APAC Accreditation Summary Assessment Report

Transcription

1 APAC Accreditation Summary Assessment Report Higher Education Provider School of Psychology, Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors Pty Ltd (AIPC) trading as the Australian Institute of Psychology Date of determination 27 July 2010 s version August 2009 Version 9 This is a summary of the outcomes of the APAC accreditation assessment of the Australian Institute for Professional Counsellors Pty Ltd. The higher education provider is a Company limited by guarantee named the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors Pty Ltd ATF AIPC Qld Trust but will trade as the Australian Institute of Psychology (the Institute) for the purpose of offering psychology degrees. The Company s main campus and head office is at Fortitude Valley Brisbane, in addition to which it maintains a presence in other major capital cities. The Institute has not previously offered psychology programs, and proposes to offer a single psychology degree, the Bachelor of Psychological Science, in both internal and external modes. The Institute has an identified School of Psychology, with a Head of School and three part-time academic staff with plans to expand staffing as the course commences. The Institute is currently accredited by the Queensland Office of Higher Education as a private provider of higher education courses to offer a Bachelor of Counselling program. The Institute s stated plans for the School of Psychology were set out in the accreditation application and evidence supporting the viability and quality of the plans were scrutinised and tested during the assessment. Should the plans be executed as set out, the Institute would meet most of the s concerning the psychology academic organisational unit. The exception is which requires the demonstration of a milieu of research and scholarship in which staff are actively involved in conducting and publishing their research work and where staff research work informs teaching. While this is not currently met the Institute has produced a policy document which, in combination with the appointment of a Head of Research, demonstrates planning and commitment to developing a research culture. Should the Institute s research development plans be executed as set out in the application and other documents cited by the assessors, these s are likely to be met.

2 The requirement for a full-time level E appointment to the School which satisfies APAC s benchmarking criteria has not been met. If enrolments as well as staffing recruitment and retention proceed according to plan, the Institute will satisfy academic staffing s. Selection criteria for the vacant academic positions appear to meet s demonstrating teaching and research experience and subject expertise. The School appeared to be well supported with administrative, technical and computing staff and has good access to new teaching spaces for tutorials, as well as access to new lecture facilities. There appears to be satisfactory laboratory space at present, with a large new teaching computer laboratory. The general impression formed of the new premises is that it is well planned and built for the dedicated purpose of teaching psychology. The School currently has no dedicated research facilities for staff and as appointments to the academic staff are made facilities will need to be acquired and appropriately fitted and the Institute will need to plan for this in order to meet The Institute is commended for provision of new dedicated psychology facilities with good infrastructure support. The School has a small but adequate test library the current holdings of which are based on a view regarding the likely content and requirements of the Bachelor of Psychological Science course. The School has a larger library which gives access to both online and hard copy resources for students and staff. The accreditation assessors were satisfied that the s concerning the test library and the main library were satisfied and adequate to commence the program. The accreditation assessment team was impressed by the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative support provided and believes that the School has demonstrated its capacity to provide effective administrative support to external programs. A credible and detailed plan for maintaining equivalence of teaching and support mechanisms in the internal and external modes was presented in the accreditation application. The Institute is commended for the effectiveness and professionalism of its existing administrative and support processes as a provider of vocational training and of higher education in the Bachelor of Counselling program. The Bachelor of Psychological Science course had been substantially redesigned since the last set of plans were examined and there is now an appropriate level of depth as well as breadth in the program and content, assisted mainly the electives to be offered. The APAC assessment team observed that substantial and major improvements have been made to both the structure and content of the program since the previous plans. Since the program has not yet commenced, there were neither completed written work examples to be scrutinised nor students who could be interviewed. However, the assessors were supplied with intended Study Guides, Readings, Laboratory Programs, and even Examinations for some units. These were detailed and judged to be competently written and designed. 2

3 APAC granted the AOU and the Bachelor of Psychological Science conditional accreditation, with conditions to be met within a time limit and monitoring of progress toward meeting those conditions to be undertaken. The additional accompanying notation Under Development will be added to the published accreditation grade to denote that conditional status is linked to fact that the School and its courses are still being created. The assessment team appreciated the very clear and detailed submission made by the School. 3

4 APAC Accreditation Summary Checklist for use with APAC s August 2009 Version 9 Name of Institution: Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors Name of AOU: School of Psychology Date of Site Visit: Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 July 2010 Accreditation of the AOU Rules Rule Section 5 Accreditation Status Section 6 New Course Development General Accreditation s The Psychology AOU Multi-Campus Institutions Nomenclature Academic Staffing Resources Teaching and Materials: Managing the Learning Process Special Arrangements for Offshore Teaching Undergraduate 3-Year Sequence Courses Length Course Structure Course Content Assessment Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing Undergraduate Fourth Year Courses Entry Requirements Length Course Structure Course Content Research Methods and Professional and Research Ethics Research Project Assessment Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing

5 Four Year Sequence Course Structure /4.1.3 Course Content (Years 1-4) / Research Methods and Professional and Research Ethics Research Project Assessment / Assessment of 4 th Year Research Project Awarding of Credit or Advance Standing / Graduate Diploma of Professional Psychology (5 th Year) Staffing Advisory/Liaison and Quality Review Committee Resources Credit for Previous Studies Core Capabilities and Attributes Knowledge of the (a) Discipline Core Capabilities and Attributes Ethical, Legal and (b) Professional Matters Core Capabilities and Attributes Psychological (c) Assessment & Measurement Core Capabilities and Attributes Intervention Strategies (d) Core Capabilities and Attributes Research and (e) Evaluation Core Capabilities and Attributes Communication and (f) Interpersonal Relationships Core Capabilities Assessment Log Book Placement and Other Practica Entry Requirements Length Course Structure Coursework Practica and Skills Training

6 Fifth and Sixth Year Masters Course of Professional Education Staffing Advisory/Liaison and Quality Review Committee Resources Credit for Previous Study Core Capabilities and Attributes Knowledge of the (a) Discipline Core Capabilities and Attributes Ethical, Legal and (b) Professional Matters Core Capabilities and Attributes Psychological (c) Assessment & Measurement Core Capabilities and Attributes Intervention Strategies (d) Core Capabilities and Attributes Research and (e) Evaluation Core Capabilities and Attributes Communication and (f) Interpersonal Relationships Core Capabilities Assessment Log Book Placement and Other Practica Assessment Procedures Entry Requirements Length Course Structure Coursework Research Practical Placements Assessment Professional Doctorates Staffing Advisory/Liaison and Quality Review Committee Resources Credit for Previous Study Core Capabilities and Attributes Knowledge of the (a) Discipline Core Capabilities and Attributes Ethical, Legal and (b) Professional Matters Core Capabilities and Attributes Psychological Assessment & Measurement (c) 3

7 Core Capabilities and Attributes Intervention Strategies (d) Core Capabilities and Attributes Research and (e) Evaluation Core Capabilities and Attributes Communication and (f) Interpersonal Relationships Core Capabilities Assessment Log Book Placement and Other Practica / Entry Requirements Length Course Structure Coursework Research Practical Placements Graduate Certificate or Diploma in Psychology (Area of Specialisation) Entry Requirements Practicum Coursework Comments: Team Leader Name: Associate Professor Jacques Metzer Authorised: per Date: 12 October 2010 Created on: 6 October