Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy
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Purpose | Scope | Principles | Policy statements | Policy owner and contact | Definitions | Approval information | Version history | References
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1. Purpose
1.1 The Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy (the policy) establishes a framework of responsibility for the management and delivery of offshore teaching and learning activities to ensure:
- that the development and administration of offshore teaching and learning meet all statutory and regulatory requirements
- that equivalent and appropriate academic standards and quality assurance practices apply for the management and delivery of both onshore and offshore courses
- that the quality of the student learning experience and the educational value of the course and any award when offered offshore is equivalent to that delivered onshore.
2. Scope
2.1 This policy applies to all UTS staff involved in the establishment and management of UTS offshore courses, which include:
- the teaching and delivery of full award coursework and research degrees
- the supply of teaching and learning services, including the provision of consultancy services
- the management of academic arrangements that allow entry to UTS award courses in Sydney, including dual programs of study.
2.2 The Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities in Modern Standard Chinese Policy has been developed to outline additional requirements.
3. Principles
3.1 UTS offshore teaching and learning activities must:
- meet the university’s standards of academic quality and advance the strategic and financial interests of UTS
- comply with the legislative and regulatory requirements of the country in which the activities are delivered.
3.2 The principles and statements outlined in the Offshore Policy also apply for this policy.
4. Policy statements
Establishment and approval of an offshore teaching and learning activity
4.1 Offshore teaching and learning partnership agreements are categorised as commercial activities and must comply with the Commercial Activities Policy and the Commercial Activities Management Procedure (SharePoint). Offshore courses must be run on at least a cost recovery commercial basis and cannot be subsidised by Commonwealth Grants Scheme funds. Refer Commercial Activities Policy.
4.2 Academic approvals and processes are embedded in the Award Course Approval Policy administered by the University Academic Programs Office using the Online Course Approval Process.
4.3 Offshore courses cannot start until UTS approval processes are fully completed and appropriate in-country government approvals have been secured.
Review and monitoring of offshore teaching and learning activities
4.4 Annual reviews (January to December) and monitoring reports on each UTS award course delivered outside Australia in the preceding year are to be submitted to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) at the beginning of each year, in a format specified by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International). Reviews include:
- strategic relationship and development with the offshore partner through the offshore course delivery
- risk management (reputational, financial and legislative)
- academic management
- course performance and benchmarking
- student administration, services and support (equivalency)
- quality assurance
- exit strategies, where applicable.
4.5 The review report on each offshore course is then provided to the Courses Accreditation Committee and the Vice-Chancellor and Academic Board for noting.
4.6 Annual reviews are to be complemented by annual visits to all offshore partner institutions by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) or their nominated delegate.
Management of offshore courses
4.7 UTS International manages the development of each UTS offshore course. Faculties are responsible for the academic management and delivery of each UTS offshore course offered by the faculty. The management of UTS offshore courses in operation before 1 January 2005 may remain the responsibility of the initiating faculty unless or until they inform the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) otherwise.
4.8 A summary of the roles and responsibilities of various parties are further outlined in section 5.
Offshore partners
4.9 UTS is committed to the development of long-term relationships with suitable international higher education providers for the purpose of delivering offshore courses. Partnerships must only be established where there is clear evidence of mutual benefit and development potential.
4.10 The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International), with consideration of any requirements given by the Vice-Chancellor, may approve the development of a proposal for the establishment of a partnership to deliver one or more UTS offshore courses in suitable locations.
4.11 Potential offshore partners must undergo the due diligence process as required for all commercial activities. UTS International has the overall role of international relationship development and is involved in the due diligence check and partner selection process.
4.12 Partnership arrangements with offshore institutions for the delivery of UTS offshore courses must be supported by a series of formal agreements, renewed on a regular basis. A partnership agreement will usually comprise:
- a memorandum of understanding between UTS and the partner
- a head of agreement that deals with the strategic interaction between UTS and the partner
- an operations manual (or similar) that details academic, administrative and quality assurance interactions between UTS and the partner
- a schedule for the delivery of each specific course, and
- an annual plan that agrees on the operational details for the delivery of each course in the year ahead.
Financial management
4.13 The financial management of all UTS offshore teaching and learning activities must be done in the approved UTS financial management system.
4.14 UTS offshore teaching and learning activity has its own unique Finance Unit activity code and all financial management for each activity must use its unique code. The Finance Unit will work with UTS International to ensure activity codes are consistent and reports are accurate. Activity code changes are notified to UTS International.
