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Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities in Modern Standard Chinese Policy

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Purpose | Scope | Principles | Policy statements | Roles and responsibilities | Definitions | Approval information | Version history | References

Related policies

1. Purpose

1.1 The Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities in Modern Standard Chinese Policy (the policy) supplements the Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy by providing specific requirements for offshore courses taught in Modern Standard Chinese.

2. Scope

2.1 This policy applies to all UTS staff involved in the management and delivery of offshore courses taught in Modern Standard Chinese.

3. Principles

3.1 All teaching and learning activities, as well as support for students, must be provided in Modern Standard Chinese.

3.2 The principles outlined in the Offshore Policy and the Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy also apply for this policy.

4. Policy statements

Course content and teaching materials

4.1 Offshore courses offered in Modern Standard Chinese must draw on materials written in Modern Standard Chinese.

4.2 Subjects with highly specific Australian content should not be taught in Modern Standard Chinese as there may be the need to use local Australian teaching and supporting materials. In such circumstances, appropriate translation of the teaching and supporting materials should be provided.

4.3 The faculty (or the offshore partner) offering the course is responsible for the translation of course materials not in Modern Standard Chinese. Ownership of the translated course materials belongs to the faculty unless an agreement is reached between the faculty and the partner providing the translated materials.

Appointment of translators or interpreters

4.4 To be assured of the standard and professional services of the translators/interpreters, faculties may:

  1. directly, or through an appointment agent, employ translators/interpreters who are at least at level 3 on the scale of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI)
  2. through arrangements with and/or recommendations from UTS International, appoint translators/interpreters to perform the required translation/interpretation services (UTS International will maintain a list of translators/interpreters whose names are included in the annual reports of offshore courses and whose standard of services is confirmed satisfactory), or
  3. through arrangements with the offshore partner, appoint translators/interpreters to perform the required translation/interpretation services (such arrangements and any cost incurred shall be paid for by the faculty).

4.5 All cost translations/interpretations shall be borne by the faculty (or partner).

Teaching qualifications

4.6 Offshore courses taught in Modern Standard Chinese should be taught by staff who are both competent to teach in Modern Standard Chinese and who are qualified to teach the course from a professional and disciplinary perspective. The annual report to Academic Board (refer Quality assurance and annual reports) should list all teaching staff involved in the delivery of the course, together with their linguistic, professional and disciplinary qualifications.

4.7 Courses may be delivered through a process of interpretation if teaching is not available from staff members who are competent to teach in Modern Standard Chinese. The interpretation may be simultaneous or sequential but, in all cases, must be carried out by qualified interpreters. The annual report to Academic Board (refer Quality assurance and annual reports) should list all interpreters employed and their qualifications.

Learning support

4.8 Appropriate student guides in Modern Standard Chinese must be provided to students to ensure that they are aware of what learning support services are available.

4.9 Faculties must ensure that relevant parts of the faculty handbook, including study guides and advice on plagiarism, are translated into Modern Standard Chinese and available to students.

4.10 Students shall have access to UTS email. Modern Standard Chinese instructions on the use of UTS email must be provided.

4.11 Where relevant, students may access the UTS online teaching and learning resources. Where such resources are not available in Modern Standard Chinese, appropriate alternative learning resource and support must be provided to students.

4.12 Where required, UTS rules and selected policies will be made available in Modern Standard Chinese through UTS International in consultation with the Governance Support Unit.

4.13 Faculties must ensure that adequate and appropriate library resources in Modern Standard Chinese are available to students. UTS Library must be consulted on any inter-library arrangements with offshore partners. The agreed arrangements must be outlined in documentation between UTS and the partner institution.

4.14 Faculties must, in consultation with the partner institution, arrange for the provision of academic language support. This provision must be provided for in the agreement and/or operations manual for the delivery of the relevant course.

Role of the moderator in assessing learning outcomes

4.15 To ensure that the same standards are applied in assessing learning outcomes, a moderator who is an academic and bilingual (English and Modern Standard Chinese) must be appointed.

4.16 The primary role of the moderator is to ensure that the course outcomes of any course being taught in Modern Standard Chinese is of an appropriate quality and standard to lead to the UTS award. This requires confirmation that the outcomes are equivalent to and compatible with those of the course being taught in English.

4.17 The moderator is responsible for the validity and quality of locally assessed work. UTS is responsible for setting examinations and assignments and for providing the moderator with:

  1. UTS marking plans and/or grading templates to accompany assignments and exams, and
  2. UTS assessed samples from the English version of the course.

4.18 The moderator approves the translation of subject examinations and assignments, and marking plans and/or grading templates, and reviews samples of student work for each subject to see that the work submitted is to a standard appropriate to the course and that the marking is fair.

4.19 Where marks awarded in the subjects appear different by comparison the moderator must report this to the course coordinator who will discuss the matter with the subject coordinator and/or lecturer.

4.20 The moderator must ensure that:

  1. content of each subject (particularly the study guide and reference material) and the teaching of the subject is comparable with that of the subject being taught in English, noting that some subjects may be unique to offshore
  2. information given to students and teaching staff about the nature of the course, the academic standards and the directions about appropriate channels for concerns, complaints and appeals is comparable with that provided to onshore students.

4.21 The course coordinator must advise the moderator of any modification to the English or Modern Standard Chinese subject support material. The moderator should review the English and Modern Standard Chinese study guides and texts on a continuing basis and monitor UTS’s online sites for the relevant course subjects.

