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Course Approval and Publication Procedure

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Purpose | Scope | Principles | Procedure statements | Roles and responsibilities  | Definitions | Approval information | Version history | References | Appendix 1: Conditions for course promotion

1. Purpose

1.1 The Course Approval and Publication Procedure (the procedure) supports the implementation of the Course Approval Policy (the policy).

2. Scope

2.1 The scope of the policy applies for this procedure.

3. Principles

3.1 The principles outlined in the policy apply for this procedure.

4. Procedure statements

Approval timelines

4.1 The University Academic Programs Office (UAPO) will publish a calendar of timelines for course approvals based on:

  1. Academic Board and committee meeting dates
  2. deadlines for entering data in the Curriculum Management System (CMS) and the Curriculum and Student System (CASS), and
  3. UTS meeting its reporting, publication, marketing, contractual and student administration requirements.

Course approval

4.2 Course approval requests are submitted in the CMS. The request for course authorisation (where required) may be progressed in parallel with the request for course accreditation, however, courses will not be accredited without completing authorisation. Course changes require approval by the relevant approval authority as outlined in the policy and summarised in the Curriculum approval summary table (available at UTS curriculum (SharePoint)).

Faculty endorsement

4.3 Faculty endorsement of requests for course authorisation and accreditation (including consideration by the faculty courses committee, or equivalent, and approval by the faculty board) are outlined in the faculty curriculum change approval processes (faculty approval processes) (refer the policy and Faculty approval processes (SharePoint)).

4.4 Deans may nominate academic and administrative contacts and other faculty staff as outlined in the faculty approval processes to support them in managing course approval.

4.5 Deans retain overall responsibility for course approval as outlined in the policy, including responsibility for: 

  1. ensuring that requests for course approval comply with the policy, this procedure and all required university and faculty approval processes 
  2. the development, management, resourcing, risk management and quality assurance of the course, ensuring that adequate financial and human resources are allocated to the course and included in its documentation, and 
  3. engaging with relevant faculties and other internal and external stakeholders before seeking authorisation and accreditation, ensuring, where applicable, that approvals from all stakeholders with an interest in the proposal have been obtained (refer Consultation requirements).

Course authorisation

4.6 Developing a course is a collaborative process. In proposing a course for authorisation, it is expected that conceptualisation, design and wide consultation (refer Consultation requirements) has been undertaken to support the strategic rationale for the request. 

4.7 Requests for course authorisation have 2 parts in the CMS. 

  1. Part A includes a high-level summary of the concept 
  2. Part B includes the detailed articulation of the request, including the business analysis, financial plan, risk assessment and record of consultation. 

4.8 Part A must be signed off by the dean before Part B is completed. Together, they provide sufficient information for the Courses Planning Committee (CPC) to make a recommendation to the Provost based on a clear rationale for the course’s authorisation supported by evidence. 

4.9 Courses are authorised as follows: 

  1. The dean submits the request (business case) in the CMS to CPC. 
  2. CPC supports (with or without conditions) or rejects the request. Where conditions are set by CPC, evidence must be provided to CPC that these conditions have been met before the request can be submitted to the Provost for authorisation. 
  3. The Provost authorises or rejects the request and may also approve whether or not the faculty can promote the course (refer Promotion of UTS courses).

Course accreditation

4.10 In proposing a course for accreditation, it is expected that the course’s concept and design has been undertaken and relevant stakeholders have been engaged in advance of a request for course accreditation being submitted to the Courses Accreditation Committee (CAC).

4.11 Course accreditation is required for all courses and must outline admissions requirements, inherent requirements, course structure, stakeholder consultation, any transfer or articulation arrangements and faculty board approval. Where there are major changes to an existing course, the details of and rationale for the proposed changes and details of relevant transition arrangements for continuing students must be included. 

4.12 When applying for the reaccreditation of existing courses, faculties must demonstrate how the course has been informed by review and monitoring outcomes during the accreditation period as recorded in the CMS (refer Enhancing Courses Framework (SharePoint)). This supports the establishment of ongoing, systematic course quality enhancement processes. 

