issues identified with the proposal. It is the responsibility of the proposing unit to resolve these issues to the satisfaction of the Manager, Course Portfolio.

(44) Where a non-Faculty short course is proposed to be offered in partnership, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) will the Delegated Authority for approving the partnership. Where a lifelong learning program is owned jointly by two or more Faculties / Units, all relevant approvals must be obtained.

Non-Award Proposals

(45) Non-award course proposals may be proposed by Faculties and other non-faculty units.

(46) If the course is offered by a specific Faculty, the proposal is required to be submitted to that Faculty Education Committee for endorsement.

(47) Non-award course proposals are submitted for approval to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) as Delegated Authority through Future Ed.

(48) Future Ed may seek clarification of any issues identified with a non-award course proposal prior to forwarding the proposal to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life).

(49) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) may have regard to any recommendations made by Future Ed when assessing the proposal.

(50) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Life) may approve non-award course proposals subject to the resolution of any issues identified with the proposal. It is the responsibility of the proposing unit or Faculty to resolve these issues to the satisfaction of the Manager, Course Portfolio.

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Section 5 - Amendments

(51) All amendments to the approved design of short courses owned by a Faculty shall be endorsed by the FEC and approved by the relevant Executive Dean.

(52) All amendments to the approved design of short courses owned by a non-faculty unit shall be endorsed by the Director of the relevant portfolio and approved by the Director, Future Education.

(53) Where a non-faculty short course offers credit into an award course the FEC of the award course owning faculty must also endorse the proposed amendment.

(54) All amendments to the approved design of non-award courses shall be endorsed by the Director of the relevant portfolio or FEC and approved by the Director, Future Education.

(55) All amendments impacting information held on the Central Register must be submitted to FED.

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Section 6 - Discontinuations

(56) All discontinuations of short courses owned by a Faculty shall be endorsed by FEC and approved by relevant Executive Dean as Delegated Authority.

(57) All discontinuations of short courses owned by a non-faculty unit shall be endorsed by the Director of the relevant portfolio and approved by the Director, Future Education.

(58) All discontinuations of non-award courses shall be endorsed by the Director of the relevant portfolio or FEC and approved by the Director, Future Education.

(59) All discontinuations must be submitted to FED, so the Central Register can be updated, and be noted in the Course Portfolio Plan of the faculty (where the course is faculty owned).

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Section 7 - Accreditation

(60) Faculties offering continuing professional development or other short course programs that require industry accreditation are responsible for applying for and managing any accreditation requirements.

(61) Future Ed must be advised of any accreditations granted or any changes to accreditation status, so that the Central Register can be updated.

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Section 8 - Partnerships

(62) Non-award and short courses can be offered in partnership with third parties, including industry, government, education and community-based organisations within Australia or overseas.

(63) A non-award and short course offered in partnership may be:

  1. an existing UOW offering delivered with minor modifications for the partner’s context;
  2. developed primarily by UOW to meet the needs of the partner;
  3. co-created by UOW and the partner; or
  4. developed primarily by the partner with UOW providing educational leadership, advice and any assurance of learning.

(64) In all partnership arrangements where UOW is issuing a credential for the short course or non-award course, UOW must maintain oversight of the quality of the teaching staff, the teaching, content, learning activities, learning resources and any assessment of learning.

(65) Any proposal for a non-award and short course offered in partnership must specify the role of the partner, if any, in co-design, co-delivery, (co)supervision, and/or co-assessment. Following approval of a proposal, partnership arrangements must be documented to clarify responsibilities, ownership of intellectual property and other relevant issues as described in the ‘Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) Guidance Note: Third Party Arrangements’.

(66) Consideration should also be given to the applicability of the Alliances Policy (for partnerships with overseas organisations) and the Collaborative Delivery of a UOW Course Policy.

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Section 9 - Implementation Activities

Central Register and Course Database

(67) Approved short-course proposal must be submitted to Future Ed for inclusion on the Central Register.

(68) Future Ed is responsible for updating the Course Database with any non-award approvals, discontinuations or amendments (as required).

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Section 10 - Evaluation and Review

(69) Non-award and short course should be monitored and evaluated via:

  1. Reflections on delivery, as specified in clauses 10.2 and 10.3; and
  2. Annual Course Portfolio Planning, as specified in clause 10.4.

(70) The staff member responsible for the delivery of short or non-award courses must complete a delivery reflection following each delivery, addressing the criteria outlined in Appendix 1 and document any recommendations to improve the quality of the course.

(71) Where delivery is on a rolling schedule that allows multiple intakes throughout the year then it is recommended that the staff member delivering the program considers possible improvements throughout the year. However, they will only be required to submit one combined reflection for the year.

(72) The review of the Faculty and University portfolio of short and non-award courses, in terms of viability and strategic alignment, will be undertaken annual as part of the Course Portfolio Planning Process through the Course Portfolio Development Group.

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Section 11 - Roles and Responsibilities

(73) Future Education Division (Future Ed) is responsible for:

  1. providing advice to faculties on viability and market demand via the Enabling Hub;
  2. providing faculty and non-faculty units with a clear process and forms/systems to enable approval, amendments and discontinuations of short and non-award courses;
  3. maintaining the Central Register and Course Database.

(74) The Faculty and/or Unit owning non-award and short courses are responsible for:

  1. designing and developing short and non-award courses in line with the requirements of these Procedures and the Copyright Policy;
  2. appointing Short Course Convenors and a Faculty Short Course Director.
  3. monitoring and ensuring the quality of short and non-award courses; and
  4. managing any accreditations associated with short or non-award courses.
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Section 12 - Appendix 1 – Design and Delivery Reflection Criteria

(75) A reflection will address the following criteria:

  1. Design:
    1. Appropriateness of the learning outcomes;
    2. Appropriateness of sequencing of content and activities;
    3. Suitability of content having regard to:
      1. the relevant discipline;
      2. contemporary developments in the discipline or field, including contemporary research and practice;
      3. registration/accreditation requirements (if any);
    4. Suitability of assessment tasks having regard to:
      1. the learning outcomes;
      2. assessment and feedback principles; and
  2. Delivery:
    1. Appropriateness of content, assessments and learning activities to the mode of delivery, and where relevant the technological platform used to deliver them;
    2. Where relevant, arrangements for delivery at other delivery locations including by third parties.
  3. Performance:
    1. Viability of the courses;
    2. Learner performance data;
    3. Feedback from learners and staff.
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Section 13 - Definitions

(76) The key terms used in this Procedure are defined in the Course Policy.