ACAEMIC 1 COURSE LIFECYCLE NEW COURSEWK PROGRAM PROCEURES Parent Policy Title Course Lifecycle Policy Associated ocuments Course Lifecycle all procedures Course Lifecycle Course Suspension and Closure Policy and Procedures Undergraduate Curriculum esign Policy and Procedures Graduate Capabilities Policy and Procedures Credit Points and Course Structure Policy and Procedures Majors and Minors Policy and Procedures Coursework Masters Policy and Procedures ouble, Combined, ual and Joint Qualifications Policy and Procedures Nested Qualifications Policy and Procedures Service Teaching Policy and Procedures Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 Future Ready: Strategic Plan 2013-2017 Preamble The University will apply consistent principles and procedures to guide the University community in the approval of new courses. General This process for the approval of new courses will ensure the assessment, prior to approval, of: academic values and the application of quality design standards AN potential market, direct, indirect and opportunity costs and the likely business success. Table of Contents Item Section Identification of New Course Opportunities and Proposing College Approval of a new Coursework Program 2 Submission to Course Portfolio and Scholarships 3 Basis for Course Portfolio & Scholarships decision Course Concept 5 CPSC deliberation 6 If further Market research is required 7 CPSC Advice to Colleges 8 Academic Approval - Accreditation 9 New Course proposal 10 1 4 V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 1 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 New Subjects in Course Proposal 11 Completion of Course Proposal 12 Consultation with other Areas of the University 13 Consultation with Students 14 ouble or Nested qualifications approval processes 15 Course structure information 16 Coursework ecision 17 Referral of matters to the Education 18 Coursework advice to Colleges 19 Academic Board ecision 20 Academic Board advice to Colleges 21 Fast Tracking of Approvals Processes 22 Circumstances which may allow Fast-Tracking of Processes 23 Inclusion in Tertiary Application Centre Guides 24 Critical ates for course approvals for inclusion in TAC guides Annual Cut-off ates for Approval of Courses to be Offered in the Following Year 25 26 1. Identification of New Course Opportunities and Proposing College New course opportunities may be identified by a College or may be commissioned by the Course Portfolio and Scholarships (CPSC) of the Planning and Resources (PRC). In circumstances where more than one School and/or College are proposing the course together, one College and one School should be identified as the Proposing College and Proposing School. This needs to be indicated on each form, and references in this document are to the Proposing College/School /etc. Responsibility for preparing all documentation lies with the Proposing College. In cases where course opportunities are commissioned by the CPSC, initial market research is the responsibility of the CPSC, in consultation with the relevant College. Once a case for a new course is established and a commission endorsed, preparation will then be undertaken by the relevant College with appropriate support and advice from CPSC and its central operational arm. 2. Approval of a new Coursework Program There are two components to the approval of all new Coursework Program Proposals. Management Process: Strategic Load Planning and Course Viability under the oversight of CPSC Academic Governance Process: Accreditation under the oversight of the Coursework and the Academic Board V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 2 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 3. Submission to Course Portfolio and Scholarships 4. Basis for CPSC decisions Colleges are required to submit the following documents to CPSC: A Course Concept Form The Business Case Calculator A ue iligence form (if there are new institutional partners to the proposed course) The Colleges may also include other information relevant to the proposal, such as any market research they have initiated that goes beyond the minimum requirements contained on the Concept form. These should be accompanied by the Report of College Planning and Resources recording endorsement and referral to the CPSC. The Business Case Calculator is an Excel spreadsheet which can be found on the Course Lifecycles intranet website. The Business Case Calculator should be completed by the College Financial Officer, who will consult with Finance during its completion, prior to its presentation to the College PRC. The CPSC appraisal of each Course Concept will be informed by the following: oes the course align with the University s Strategic Course Profile? Is there compelling evidence that the course will be financially viable? Is there evidence that the course will meet the needs and demands of potential students, the professions, industry and/or government? 5. Course Concept A Course Concept may be initiated by: A College staff member, having conceived of an idea and discussed it with relevant Heads of School, would prepare a Course Concept form CPSC advice to the College of potential courses, after which relevant College staff prepare a Course Concept form. College approval for the Course Concept is required prior to its presentation to CPSC. This should be via the College Planning and Resources but a Chair of the College PRC may approve a Course Concept out of session locally, in accordance with the Fast Track processes outlined below. 6. Course Portfolio & Scholarships (CPSC) deliberation CPSC will make a decision about the prospects of the course based on the documentation presented and: endorse the proposal if the documentation provided demonstrates the viability of the proposed course; defer endorsement subject to further market research being provided; reject the proposal. 