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Third Party Arrangements (HE) Procedure

Section 1 - Summary

(1) The purpose of this Procedure is to provide detailed direction regarding the delivery of Victoria University Higher Education (HE) courses in partnership with other providers in Australia and offshore locations. It needs to be read in conjunction with the Third Party Arrangement Policy.

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Section 2 - Scope

(2) This Procedure applies to:

formal delivery arrangements with domestic and international partners involving Higher Education (HE) award and non-award courses offered by Victoria University (VU);
formal delivery arrangements with domestic and international partners involving research training courses;
courses, staff and students of designated VU Campuses;
courses, staff and students of wholly owned subsidiaries of VU, including those established through joint venture;
staff involved in course delivery in partnership with other providers;
partner institution staff involved in course delivery on behalf of VU;
students undertaking VU and externally-registered courses delivered in partnership with other providers (this does not include partnerships where the partner is delivering their own courses in conjunction with VU delivery).

(3) This Procedure applies to all third party delivery methods, including block delivery.

(4) This Procedure does not apply to:

The VU Online Partnership (refer to Third Party Arrangements – VU Online Partnerships Procedure)
Vocational Education and Training courses, whether award or non-award (see Third Party Arrangements - Third Party Arrangements Procedure (VET));
Commercial activity that does not involve an award or non-award course;
Research partnerships involving individual research projects, research funding or researcher collaborations;
Articulation and credit recognition arrangements (see Credit Policy);
Dual and Joint Award arrangements (see Courses Lifecycle - Dual and Joint Awards Procedure); and
Student and staff mobility arrangements.

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Section 3 - Policy/Regulation

(5) Third Party Arrangements Policy

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Section 4 - Procedures

Part A - Summary of Roles and Responsibilities

Roles	Responsibilities
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer	Approval of any variation to VU policy needed for a particular partnership. Oversight of VU Learning and Teaching Quality Standards Framework in educational delivery with all partnered arrangements. Oversight of ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement.
Executive Deans/ Executive Directors	Ensure that all course delivery is compliant with the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and VU’s course approval process as outlined in the Courses Lifecycle Policy. Ensure the achievement of approved learning outcomes in course and unit levels. Oversee work of Site Coordinators from a College perspective. Final approval of all teaching staff to be involved in delivering College content.
Chief International Officer	Oversight of VU's partnership arrangements with all offshore partners and domestic partners with international students.
Chief Student Officer and Registrar	Oversight of student admissions and enrolments. Oversight of student support.
Director, TNE	Establishment, development and continual improvement of relationships with Colleges, central departments, key partners and other stakeholders to ensure high levels of academic and service delivery and compliance with agreements and in-country and Australian regulatory requirements. Chairs Joint Operations Team meetings and contributes to Joint Management Teams in member capacity. Acts as VU Contract Manager for all Third Party Agreements. Ensuring that partnership delivery complies with VU policies and procedures.
Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships	Management of VU course delivery across Colleges at offshore and interstate campus sites and any other delivery arising out of third party arrangements. Monitoring and twice-yearly reporting to Academic Board and its committees on academic performance of all third party arrangements. Provision of academic guidance in relation to learning and teaching matters arising out of partnerships. Induction and onboarding of of Site Coordinators. Approval of partner academic staff.
Campus Director and Principal, VU Sydney and VU Brisbane	Management and operation of VU Sydney and VU Brisbane, or other site as appropriate, across its academic and administrative functions, as well as contributing to defining its future strategic direction. Management of the provision of student support, facilities, and orientation. Management of the development and distribution of the Student Guide for VU Sydney and VU Brisbane.
Joint Operations Team	Oversight and monitoring of the operational, financial and academic conditions of the Agreement. Regularly review and report on the implementation of strategies to improve academic quality metrics in the following: enrolments, academic progress, student satisfaction, retention and engagement. Regularly review and report on agreed annual joint priorities and key performance indicators as set by the Joint Management Committee Regularly monitor and report to the Joint Management Committee on planning, market environment and compliance and risks.
Joint Management Committee	Provide governance, strategic input and direction to the partnership and collaborative programs. Monitor market, geopolitical and regulatory environment changes that may impact on partnership and program operations. Ensure operational effectiveness and effective risk management of the partnership and collaborative programs. Manage with TEQSA and relevant in-country legislation and regulatory frameworks.
TNE Program/Partnership Manager	Management of the relationship between VU and the partner institution, including monitoring the progress of the agreement.
Site Coordinators	Coordination of VU course delivery for a College at a nominated site arising out of VU third party arrangements. This includes: - Support for the Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships in managing TNE VU staff (TNE Unit Convenors and VU visiting teaching staff) - Monitoring the quality of teaching and unit coordination - Organising and conducting Assessment and Progress Boards to ensure timely release of results. Reporting dually to the Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships and the Executive Dean of the College or nominee.
TNE Unit Convenors	Coordination of the delivery of a unit at a site or sites arising out of third party arrangements. This includes: - Design, validation, production and maintenance of all unit teaching materials for the relevant Study Period. - Supporting the administration, management and coordination of the unit’s delivery. - Supporting the conducting, moderation and monitoring of assessment and student progress.
Academic Quality and Standards	Oversight of ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement, including provision of key academic metrics and other KPIS. Oversight of comprehensive course monitoring, review and improvement processes.
Student Services and Administration	Management of student admissions and enrolments.
Student Complaints and Integrity Office	Oversight and management of student complaints and misconduct matters.
Data Insights	Conducting of student surveys. Provision of data and analysis to TNE Partnerships, the Colleges, Academic Board, and the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer.

