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Third Party Arrangements - Review of TNE and Third Party Arrangements (HE) Procedure

Section 1 - Summary

(1) The purpose of this Procedure is to provide detailed direction regarding the three kinds of reviews performed on Victoria University Higher Education (HE) courses which are delivered in partnership with other providers in Australia and offshore locations. The three reviews are:

  1. Academic Quality Reviews;
  2. Comprehensive Course Reviews (refer to Courses Lifecycle - Comprehensive Course Review (HE) Procedure); and,
  3. Strategic reviews.
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Section 2 - Scope

(2) This Procedure applies to the review of:

  1. formal delivery arrangements with domestic and international partners involving Higher Education (HE) award and non-award courses offered by Victoria University (VU);
  2. formal delivery arrangements with domestic and international partners involving research training courses;
  3. courses, staff and students of designated VU Campuses, including those established through Joint Venture arrangements;
  4. courses, staff and students of wholly owned subsidiaries of VU;
  5. staff involved in course delivery in partnership with other providers; and,
  6. partner institution staff involved in course delivery on behalf of VU.

(3) This Procedure applies to all delivery models, including VU Block Mode.

(4) This Procedure does not apply to the review of:

  1. VU Online (see Third Party Arrangements - VU Online Partnership Procedure);
  2. Vocational Education and Training courses, whether award or non-award (see Third Party Arrangements (VET) Procedure);
  3. Commercial activity that does not involve an award or non-award course; or
  4. Research partnerships involving individual research projects, research funding or researcher collaborations.
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Section 3 - Policy/Regulation

(5) Third Party Arrangements Policy

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Section 4 - Procedures

(6) Biannual academic performance quality reviews of all third-party arrangements are conducted by Partnerships. Comprehensive Course Reviews and Strategic Reviews of third-party arrangements are conducted every five years. The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer may direct a Strategic Review of a third party arrangement out of schedule.

Part A - Summary of Roles and Responsibilities

Roles

Responsibilities
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer
Receives reports for Academic Quality Assurance Reviews and Strategic Reviews.
Directs the commencement of out-of-sequence Strategic Reviews where necessary.
Identifies and initiates any actions required as a result of Strategic Reviews.
Communicates relevant report findings to the partner organisation.
Director, Transnational Education Partnerships In collaboration with the Director, Academic Quality and Standards, manage the Academic Quality Assurance Reviews and, where necessary, strategic course reviews.

Clears reports for Academic Quality Assurance Reviews for distribution and, where appropriate, receives the Comprehensive Course Review reports.
Executive Dean or nominee
Receives reports for both Academic Quality Reviews and Comprehensive Course Reviews.
Implements any required action arising from course-related matters in the review.
Joint Management Committee
Ensures Partnership activities and programs comply with Australian and in-country legislation, regulatory frameworks and VU policies.
Collaborates with VU senior staff in the oversight of the Partnership governance and management.
Provides direction on strategic priorities for the Partnership and oversees quality and risk management.
Monitor the quality of teaching and learning, academic outcomes and student experience for ongoing equivalence with VU’s programs onshore and other locations.
Provides oversight of strategies arising from Academic Quality Assurance Reviews and Strategic Reviews.
Joint Operations Team
Reviews and reports on academic quality performance and implements initiatives to improve metrics on the following: enrolments, academic progress, student satisfaction, retention and engagement.
Receives and responds to reports on Academic Quality Reviews and Strategic Review Issues Reports.
Provides a formal operational governance forum for joint oversight of the partnership.
Systemically captures issues, risks, trends and continuous improvement actions, creating a documented quality trail.
Supplies operation intelligence on partnership health, capability, demand and sustainability to inform strategic reviews.
Director, Teaching and Learning, Transnational Partnerships
In collaboration with the Director, AQS, manages the Academic Quality Reviews.
Coordinates the collation and analysis of data for monitoring and improvement strategies arising from reviews.
Oversees the production of the Academic Quality Review Report.
Implements any required action arising from the reviews.
Director, Academic Quality and Standards (AQS)
Approves the second reviewer for Quality Reviews.

In collaboration with the Director, Teaching and Learning, TNE Partnerships manages Academic Quality Reviews.
Receives reports from the Academic Quality Assurance and Comprehensive Course Reviews.
Campus Director and Principal, VU Sydney and VU Brisbane
Supports the presentation of Biannual Quality Reviews of courses at VU Sydney and VU Brisbane.
Oversees the Continuous Improvement Plans arising from the Academic Quality Reviews and Strategic Reviews for VU Sydney and VU Brisbane.
Implements any required action related to VU Sydney and VU Brisbane arising from the reviews.
Academic Quality and Standards (AQS)
Oversees ongoing academic quality assurance and improvement, including annual third party reviews and comprehensive course monitoring, review and improvement processes.
Site Coordinator Participant in Academic Quality Reviews.
TNE Program/Partnership Manager Participant in biannual Academic Quality Reviews.

Part B - Academic Quality Assurance

(7) Academic Quality Reviews are performed for each course and each partner and provide a formal platform for:

  1. VU's partner to provide feedback regarding curriculum, teaching staff (including VU teaching staff) and other academic issues; and,
  2. VU to assess the academic and student performance at the partner institution and identify any emerging and ongoing issues that need to be addressed.