7. If further Market Research is required If further market research is required, the College will send the concept to the Market Research Unit for preparation of a full market research report. Once the market research is completed, the College returns all documentation to CPSC for a final decision (or the SVC, as Chair, if a fast track process is V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 3 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 required). This includes: Course Concept form; Business Case Calculator; Market Research Report; and ue iligence form (if there are new institutional partners to the proposed course). 8. CPSC advice to Colleges The Executive Officer of CPSC will advise the course proponent and the relevant College Curriculum Project Leader of course-related decisions in writing, usually in the form of an extract from the draft minutes of the meeting, with a copy to the Executive Officer of the Coursework. 9. Academic Approval / Accreditation The academic approval process is concerned with evaluating the academic merit of the course. Proposals normally enter this process after the CPSC(or the Chair, in the case of fast tracking of CPSC processes) has endorsed the proposal. If the College is very confident of the evidence of demand and sustainability it is permissible to start this process at the same time as the CPSC process is being started. 10. Academic Governance steps for new courses The relevant School Advisory Group should be involved in the development of any new course. The College Coursework will consider the academic merit and suitability of the proposal (in a similar manner to the consideration given by the Coursework ). After the College Coursework endorsement, the College Academic must also endorse the proposal and a College Referral Report must be included with the submission of the proposal to the Coursework. The Coursework will consider the academic merit of the proposal, and its compliance with University policies. Once endorsed by the Coursework, a proposal may be referred to the Education if there are matters of policy to consider. The Academic Board will approve the course. 11. New Subjects in Course Proposal New subjects are approved at College level. However, when a new course is being proposed, subject templates should be completed and attached to the course proposal for any new subjects required during the first year of teaching. This will usually be new first year subjects, but should include later year subjects if advanced standing into the course is anticipated. This is to allow the Coursework to assure itself that the program is aligned with the principles of good course design. Any new subjects not intended to be taught during the first year of offering the course must still be included by name and subject code on the Course Proposal. V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 4 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 12. Completion of Course Proposal All fields in the Course proposal documentation must be completed. s may decline to accept any proposal that is not complete. 13. Consultation with other areas of the University Throughout the process of preparing the New Coursework Program Proposal, other areas of the University must be consulted. This includes discussions with: ICT availability (or inclusion in budget) of adequate ICT resources Library availability (or inclusion in budget) of adequate library resources Buildings and Grounds availability of teaching space Student Services and Administration assistance with Academic Services policy interpretation and compliance (Academic Services Policy staff) and administrative matters including ASCE codes and disciplines, course nomenclature, SIS questions etc La Trobe International the proposal must be endorsed by the Executive irector, LTI for its compliance with the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act Other College/Schools as necessary for cross-disciplinary courses, service teaching matters etc. College Regional Coordinator(s) impact on regions of the proposed new course, including method of delivery 14. Consultation with Students Students should be consulted on course proposals, normally through the relevant College committees. 15. ouble or Nested qualifications approval processes Where approval is sought for ouble or Nested qualifications involving existing approved awards and where there are no additional resources required, the academic approval process comprises a simple request to the Coursework to approve the combination, demonstrating that the workload and other requirements meet those in the ouble Qualifications Policy and/or the Nested Qualifications Policy. If any part of the combination is a new award, in recognition of potential resource implications, both elements of the normal course approval processes must be followed. 16. Course Structure Information If there are defined majors and minors, information about each of these must form part of the proposal. Where a major or minor includes core-choice subjects (for example at least one of three subjects must be taken), the number of required choices must be explained in the proposal. For example: XYZ111, XZY111 and XBC111 are all core-choice subjects, of which 2 out of the three must be completed. 17. Coursework The Coursework will make a decision about the academic merit of the course based on the Course Proposal documentation, and: V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 5 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 ecision a) endorse the Course Proposal and refer it to the Academic Board for approval; b) defer a final decision, pending a response to its request for additional information from the College or advice from CPSC; c) in exceptional cases refer the course proposal to the Education d) decline to endorse the Course Proposal and refer the reasons for its decision to the Academic Board for its consideration. 18. Referral of matters to the Education In situations where the Course Proposal raises issues of policy, these matters will be referred by the Coursework to the Education for consideration. In these circumstances, an additional step is added to the academic accreditation process, and Academic Board will receive the referral of the Education (instead of the Coursework ) in that matter. 