Part B - Establishing and Extending Third-Party Arrangements

(6) The principles and requirements for establishing Third Party Arrangements are outlined in Part A of the Third Party Arrangements Policy.

(7) No extensions of existing contracts will occur (for example to additional sites or countries) without passing through the prescribed stages outlined the Course Concept and Business Case and Risk Assessment and Due Diligence sections of Part A of Third Party Arrangements Policy.

(8) All contracts will be developed in accordance with the Contracts Policy and Contracts Procedure.

Part C - Student Selection and Support

Student Selection, Admission and Enrolment

Entry qualifying requirements

(9) Admission requirements are established in the partnership agreement and will align with the admission requirements established through the University's course approval process. This includes English language requirements and any approved pathway arrangements.

(10) The Country Education Profiles hosted on the Federal DET website sets out comparability of overseas and Australian qualifications as well as other publicly available data about institutions’ standing, and may be used to assist with the assessment.

(11) Students must show evidence of English proficiency level (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL or other acceptable English test results or previous qualifications using English as a medium of instruction) at the required level as specified in VU's Admissions - English Language Admission Requirements Procedure.

(12) If an applicant undertakes a VU English course to achieve an English Language Proficiency result, TNE Partnerships is responsible for ensuring evidence is provided to Student Enrolments to show that the student has successfully completed the required level for entry to the intended course.

(13) If an applicant studied previous qualification(s) in a country recognised as offering English-language programs, English language proficiency need not be assessed. A list of countries where qualifications are deemed to be in English is maintained by VU Global.

(14) TNE Partnerships is responsible for ensuring course admission requirements (academic, English and, if required, professional experience) in the partnership agreement and marketing material accurately reflect course admission requirements approved by Academic Board.

Admission process

(15) Partner staff are responsible under the terms of Agreements for assessing applications against the approved admissions criteria. Where applications involve non-standard elements, the Site Coordinator consults with the Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships and Head of Program who may make a determination with reference to the approved criteria in the Agreement.

(16) Applicants who have been made and accepted offers can enrol using MyVU, including those assessed by a partner with a delegated authority (if applicable) from the Chief Student Officer and Registrar.

(17) Letters of offer issued to students will include the following information:

confirmation that applicants will be enrolled as VU students should they accept the offer;
award courses in which students are to be enrolled; and,
Credit or Recognition of Prior Learning assessment result (if applicable).

(18) Applicants who meet the requirements as set out in the University’s Admissions Procedure may request a review of an admission decision.

Credit and Pathways

(19) All arrangements for course credit and advanced standing or any pathway arrangements will be managed in accordance with the Credit Policy, the Credit - Academic Credit Procedure (HE) and the Credit - Pathways Procedure.

(20) Outcomes of applications for credit are included in letters of offer issued to applicants.