(8) Academic Quality Assurance Reviews are evidence-based. Before the review meetings a report is prepared to facilitate the discussion which draws on the following data snapshots:

  1. Progress rate at Course level: This data looks at the Progress Rate at Course level;
  2. Pass/fail rate at Unit level: This data considers the Pass/Fail rate of each Unit delivered at VU's partner location for the previous academic year;
  3. Student Feedback: This includes feedback from Student Evaluation of Units (SEU). This data considers the response rate, the level of reported student satisfaction and any areas in need of improvement as assessed by VU's student survey and/or comparable surveys conducted by the partner and provided to VU;
  4. Comparators of related data from the performance of VU Global students onshore in the same or similar courses;
  5. Attrition and completion rates;
  6. Where relevant, course engagement metrics, including Zero-Fail rate reporting for each study period, unit and study level;
  7. Qualitative reports from:
    1. VU teaching staff. This includes information and reporting of activities and issues arising from teaching visits.
    2. TNE Unit Convenor. This includes information following each unit’s delivery after each delivery period.
    3. Site Coordinator: This includes information reported after each partner visit.
  8. The previous year's Academic Quality Assurance Review report and Continuous Improvement Plan. The current status is assessed to determine progress against the key priorities identified in the previous report;
  9. Issues raised during the discussion with the partner;
  10. Issues raised by VU at College or University level, including Academic Board and Standing Committees.

(9) Academic Quality Review discussions are performed via videoconferencing technology and include the following VU participants and their equivalents in the partner institution:

  1. Executive Deans or nominee;
  2. Director, TNE Partnerships;
  3. Director, Academic Quality and Standards;
  4. Director, Teaching and Learning (TNE);
  5. Site Coordinator;
  6. TNE Program Manager;
  7. Coordinator, Academic Operations, TNE Partnerships;
  8. Senior Partnership Coordinator; and,
  9. Partnerships Coordinator.

Academic Quality Assurance Review Reports and Continuous Improvement Plans

(10) After the Academic Quality Review discussion, an Academic Quality Assurance Review Report and Improvement Plan, comprising: the evidence gathered and minutes of the Quality Review discussion are compiled.

(11) Academic Quality Review Reports are prepared by the Director, Teaching and Learning TNE and cleared by the Director TNE Partnerships.

(12) Academic Quality Review Reports are provided to all participants in the meeting.

(13) Academic Quality Assurance Review Reports, and progress against the previous continuous improvement plan is provided to:

  1. Executive Deans of all relevant Colleges;
  2. Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer;
  3. Joint Management Committees;
  4. Academic Board;
  5. If directed by Academic Board, Learning and Teaching Quality Committee (Academic Board Committee).

Part C - Comprehensive Course Reviews

(14) CCR applies to all active HE domestic and off-shore coursework courses offered by, or on behalf of, VU. It takes into account course quality as experienced by all cohorts of students.

(15) In October each year, the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer will notify the Executive Deans of the courses that are scheduled to be involved in a CCR in the following year. The Director, Academic Quality and Standards will collaborate with the Director of Transnational Educational Partnerships in relation to the CCR data collection and CCR process.

Part D - Strategic Reviews

(16) Strategic Reviews are reviews of the partnership arrangement as a whole, including achievements or variations from the approved business plan, conducted every three years or prior to the renewal of the partnership agreement. They look at:

  1. Market contexts;
  2. Competitor analysis;
  3. Regulatory environment review;
  4. Financial status of the partner and of the partnership arrangement;
  5. The balance of responsibilities between VU and the partner;
  6. Reputational advantages and risks of the partnership;
  7. Relationship of the partnership to VU's strategic objectives;
  8. Relationship of the partnership to the partner's strategic objectives.

(17) Strategic Reviews are generally initiated by VU in collaboration with the Joint Management Committee and involve the collection and analysis of any relevant evidence via documentation as required. Evidence may include:

  1. Financial reports showing the viability of the partner and the profit/loss status of the partnership;
  2. Existing or new market analysis reports which consider new or emerging competitors;
  3. Any relevant changed or new regulations in either Australia or the partner's country and the Partnership response to such changes;
  4. Any documentation of relevant world or local events that may affect the viability of the partnership;
  5. Partner’s priorities for meeting the objectives of VU’s current strategic plan.

(18) Strategic Reviews are carried out by VU representatives nominated by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer. Strategic Reviews are designed to help VU  assess whether the partnership is continuing to meet VU’s objectives.

Strategic Review Reports

(19) Strategic Review Reports are written by the nominated VU representative who leads the review.

(20) Strategic Review Reports are provided to:

  1. Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer;
  2. Executive Dean of the relevant College;
  3. Academic Board.

(21) The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer determines and initiates any actions arising from the report for referral to the relevant Joint Management Committee.

(22) The Joint Management Committee monitors and reports to the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer on progress of actions arising from the Strategic Reviews.

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Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment

(23) HESF: Standards 5.2 Academic and Research Integrity (specifically 5.2.4); 5.3 Monitoring, Review and Improvement; 5.4 Delivery with Other Parties (specifically 5.4.2); 6.3 Academic Governance; 7.1 Representation.

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Section 6 - Definitions

(24) Third Party Arrangements