4.13 Courses are accredited as follows: 

  1. The dean submits the faculty board endorsed request to CAC or the Higher Degree Research Committee (HDRC), as appropriate. 
  2. CAC or HDRC review and either endorse (with or without conditions) or reject the request. 
  3. Where applicable, for new courses, CAC also advises the Provost on whether the use of Advanced or Extension in the course name and/or award title is suitable for a particular course in accordance with the Award Course Nomenclature and Issuance Policy. 
  4. Where conditions are set by CAC or HDRC for course accreditation, evidence must be provided to CAC or HDRC that these have been met before the request is submitted to Academic Board (or the Executive Committee of Academic Board (ECAB)) for approval (refer UTS Delegations). 
  5. Academic Board approves or rejects the course accreditation request. 

4.14 If Academic Board accredits the course, the proposal may proceed to course commencement or to the CRICOS code application stage (refer CRICOS application). 

Consultation requirements 

4.15 Relevant consultation must be completed as part of the authorisation and accreditation process. This includes consultation with: 

  1. internal stakeholders, including but not limited to, members of the University Leadership Team, faculty stakeholders (refer Definitions), Graduate Research School, UAPO, Lifetime Learner Experience Unit, UTS International, Student Services Unit (for accessibility requirements), Library, Information Technology Unit, Property Unit, students and alumni as appropriate, and 
  2. external stakeholders, including but not limited to, UTS College, professional accrediting bodies, industry advisory boards and other third parties as appropriate. 

4.16 Where another faculty has an interest in the course, evidence of endorsement from that faculty must be sought as part of the approval process as follows: 

  1. For combined degrees: A faculty board resolution supporting the responsible faculty’s proposal to change the course (possibly subject to changes and/or amendments to minimise the impact of the proposal). If scheduling of faculty board meetings does not allow timely consideration and advice on the proposal, approval can be sought in line with the Standing Orders for Faculty Boards. 
  2. For non-combined degrees: Approval from the dean or associate dean (teaching and learning) acknowledging that the impact of the course proposal on the faculty’s activities has been discussed and assessed and, where relevant, action has been and/or will be taken to manage the impact. 

Articulated and interlinked courses 

4.17 Articulated and interlinked courses are normally reaccredited together and are considered a set for course monitoring and review purposes (refer Coursework Assessments Policy). Articulation arrangements normally have the same accreditation period as the course to which they are related and should be reaccredited at the same time as the course. 

4.18 If courses are accredited by external professional bodies, faculties should, where possible, request an accreditation period that enables them to prepare for internal and external reaccreditation at the same time. 

CRICOS application 

4.19 CRICOS code application is a legal requirement. The dean is responsible for ensuring a CRICOS code is obtained for all courses that will be offered to international students in Australia. This should be requested as soon as possible after the course has been accredited by the faculty’s academic programs office. 

Course commencement and implementation 

4.20 Course commencement and implementation ensure that: 

  1. a CRICOS code has been issued and recorded in the CMS and CASS (where the course will be offered to international students) 
  2. curriculum data has been created or amended as applicable and validated in CASS, and 
  3. for implementation of course changes (major changes or faculty approved), that any transition arrangements and communication plans for existing students are in place where applicable and have been discussed with the stakeholders. 

4.21 When UAPO is satisfied that all necessary course approval requirements and conditions have been met against the course commencement checklist, UAPO completes the course in the CMS and sets the course status to ‘active’ in CASS. 

Variation of accreditation 

4.22 Courses may require comprehensive review and/or reaccreditation before the end of the normal 6-year accreditation period. This may be triggered by the faculty or the university on request. 

4.23 Requests for an extension of accreditation period is a major change and requires course approval (both authorisation and accreditation) in line with the policy and as outlined in the Curriculum approval summary table (available at UTS curriculum (SharePoint)).

Discontinuation (including phasing out) 

4.24 The discontinuation of a course is a major change and requires course approval (both authorisation and accreditation) in line with the policy (refer also Phasing out and discontinuation (SharePoint) and the Curriculum approval summary table (available at UTS curriculum (SharePoint)). 

4.25 In making the decision to discontinue a course (either immediately or through a process of phasing out), the faculty and approval authority should assess the impact of the decision on continuing students, applicants, graduates, relevant stakeholders, any transfer or articulation arrangements and/or via UTS’s change management process. 