4.22 The moderator should, from time to time, observe (though not participate) teaching sessions delivered in both English and Modern Standard Chinese.

4.23 The moderator must be provided with the consolidated results of the feedback survey for subjects delivered in both English and Modern Standard Chinese (refer Feedback Survey Policy).

4.24 The moderator must support the course coordinator (where required) to review appeals lodged by students about assignments or examination results and provide translation to students on UTS academic matters if required by the course coordinator.

4.25 The moderator should provide a comprehensive written report to the dean or nominee within the agreed period following the end of each teaching period. This report should cover the general situation for each subject and highlight the exceptional, whether examples of good practice or indications of problems. It should also notify any procedural difficulties or inconsistencies. Reports are confidential to the course coordinator.

Course administration

4.26 The same administration processes for UTS courses delivered in English will apply for those courses delivered in Modern Standard Chinese. Where additional and/or special administrative processes are required these will be outlined in documentation between UTS and the partner institution.

Student administration

4.27 Students will apply as offshore students through UTS International. These students will be enrolled as students on commencement of the UTS course offshore.

4.28 Students pay fees according to the agreement between UTS and the partner institution.

4.29 Student ID cards are provided with a pinyin transliteration of the student's name.

4.30 Academic progression and appeals will be managed via the relevant course coordinator.

4.31 There is no IELTS minimum score required for offshore courses delivered in Modern Standard Chinese. Faculties must ensure that students wishing to transfer to another UTS course taught in English are made aware of the English language requirements that apply.

4.32 Incidents of academic misconduct are managed via the moderator in consultation with the relevant course coordinator.

4.33 UTS provides a testamur and academic record (transcript) for students who have satisfactorily met the requirements for a UTS award.

4.34 Courses delivered in Modern Standard Chinese will have one single testamur, which will be produced bilingually in Modern Standard Chinese and English. The award title will not include the medium of teaching (refer Award Course Nomenclature and Issuance Policy).

4.35 The final official academic record (transcript) for students enrolled in courses taught in Modern Standard Chinese will have a descriptor 'Taught in Modern Standard Chinese'. The explanatory notes of the transcript on the table of grades and results are in both English and Modern Standard Chinese (refer also Academic Records Policy).

4.36 For all offshore courses, graduands will be given the option to attend graduation ceremonies and receive their awards either in Sydney or at an offshore location if available. The arrangements for attendance of graduation ceremonies will normally be made via the offshore partner and services required shall be outlined in the operations manual between UTS and the offshore partner.

4.37 Where graduands of Modern Standard Chinese courses choose to attend ceremonies in Sydney, and need special language support and/or arrangements to attend the ceremony, the faculty will work with the Lifetime Learner Experience Unit to ensure that such support and/or arrangements are provided.

Quality assurance and annual reports

4.38 All new course proposals and changes to existing offshore courses must be approved in line with the Course Approval Policy. The quality and academic integrity of all offshore courses is managed and ensured through the UTS course approval and review processes. Equivalent courses offered in either English or Modern Standard Chinese follow the same accreditation and reaccreditation principles and processes.

4.39 The University Academic Programs Office and UTS International will provide support to the sponsoring faculty during the approval and reaccreditation processes.

4.40 Faculties must conduct feedback surveys for all subjects delivered offshore in Modern Standard Chinese (refer Feedback Survey Policy).

4.41 Offshore courses with partnership agreements may be categorised as commercial activities (refer the Commercial Activities Policy, the Offshore Policy and the Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy). Commercial activities must be reported annually and triennially in line with the Commercial Activities Policy.

4.42 An annual report to Academic Board will be coordinated by UTS International and submitted to Academic Board via the Courses Accreditation Committee. The annual report includes Academic Board requirements for reports on the language ability of all teaching staff, as well as the qualifications of translators and interpreters.

4.43 In calling for the annual reports on offshore Modern Standard Chinese courses to Academic Board, UTS International will develop a checklist to ensure that all necessary quality assurance mechanisms are in place and that evidence to demonstrate that the university policies on offshore Modern Standard Chinese courses is provided.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Policy owner: The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) is responsible for coordinating all UTS offshore activities and for ensuring they comply with this policy.

5.2 Policy contact: The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Partnerships) provides executive support to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) in implementing the policy.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles: Other responsibilities listed in the Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy also apply for this policy.

Table 5.3: Roles and responsibilities for offshore courses delivered in Modern Standard Chinese

FunctionsActivitiesResponsible unit

Bilingual university documents: 

  • Rules
  • testamur
  • academic records

Translation and verification of: 

  • rule changes
  • the award title
  • explanatory notes on academic records
  • UTS forms
  • student guide
  • offshore course survey 
  • Inclusion of translated rules on the UTS website
UTS International

Bilingual university documents:

  • Rules
  • testamur
  • academic records
  • Advice on rule changes  
  • Production of bilingual testamur  
  • Inclusion of medium of teaching on academic transcript, printing of bilingual explanatory notes on academic records
Lifetime Learner Experience Unit
Development, delivery, implementation and quality assurance of the program

Employment of bilingual staff and, where necessary, the provision of interpreting services when suitable bilingual staff are not available.  

Provision of Modern Standard Chinese translation for: 

Faculty associate dean, course coordinator, in collaboration with the offshore/international partner

6. Definitions

The definitions outlined in the Offshore Policy, the Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy and Schedule 1, Student Rules apply for this policy.