4.15 Fees for UTS offshore courses are collected by the Lifetime Learner Experience Unit (fees office).
4.16 Income from the delivery of offshore courses is managed by the Finance Unit.
4.17 For all offshore courses managed by UTS International, the teaching faculty (or faculties) receive 64.4 per cent of the net revenue to UTS generated by that course.
4.18 For offshore courses in operation before 1 January 2005 where the teaching faculty (or faculties) also provide overall management functions to the operation of the courses, the teaching faculty (or faculties) receives the net revenue to UTS, less 16 per cent of gross revenue generated by the offshore course.
4.19 Payments to staff for their involvement in a UTS offshore course must be in accordance with UTS enterprise agreements, relevant policies and procedures.
4.20 There are annual reviews and, where appropriate, adjustment of fees for each offshore teaching and learning activity to consider changes in consumer price index exchange rates and market conditions as well as the strategic value of each activity to UTS.
Recruitment and marketing
4.21 As the awarding institution, UTS is responsible for approving marketing and promotional material relating to offshore courses.
4.22 UTS must ensure that no inappropriate or misleading statements are used in the promotion of its offshore courses and that its corporate identity is applied in accordance with the rules governing the use of its logo and emblem (refer UTS brand and visual identity and Use the UTS logo (Staff Connect)).
4.23 The appointment of any agents for the purposes of marketing UTS offshore courses or recruiting students must be managed in accordance with UTS International’s student recruitment agent protocols, as approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International).
Quality assurance
4.24 All offshore courses must meet the university's criteria set out in its teaching and learning statement of values and the Award Course Nomenclature and Issuance Policy.
4.25 Criteria for the selection and admission of students to offshore courses must be in accordance with the Student Rules and the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy.
4.26 UTS staff must be involved in the delivery of offshore courses of teaching and learning. Where teaching delivery is localised, or where a partner is licensed to provide a UTS course, UTS staff must be involved in moderation and quality assurance procedures.
4.27 All UTS feedback surveys that are conducted for subjects and courses delivered onshore must be available and conducted for UTS offshore students (refer Feedback Survey Policy). The content of these surveys and the tools used for the surveys may be modified to suit specific offshore teaching and learning environments. Such variations must consider the compatibility of the onshore and offshore surveys to allow meaningful comparison and benchmarking.
Student learning support
4.28 Faculties offering courses offshore must provide the necessary learning support to enable students to achieve the desired learning outcomes in the course. This includes access to:
- teaching and learning advice from teaching staff
- appropriate library and other learning resources
- advice on other support services available for offshore students in general and specific to students enrolled in that course
- course and other student information
- advice on UTS rules and policies applicable to UTS students in general and specific to students enrolled in that course.
Records management
4.29 The authoritative student enrolment and record system for all students in UTS offshore courses is held in CASS (refer Award Course Approval Policy). All UTS offshore students must have appropriate records in CASS in line with the Records Management Policy.
4.30 All records relating to UTS offshore students that may be kept by the offshore partner must be maintained at the same levels of privacy and protection required by the Privacy Policy.
Intellectual property
4.31 UTS, in line with the Intellectual Property Policy and its procedures, retains and will assert ownership of intellectual property in:
- course and teaching materials developed for the purpose of the delivery of offshore courses
- all translations of course and teaching materials, where those translations have been commissioned and paid for by UTS.
5. Policy owner and contact
5.1 Policy owner: The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) has responsibility for coordinating all UTS offshore activities and for ensuring that they are conducted in line with the requirements of this policy.
5.2 Policy contact: The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Partnerships) provides executive support to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) in implementing this policy.
5.3 Others:
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) advises the Vice-Chancellor on the commercial and financial management of offshore courses in accordance with this policy.
Deans of faculties that offer offshore courses are responsible for the overall delivery, academic management and quality assurance of the respective courses offered offshore. Refer also Offshore Policy.
Academic Board, on the advice of the Courses Accreditation Committee, has the authority to approve the accreditation of UTS offshore award courses.
The Courses Accreditation Committee (CAC) is a standing committee of Academic Board whose terms of reference include advice on reaccreditation of UTS award courses. The provision of the offshore review reports to CAC will facilitate the consideration of course reaccreditation by Academic Board.