Suspension of intake into a course 

4.26 Suspension of intake into a course may be considered for approval by the Provost when a faculty wishes to stop admitting new students temporarily. In taking the decision to suspend intake, the faculty and approval authority should assess the impact of the decision on continuing students, applicants, graduates, relevant stakeholders, any transfer or articulation arrangements and/or via UTS’s change management process. 

Publishing course information 

4.27 UTS published course information is based on data recorded and approved in the CMS. This data is used to: 

  1. automatically publish course information in the UTS Handbook 
  2. publish information at Find a course, faculty course guides and subject information 
  3. provide information to a third party (for example, the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), the Good Universities Guide and the Online Program Management partner). 

4.28 Information about available courses must be published in the UTS Handbook (refer Rule 3.1 and Rule 3.2) unless otherwise approved by the Provost. 

Promotion of UTS courses 

4.29 Promotion of UTS courses is permitted at various stages of the approval process in line with the conditions outlined in Appendix 1. 

4.30 Early promotion of courses may be approved by the Provost with an appropriate proviso where required (for example, 'course planned for introduction and subject to final approval'). 

4.31 Requests for the early promotion of courses are made to UAPO (in a manner approved by the Head, UAPO) and must include: 

  1. approval status of the courses (for example, business case approval granted, course accreditation pending approval and/or CRICOS code pending) 
  2. promotional materials and activities for which approval is sought (for example, UAC Guide and postgraduate information sessions) 
  3. where a CRICOS code is required but has not yet been issued, a statement that the faculty will ensure that the materials will be clearly labelled for and distributed to prospective/current domestic students only and that the promotional activities will not involve any prospective/current international students. 

Course fee information 

4.32 Course tuition fees are revised annually, approved in line with the Delegations and published at Fees and payment: Understanding fees, which is the primary and authoritative source of official fee information for UTS courses (refer Rule 4.1.4). 

4.33 Fees and payment: Understanding fees must be used when course fee information is published. This also applies where UTS provides fee information to a third party. 

4.34 The Director, Student Administration must approve the publication of tuition and other/related fees in any other form, including elsewhere on the UTS website.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Procedure owner: The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students), in line with the policy, is responsible for the approval, enforcement of and compliance with this procedure and for approving the Curriculum approval summary table (available at UTS curriculum (SharePoint)).

5.2 Procedure contact: The Head, University Academic Programs Office, in line with the policy, is responsible for providing advice on the implementation of this procedure.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles: In addition to the implementation and governance roles outlined in the policy the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) is responsible for the UTS curriculum SharePoint site, including the curriculum approval summary table. Any inconsistency in the table is overruled by the relevant authoritative source.

6. Definitions

The following definitions apply for this procedure. These are in addition to the definitions outlined in Schedule 1, Student Rules and the policy. Definitions in the singular include the plural meaning of the word.

Academic contact means an academic staff member, or staff members, appointed by the dean to develop and progress the new course proposal. The academic contact is a field in the CMS and is normally an associate dean or a course director who is responsible for: 

  1. developing the course proposal 
  2. coordinating stakeholder consultation
  3. initiating and completing the required course proposal documentation. 

Administrative contact means a professional staff member appointed by the dean or academic contact to help manage the administration of the course proposal. The administrative contact is a field in the CMS. 

Articulation arrangement is defined in the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy. 

Faculty stakeholder means a faculty that has an interest in a course, for example where: 

  1. the course (existing or proposed) is a combined course 
  2. a faculty owns subjects offered as core subjects or study packages within a major/sub-major/stream in a course owned by another faculty 
  3. a faculty teaches subjects offered as core in a course owned by another faculty 
  4. faculties offer courses or study packages in areas of studies that may overlap (for example, some areas of communication and design, some areas of science and health, some areas of education and management). 

Inherent requirement is an essential requirement for a course as defined in Schedule 1, Student Rules. 

Interlinked course means those courses that are or were connected (for example, stand-alone degrees and their combined degrees, bachelor degrees and their related bachelor honours degree). Courses may be formally interlinked with an articulation arrangement. 

Tuition fees are published on the UTS website at Fees and payment: Understanding fees, which is maintained by the Lifetime Learner Experience Unit. It includes but is not limited to: 

  1. domestic student tuition fees and international student tuition fees 
  2. subject-based fees for domestic Commonwealth supported students (CSP) 
  3. subject-based fees for domestic non-award and non-CSP students.