19. Coursework advice to Colleges The Executive Officer of the Coursework will advise the College Curriculum Project Leader, the course proponent and the College representative on the Coursework of course-related decisions in writing, usually in the form of an extract from the draft minutes of the meeting. 20. Academic Board ecision Academic Board will make a decision about the academic merit of the course based on the Course Proposal documentation available to it and, noting the recommendation of the Coursework : a) approve the Course Proposal; b) request additional information from the Coursework or the College; c) reject the Course Proposal. 21. Academic Board advice to Colleges The Executive Officer of the Academic Board sends action memos (including references to course approvals) to the College General Managers with a request that all correspondence be distributed to the relevant parties within the College. Copies of the action memo are also sent to the Executive irector Student Services and Administration and the Executive irector LTI. 22. Fast tracking of the approvals processes In exceptional circumstances the College may request that one or more of the management or academic governance approvals processes be fast tracked. The submission and a memo explaining the exceptional circumstances from the College Pro Vice-Chancellor should be presented to the respective Chair/s of the committees to whom an out of sessions approval is required via the Executive Officer to the. V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 6 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 The approval of the Chair, will be recorded at the next scheduled meeting of the under the agenda item, Matters Approved Out of Sessions, however, the date of approval is recorded at the time of certification by the Chair. 23. Circumstances which may allow Fast- Tracking of Processes Examples of such circumstances are: Overwhelming evidence of potential market demand for a course Courses agreed by the College and the Vice-Chancellor or Senior eputy Vice-Chancellor as vital to contributing to the achievement of the University s Strategic Plan Courses commissioned by the Commonwealth Government, in consultation with the VC or SVC, and nominated as being in areas of national importance. 24. Inclusion in Tertiary Application Centre Guides A proposed new course may be included in the RAFT version of the TAC Guides once the Course Concept has been approved by CPSC. A new coursework program may remain in the final version of the Guides for the year only if it has had Academic Board approval and (if intending to offer the course to international students) a CRICOS code issued. Courses for domestic students which have not received Academic Board approval before the deadlines indicated below will be WITHRAWN from the Guides. Courses for international students which have not received Academic Board approval AN CRICOS codes before the deadlines indicated below will be WITHRAWN from the Guides. Once a course has been withdrawn from the Guides it cannot be reactivated for that selection period. 25. Critical ates for course approvals for inclusion in TAC guides Timeliness is imperative and promotion of any program may be hampered by late approval. In order to be included in the hard copy VTAC Guide for the following year, new undergraduate courses, undergraduate course closures or significant revisions to undergraduate courses must be approved no later than the MAY Academic Board meeting each year, for offer (or closure) in the following academic year. This means that the matter must have been submitted to the April meeting of Coursework, at the very latest. For inclusion in the soft-copy VTAC Guide, approvals must be obtained no later than the June Academic Board meeting each year. Postgraduate courses may have more flexibility and can be approved later in the year. 26. Annual Cut-off ates for Approval of In light of critical internal administrative procedures including availability of early on-line enrolments and timetabling, the following deadlines apply for courses intended to be offered in the following year. V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 7 of 8
ACAEMIC 1 Courses to be Offered in the Following Year New Course Concept to CPSC by the April meeting New Coursework Program Proposal to Coursework by the May meeting for submission to the June meeting of Academic Board. These cut-off dates assume approval by these committees. In cases where the course documentation is not regarded as adequate it is possible for courses not to be approved for offer in the following year. Only in the most exceptional cases will these cut off dates be varied. Status Revisions to management processes CPASC 19 February 2015. Reviewed and revised October 2014 (colleges/titles) approved by Academic Board 19 November 2014, minute reference (AB14/136(M)-477.3.5). Previous approval and revisions: Revised April 2013 to re-align processes Approved by Academic Board, 14 August 2013, minute 466.3.2. Additional section ecember 2012 to align with Service Teaching Policy and Procedures Minor amendments October 2011 Academic Board 17 March 2010, Minute 438.3.3; minor amendments May 2010; Academic Board 11 February 2009, Minute 429.3.1(b) The implementation of the latest version of these procedures supersedes all previous versions of these procedures. Approval Body Academic Board Initiating Body Programs, now Coursework efinitions Academic values: scholarship, critical inquiry, integrity and excellence ate Effective January 2009 Next Review ate January 2016 Keywords Course, approval, Course Portfolio and Scholarships, Coursework, proposal, concept, request Owner/Sponsor Senior eputy Vice-Chancellor Author Pro Vice-Chancellor (Educational Partnerships and Quality) Contact person quality@latrobe.edu.au V2015-02-19 Course Lifecycle New Coursework Program Procedures Page 8 of 8