Enrolment process

(21) The Director, Admissions, Enrolments, and Graduations is responsible for ensuring enrolment occurs in a timely manner after approval and that enrolment records are maintained accurately in Student One.

(22) TNE Partnerships is responsible for providing Student Services and Administration with academic calendars for each partner.

Orientation

(23) Student Services and Administration is responsible for producing the Offshore Student Guide.

(24) The TNE Program Manager is responsible for providing the Offshore Student Guide to the Partner for distribution during student orientation, with copies to the Director Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships, the relevant College Associate Director, Learning and Teaching and Site Coordinators.

(25) The Site Coordinator must provide evidence to the Joint Operations Team to support its ongoing monitoring of the student experience.

(26) The Campus Director and Principal, VU Sydney and Brisbane is responsible for producing the VU Sydney/Brisbane Orientation Guides.

(27) Partners, with support from the TNE Program Manager and Site Coordinator, are responsible for ensuring that orientation programs in each teaching period are provided for commencing students. Orientation material may cover:

study related information
policies and procedures relevant to Learning and Teaching
Accessing and completing Academic Integrity Modules in the LMS (VU Collaborate)
Student Complaints, Appeals and Advocacy procedures
learning resources, including the use of the LMS (VU Collaborate) and VU’s online library resources
student and learning support services available
facilities and access to physical, online and teaching resources

(28) TNE Partnerships supports partner staff via a dedicated Partner Staff Resource Portal on VU Collaborate that facilitates onboarding and the ongoing development of partner teaching staff, including:

Library services and digital resources
Student Support services
Academic Integrity modules

Student Progress

(29) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships, Site Coordinator, the College and the Partner Course Coordinator work collaboratively to monitor student progress and provide support as necessary in accordance with the Academic Progress Regulations 2016 and Procedures.

(30) Students must be given access to VU's Academic Progress model as specified in the Regulations and Procedures.

(31) Offshore Show Cause Panels consist of the Discipline Leader or the equivalent person in the offshore institution nominated by the Executive Dean or equivalent of the partner institution, a senior academic from VU, and the VU Site Coordinator.

(32) Records of the outcome of student progress matters must be reported to Student Services and Administration for adding to the student's academic record.

Student Evaluations

(33) All Partnership Agreements must include details and responsibilities for the conduct of student surveys and other feedback.

(34) The TNE Program Manager or College advises VU Data Insights when student evaluation surveys should be opened, and advises the partner that the survey is available.

(35) Once the survey is complete, Data Insights undertakes the processing of survey forms, the analysis of responses and the creation of reports. Data Insights provides SEU (Student Evaluation of Unit) and SET (Student Evaluation of Teaching) reports to the Director, Learning and Teaching, TNE Partnerships and the Educational Quality Coordinator (TNE & External Delivery.) They are then provided to the Head of Program and the Executive Dean of the relevant College.

(36) The Director, Teaching and Learning TNE and Site Coordinator are responsible for addressing and reporting any trends emerging from SEU. The partner institution may administer its own survey instruments. In this instance, the partner provides feedback to the Director, Learning and Teaching, TNE Partnerships through the quality reviews for delivery improvement.

Student Support

(37) VU is responsible for consulting with Student Administration to ensure that the partnership agreement covers provision of student support services at the partner locations by appropriately qualified personnel. Such provisions will be monitored by the Joint Operations Team.

(38) The partner institution is responsible for the provision of support services required under the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Cth) and the learning and support needs of students and relevant student support services (e.g. academic support, counselling) as specified in the Agreement. Services may include:

orientation and transition support.
ongoing academic language and learning support, including an appropriate range of generic and discipline specific support services and development activities that are available to onshore students.
access to online support from VU Library and MyVU.
personal support such as counselling, health, welfare, accommodation and career services.

Staff Complaints Resolution

(39) Should disputes arise during course delivery, VU and Partner teaching staff should raise concerns with the Site Coordinator in the first instance.

(40) If the matter remains unresolved, the staff member is able to raise and, if preferred, formalise their concerns with the Director Teaching and Learning, Partnerships.

(41) If still unresolved, the Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships, will consult with the Associate Dean Learning and Teaching of the relevant College.

(42) Further escalation point to People and Culture (P&C) will be made, if required.

