(1) This Procedure provides directions for the proposal, establishment, monitoring and termination of Higher Education (HE) Dual and Joint Awards involving Victoria University (VU) and partner institution/s. (2) This Procedure complies with the requirements of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Cth) - Standard 5 (Institutional Quality Assurance); specifically: (3) This Procedure complies with the principles provided in the Australian Government Principles for Joint Higher Degrees by Research between Australian Higher Education Providers (2011). (4) This Procedure applies to: (5) This Procedure does not apply to: (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Refer to Courses Lifecycle Policy. (12) Some roles and responsibilities for Dual and Joint Awards are located within Policies and Procedures relating to specific aspects of Award development and accreditation, or Contract management. Please see the following documents: (13) Dual and Joint Awards are established by institutions to: (14) The academic standards of Dual and Joint Awards must be equivalent to those of comparable awards conferred solely by VU. (15) Partner institutions must have: (16) Arrangements for establishing, delivering, monitoring and reviewing Joint and Dual Award programs will be specified in a legally binding agreement between the partner institutions. (Refer to Contracts Policy and Contracts Procedure). (17) The VU Award course that is included in the arrangement will be approved through the usual course accreditation process specified in the Courses Lifecycle Policy and associated Procedures. (18) The VU Award course must be active for the whole term of the agreement. If the VU Award course ceases to be active (ie. goes into teach out), the Dual or Joint Award status will also be required to be changed to teach out. The Dual or Joint Award status is aligned to the VU Award course status. (19) New Dual Awards may be proposed by areas of the University as opportunities arise through existing partnerships or in recognition of the needs of a student cohort. (20) Proposals must be prepared and approved in accordance with the Courses Lifecycle - Concept Proposal and Business Case (HE) Procedure. (21) The Concept Proposal and Business Case for Joint Awards must be prepared and presented to University Council in the first instance. This is required to obtain approval for the use of dual badging on a VU testamur, or for VU to be dual-badged on a testamur issued by another institution. (22) In developing the Award course, the following conditions must be in place: (23) Partner agreements will generally cover the following matters: (24) No intakes of students will be made other than in accordance with a valid schedule or agreement. (25) The agreement will provide for comparable rules and policies to be applied by the partner institution(s) to students undertaking the Dual or Joint Award regarding matters including, but not limited to: (26) In a case where VU policies need to have their application modified to suit the needs of partnership arrangements, all variations from standard VU policies will to be brought to the attention of the relevant Policy Owner and the Policy Unit. (27) Explicit exceptions to University policies must be approved by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer. (28) Exceptions are not permissible if they will compromise VU's standards, reputation or assets. (29) Dual and Joint Awards agreements are signed on behalf of VU by: (30) In addition to the above matters, the agreement for a joint degree should include a mechanism for overseeing and resolving academic governance issues between the institutions. (31) The policies of each institution will be adhered to under the agreement, with any conflict between policy generally resolved in favour of the more stringent academic requirement. (32) Matters requiring further resolution should be referred to the Academic Board or equivalent of each institution. Where Academic Boards provide conflicting requirements, the dispute resolution section of the agreement will be invoked to resolve the matter. (33) Each partner must confirm the student's eligibility to enrol. (34) The academic governance responsibilities and arrangements for discipline and academic progress matters must be specified by each partner. (35) There must be evidence of collaborative curriculum design leading to the joint award with all institutions involved. (36) The Concept Proposal and Business Case must be approved in the first instance before proceeding to academic approvals. (Refer to Courses Lifecycle - Concept Proposal and Business Case (HE) Procedure). (37) Approval of Dual and Joint Awards follows the requirements established in Part I of the Courses Lifecycle - Award Course Accreditation (HE) Procedure. (38) Students may be provided with the option to discontinue their Dual Award studies and instead complete a single Award with one institution. (39) If this option is available: (40) Exit points may be provided with a Joint Award to allow a student to exit with a different AQF qualification. Such options may only be provided with the agreement and input of all partner institutions. (41) If this option is available: (42) When a Dual or Joint Award arrangement is approved, the resulting Dual or Joint Award will be added to the VU Register of Awards (Refer to Awards - Managing the Register of Awards Procedure [Pending]). (43) Sufficient time must be allowed to negotiate testamur issues with partner institutions (this may take a considerable amount of time to finalise). (44) The testamur and academic transcript (if applicable at the other institution) of each institution will contain a notation as specified in the agreement. An example of the notation is “This degree was undertaken jointly with the (name of institution(s))”. (45) The result of a Joint Award course is the award of a single award, jointly conferred by the partner institutions. The certification documentation takes the form of a single testamur. (46) The degree title that each institution confers will be specified in the agreement. (47) The form of the Joint Award testamur must be approved by the University Council. (48) Students undertaking a jointly conferred course will have their award conferred by their ‘host’ or ‘home’ institution. (49) The result of a Dual Award course is the award of two (or more) Awards, conferred separately by each of the partner institutions. (50) Where awards are dual-badged, the VU testamur may include the logo of the partner institution(s) and vice versa. (51) Dual and Joint Awards will be subject to the relevant review and monitoring processes specified in their agreements. (52) The review process will involve input and feedback from all partner institution(s). (53) Before renewing any Dual or Joint Award agreement, the arrangement will be reviewed to ensure that the contractual obligations of each partner are being effectively implemented and that the academic, business and strategic case for continuing the arrangement remains sound. (54) Dual and Joint Awards may be disestablished: (55) Where a Dual or Joint Award is disestablished in advance of the agreement's nominated expiry date, VU must: (56) Principles for Joint Higher Degrees by Research between Australian Higher Education Providers (2011).Courses Lifecycle - Dual and Joint Awards Procedure
Section 1 - Summary
Section 2 - Scope
Top of PageSection 3 - Definitions
Section 4 - Policy
Section 5 - Procedures
Part A - Summary of Roles and Responsibilities
Roles
Responsibilities
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer
Approves, where warranted, explicit exceptions to University policies for Dual or Joint Award agreements.
Approves and signs Dual and Joint Awards agreements on behalf of VU.
Academic Board
Assesses and determines academic governance issues arising in Joint Awards.
University Council
Approves the use of dual badging on a VU testamur, or for VU to be dual-badged on a testamur issued by another institution.
Part B - Rationale for Dual and Joint Awards
Part C - General conditions of Dual and Joint Awards
Part D - Concept Proposal and Business Case for New Dual Awards
Part E - Concept Proposal and Business Case for New Joint Awards
Part F - Developing the course of study
Part G - Criteria and agreements for Dual and Joint Awards
Joint Awards: Additional Arrangements to be included in agreements
Part H - Approval of Dual and Joint Awards
Part I - Exiting a Dual Award (Students)
Part J - Exiting a Joint Award (Students)
Part K - Testamurs for Dual and Joint Awards
Joint Awards
Dual Awards
Part L - Review and monitoring of Dual and Joint Awards
Part M - Disestablishing Dual and Joint Awards
Top of PageSection 6 - Guidelines
View Document
This is the current version of this document. You can provide feedback on this document via the 'Feedback' tab above.
as applicable.