Table 5.3: Summary of roles and responsibilities for offshore course management
Function | Activities | Lead |
---|---|---|
Initiative | Opportunity identification / Partner identification | Faculty / UTS International |
Relationship development | Depersonalisation of contacts Faculty commitment Development of shared values, trust, mutual respect and common expectations | Faculty / UTS International |
Course design | Academic aims and structure Teaching pattern Academic partnership details | Faculty |
Business planning | Market intelligence Due diligence | UTS International |
Business planning | Financial plan and sensitivity analysis Legal, tax and insurance environment Funds repatriation | UTS International / Finance Unit |
Business planning | Risk management | General Counsel and Executive Director, Risk and Compliance / UTS International |
Contract and management | Negotiation of terms, responsibilities, performance indicators and revenue distribution Legal advice, signage of agreement and renewal Annual review of relationship Fee review and reset Exit strategy | UTS International |
Course approval process | Initial strategic assessment Course planning Accreditation Academic Board | Faculty |
Government registration | Seeking registration with local government through cooperation with the partner | Faculty / UTS International |
Australian registration on AustList | Registration of the offshore courses on offer on AustList | UTS International |
Course management | Promotion Recruitment UTS Library access for offshore staff | UTS International |
Academic management and course delivery | Physical location and facilities for teaching and learning | Faculty / UTS International |
Academic management and course delivery | Staffing arrangements and orientation Course coordination, subject coordination, materials development, teaching, assessment and moderation Academic structure and administrative procedures Report and review | Faculty |
Student administration | Application Admission | Faculty / UTS International |
Student administration | Enrolment and study package record | Faculty / Lifetime Learner Experience Unit |
Student administration | Student orientation Student learning support Student appeals/grievance | Faculty |
Student administration | Graduation | Faculty / Lifetime Learner Experience Unit / UTS International |
Fees management | Collection Transfer to UTS | Lifetime Learner Experience Unit |
Fees management | Revenue tracking and reporting | Finance Unit / UTS International |
Fees management | Allocation | Provost |
Quality assurance | Feedback survey and review | Faculty / Office of Quality Assurance |
Quality assurance | Survey and report | UTS International / Office of Quality Assurance |
Quality assurance | Management committee and/or strategic management group meeting with partner Annual course reviews | Faculty / UTS International |
Quality assurance | Annual visit to partners Annual report to Academic Board and Council | UTS International |
Course review and reaccreditation | Annual offshore course review | UTS International / Office of Quality Assurance |
Course review and reaccreditation | Reaccreditation of offshore courses | Faculty |
Phasing out and discontinuation of an offshore course | Notice by faculty to Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Submission to Academic Board for phasing out and discontinuation arrangements, in particular, transitional arrangements for students | Faculty / UTS International / University Academic Programs Office |
Termination of agreement and partnership | Notice by faculty to Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) | Formal notice to partner by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) |
6. Definitions
The following definitions apply for this policy and all associated procedures. These are in addition to the definitions outlined in Schedule 1, Student Rules. Definitions in the singular include the plural meaning of the word.
Articulation arrangement is defined in the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy.
Dual program of study is defined in the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy.
Moderation means the process where UTS assesses the merit and worth of teaching and course delivery on its courses taught elsewhere.
Approval information
Policy contact | Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Partnerships) |
---|---|
Approval authority | Vice-Chancellor |
Review date | 2022 |
File number | UR05/885 |
Superseded documents | Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Operational Directive |
Version history
Version | Approved by | Approval date | Effective date | Sections modified |
---|---|---|---|---|
1.0 | Vice-Chancellor | 26/08/2005 | 26/08/2005 | New Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Operational Directive. |
2.0 | Vice-Chancellor | 23/02/2012 | 23/02/2012 | Change of title to Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Vice-Chancellor’s Directive. |
2.1 | Vice-Chancellor | 23/11/2015 | 23/11/2015 | Amendments following the external articulation process review. |
2.2 | Director, Governance Support Unit (Delegation 3.14.1) | 03/03/2022 | 03/03/2022 | Changes and updates to reflect portfolio realignment under Fit for 2027 project. Template update, general corrections and updates. |
2.3 | Deputy Director, Corporate Governance (Delegation 3.14.2) | 24/11/2022 | 05/12/2022 | Minor change to reflect new position title of General Counsel and Executive Director, Risk and Compliance. |
2.4 | Director, Governance Support Unit (Delegation 3.14.1) | 25/05/2023 | 16/06/2023 | Update to reflect title change of Course Name and Award Title Nomenclature Policy to Award Course Nomenclature and Issuance Policy. |