(43) People and Culture (P&C) will maintain statistics on the nature and number of complaints, and statistics on outcomes of complaints.

Policy and Regulatory Compliance

(44) All students and staff in third-party delivery sites are expected to comply with the University’s regulations, policies and procedures, as outlined in the certified Agreement.

(45) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships or partner equivalent is responsible for ensuring that current versions of VU Policies and Procedures are provided to partners and regularly updated.

(46) If the external regulatory framework of a partner changes during the time of the agreement, a new agreement incorporating any necessary changes must be progressed through the University’s approval process.

Part D - Quality Assurance and Equivalence or Learning

Curriculum standards and customisation of curriculum

(47) The Executive Dean is responsible for ensuring the achievement of approved learning outcomes in course and unit levels.

(48) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships is responsible for ensuring resources provided offshore are comparable to those available to VU Melbourne staff for learning, teaching and related assessment activities.

(49) Contextualisation and/or customisation of curriculum at the unit level may be required to ensure the relevance of learning outcomes in a local context. This may include:

inclusion of local case studies and examples
inclusion of comparative studies
opportunities for students to consider issues and problems from a variety of cultural perspectives
adjustment to teaching and learning strategies and assessment modes to accommodate students’ various learning approaches
course delivery customisation in line with partner academic calendars.

(50) With regard to contextualisation and/or customisation of curriculum, the Director Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships together with the Director Learning and Teaching of the relevant College and the Unit Convenor, ensures:

internationalisation and/or customisation is consistent with learning outcomes and assessment of a unit;
the same overall academic standard is maintained;
units of study are delivered entirely in English.
course learning outcomes are at the same AQF level for courses offered onshore and offshore.

(51) The Unit Convenor is responsible for ensuring that unit guides in CAMS and the LMS are consistent. The Unit Convenor will use the LMS to generate the unit guides used to teach in a partner institution. If any issues arise these will be addressed by the Course Chair in the first instance. Matters which cannot be resolved by the above process will be referred to the Executive Dean.

(52) The Courses Committee of Academic Board endorses curriculum arrangements prior to course delivery.

(53) The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer is responsible for oversight of ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement.

Assessment processes

(54) The Site Coordinator and Unit Convenors are responsible for making sure that assessment is undertaken in a transparent and robust manner. This includes provision of the following items to students:

assessment rubrics
samples of marked assessment tasks, including examinations, from past delivery
timely feedback to assist students in understanding their learning progress.

(55) VU's Assessment for Learning Policy and all associated Procedures will apply to assessment of students in third-party delivery arrangements, unless otherwise specified in the Agreement and with the explicit approval of the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer.

Security of examination papers and assessment documents

(56) Security of examination papers, both prior to and after examinations, and all assessment documents are specified in the Agreement and identified in the Partnership Responsibility Matrix.

(57) Where this involves the transfer of examination papers from VU Melbourne to another location and administration at a partner location, the partner’s Examination Officer or equivalent will be responsible for the security of the papers once in their custody.

(58) Courses Committee endorses assessment arrangements prior to course delivery as approved by Academic Board. The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer is responsible for oversight of ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement.

Academic Integrity

(59) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships, the Site Coordinator and Unit Convenor, in collaboration with partner teaching staff, are responsible for ensuring that partner staff and students are aware of the University’s requirements regarding academic integrity, and what this entails.

(60) Consistent with the Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Integrity Guidelines, VU and Partner teaching staff are responsible for:

supporting students to complete the academic integrity modules including information on citation requirements and preferred referencing style in the unit guide;
equipping students with language, writing and academic skills to successfully navigate assessment tasks and demonstrate academic integrity.
providing samples of past students’ work that demonstrates academic integrity;
introducing tools to help students learn about proper citation techniques;
referring students to the resources available in Academic Integrity HQ in VU Collaborate and the VU Library website.

(61) Staff must report to the Site Coordinator, who will include this information in wider University reporting:

Marking and moderation reports indicating plagiarism issues;
Reports on annual investigated cases.

(62) TNE Unit Convenors report examination breaches to Site Coordinators.

Periodic reviews

(63) Courses within the scope of these Procedures are subject to Annual Course Monitoring (ACM) and Comprehensive Course Review (CCR) processes as set out in the Courses Lifecycle Policy and Procedures.

(64) Academic Quality and Standards is responsible for oversight of ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement, including comprehensive course monitoring, review and improvement processes.

(65) Correlation analysis between student pass rate and RPL assessment results will be provided by approved institutions. Data Insights will be responsible for analysing this data to be provided to Academic Quality and Standards.

(66) Annual quality reviews of third-party arrangements will be conducted by Partnerships in accordance with the Third Party Arrangements - Review of Third Party Arrangements Procedure.

(67) Strategic reviews of third-party arrangements will be conducted prior to renewal of agreements and under the instruction of the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer in accordance with the Third Party Arrangements - Review of Third Party Arrangements Procedure.

Part E - Staffing Requirements

Qualifications and requirements of teaching

(68) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships is responsible for recommending VU and partner teaching staff and ensuring they:

are appropriately qualified in the relevant discipline for their level of teaching; and
have a standard of English proficiency (IELTS) at least one level higher than that required for students in the course and the capacity to deliver the course in the English language to an adequate level of proficiency; and
are qualified to at least one AQF or equivalent qualification level higher than the course of study being taught, or possess equivalent professional experience according to VU's established criteria (refer to the Learning and Teaching Quality and Standards - Equivalence of Professional Experience to Qualifications (Staff) Procedure)

(69) The Executive Dean of the relevant College (or nominee) is responsible for approving teaching staff for all delivery of College content.

(70) The Site Coordinator coordinates timely approval of new partner teaching staff and ensures that approved CVs are lodged with People and Culture (P&C) and TNE Partnerships upon approval.

Teaching staff induction

(71) The Site Coordinator, with advice from the partner Course Chair, is responsible for ensuring a briefing is provided for VU teaching staff who will undertake teaching or knowledge transfer with a partner institution.

(72) The briefings include information on:

relationship between VU and the partner institution;
teaching arrangements in the partner institution;
travel arrangements, if required;
communication protocols.

(73) The Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships is responsible for maintaining and providing all Partner teaching staff access to the Partner Staff Resource Portal.

Learning and teaching information

(74) The Site Coordinator, in collaboration with the Unit Coordinator, is responsible for ensuring that the Partner teaching staff are provided with sufficient information to deliver a unit of study or components of it.

(75) Requirements for achieving equivalence in learning outcomes:

course structure;
course learning outcomes;
course-relevant information for students;
marking rubrics;
marking standard and moderation process;
specific requirements in teaching a unit, e.g. the use of specific software;
Learning and Teaching Quality and Standards Policy and Procedures;
Assessment for Learning Policy and Procedures;
Academic Integrity Policy and Guidelines.

(76) The following will also be provided to support delivery:

teaching material and assessment tasks;
pedagogical advice in delivering the particular unit, including teaching students for whom English may not be the first language;
advice on approaches to internationalisation;
learning and teaching resources available through VU Collaborate.

Ongoing academic support for partner teaching staff

(77) Ongoing staff support will be facilitated through:

peer to peer interactions with VU colleagues through site visits and/or use of technology;
guidance from Unit Convenors regarding VU curriculum design, teaching materials and preparation and moderation of assessment;
opportunities to participate in curriculum design;
opportunities to contribute to customisation and internationalisation of the curriculum;
opportunities for participation in research activities, including supervision of research projects.

Part F - Monitoring and Ending Third-Party Arrangements

(78) Third party delivery is monitored on an annual basis. The details of the three kinds of reviews conducted (Annual Quality Review, Comprehensive Course Review and Strategic Review) are contained in the Third Party Arrangements - Review of Third Party Arrangements Procedure.

(79) If a course is discontinued, effective teach out or transition plans for all enrolled students must be developed to ensure that these students are not disadvantaged.

(80) The cessation of a course will be conducted in accordance with the Courses Lifecycle - Course Cessation and Student Transition (HE) Procedure. The Academic Board will provide endorsement of the Teach Out Plan.

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Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment

(81) HESF: Standards 1.3 Orientation and Progression; 3.1 Course Design; 5.2 Academic and Research Integrity; 5.4 Delivery with Other Partners.

(82) National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018

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Section 6 - Definitions

(83) Third Party Arrangements