Policy: Academic programs and courses accreditation

Purpose

To describe the standards which underpin the University’s introduction, modification, review and disestablishment of academic programs and courses.

Overview

This policy includes:

• categories of awards
• program design principles
• priorities for the approval of new coursework programs
• coursework program accreditation
• coursework program reaccreditation
• disestablishing coursework programs
• coursework courses
• combined programs
• transnational education programs (coursework)
• programs and courses delivered in a language other than English
• ANU academic programs design principles
• ANU combined degree design principles
• ANU specialisation design principles

Scope

This policy covers all award programs, majors, minors, specialisations, and courses and all ANU staff with educational responsibilities.

Definitions

Transnational education program refers to an ANU award program offered outside of Australia.

For additional definitions of terms in this policy and associated procedure, please refer to the Policy: Glossary - student policies and procedures.

Policy Statement

1. ANU accredits and reaccredits programs, majors, minors, specialisations, and courses that:

• align with the strategic directions of the University; and
• are consistent with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Thresholds Standards); and
• are consistent with the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF); and
• are consistent with the academic standards of the University, as set out in University policies.

Categories of awards

2. ANU may offer programs that lead to the following awards:

• Diploma
• Associate Degree
• Bachelor Degree
• Bachelor Honours Degree
• Graduate Certificate
• Graduate Diploma
• Master Degree (Coursework, Extended, and Research)
• Doctoral Degree

Program Design Principles

3. ANU programs are consistent with the design principles outlined in Table 1. In rare cases where an exception is required, a case that includes documented evidence of need must be made to the Academic Quality Assurance Committee for coursework degrees and to University Research Committee for research degrees. Each unique award will have only one set of orders, duration, and units required. Multiple awards will not be accredited with the same name.
4. In rare cases, University Council may approve the offering of a non-Australian Qualifications Framework award.

Coursework Program Accreditation

5. In the coursework program accreditation process, evidence of alignment with the ANU Strategic Plan, demand, academic merit and of research-led approaches to education is provided in program proposals.
6. Academic Board, on advice from the Academic Quality Assurance Committee, accredits new coursework programs and amendments to coursework programs for a maximum period of five years. Program amendments are accredited until a program is due to be reviewed. Professional accreditation is the responsibility of the relevant managing ANU College(s).
7. Enrolled students must be informed of an amendment to an academic program by the relevant managing ANU College(s) through the usual University means of communication and must be notified of their options and the transitional arrangements that will be put in place.

Coursework Program Reaccreditation

8. Each of the University’s academic programs will be reviewed at least every five years, although the Academic Quality Assurance Committee may trigger a shorter review cycle for particular programs on the basis of evidence relating to viability, quality assurance, or student outcomes or experience. Nested programs (e.g. Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma/Masters), or the Master/Master (Advanced), pass degree/direct-entry Honours/+1 honours, or in-person/online versions of a program may be reviewed in a single review on a single form where the College deems this to be appropriate.
9. All program reviews include an independent academic external to the University who is a subject matter expert; and additionally for graduate program reviews an independent expert who is a non-academic practitioner in the area. In rare cases where an appropriate practitioner cannot be identified, the Academic Quality Assurance Committee may provide an exemption.
10. External experts declare any conflict of interest prior to undertaking the program review. Any identified actual, perceived, or potential conflict of interest is brought to the attention of the Chair of the Academic Quality Assurance Committee for decision prior to appointment of the external expert.
11. Programs subject to professional accreditation follow the review schedule of the relevant external accreditation body. Academic Board, on advice from the Academic Quality Assurance Committee, reaccredits coursework programs for a maximum period of five years. The Academic Quality Assurance Committee determines the regular review cycle and also recommends programs for early review based on the following criteria:

• evidence of student retention rates under 80% (excluding transfers from Diploma to Bachelor; Bachelor to Bachelor (Honours); Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma to Masters); and
• a majority of the courses within the program with an agreement rate of <50% for overall satisfaction in SELT for the past three years.

Disestablishing coursework programs

12. Coursework programs may be disestablished by Academic Board on the advice of the Academic Quality Assurance Committee. If an academic program is to be disestablished, the relevant managing ANU College(s) must investigate any possible adverse effects that the change may have on students currently enrolled in the program, with particular regard to:

• any transitional arrangements required; and
• time-limits on the transitional arrangements.

13. Where an academic program is disestablished, students will be assisted to complete the program of study within a designated period or be offered the opportunity to transfer to another program of equivalent nature. Enrolled students must be informed of a disestablished academic program by the relevant managing ANU College(s) through the usual University means of communication and must be notified of their options and the transitional arrangements that will be put in place. The default period for transitioning students out of a disestablished program is the full-time duration of study for the final cohort of students admitted, where an equivalent program for students to transition into can be identified, and the part-time duration of study for the final cohort of students where no equivalent program can be identified.
14. The relevant managing ANU College(s) must seek to identify potential enrolments or potential student cohorts in pathways programs who may be affected by the decision to disestablish an academic program and notify them of their options and any transitional arrangements that will be put in place.

Major, Minor, and Specialisation Accreditation

15. Academic Board, on advice from the Academic Quality Assurance Committee, accredits new majors, minors, and specialisations for a maximum period of five years. Professional accreditation is the responsibility of the relevant managing ANU College(s).
16. All majors, minors, and specialisations are managed and taught by one or more of the Colleges. They cannot be managed or taught outside one of those academic structures.
17. Academic Board, on advice from the Academic Quality Assurance Committee, approves amendments to the admission requirements for Honours Specialisations; the host ANU College will approve all other amendments to majors, minors, and specialisations.

Major, Minor, and Specialisation Reaccreditation

18. Majors, Minors, and Specialisations are reviewed as part of the review process for each program for which they are listed in the program orders.

Disestablishing majors, minors and specialisations

19. Majors, Minors, and Specialisations may be disestablished by Academic Board on the advice of the Academic Quality Assurance Committee. If a Major, Minor, or Specialisation is to be disestablished, the relevant managing ANU College(s) must investigate any possible adverse effects that the change may have on students currently enrolled in the program, with particular regard to:

1. any transitional arrangements required; and
2. time-limits on the transitional arrangements.

20. The disestablishment of a major, minor, or specialisation automatically removes it from the program orders of all programs in which it is listed. A program amendment proposal is not required.

Coursework Courses

21. All courses are governed and taught by one of the Colleges. Courses are not owned or taught outside of those academic structures. For clarity, micro-credentials are not courses for the purposes of this policy.
22. New courses are approved by the relevant ANU College for a period of five years, with the exception of courses that are not taught in the English language and which do not provide education that aims to develop proficiency in languages other than English, as described in “38”. Amendments to a course are approved for the period to the next review date of the course. The relevant ANU College may disestablish a course that is not listed in the orders of any program, major, minor, or specialisation; if a course is listed, its removal must be approved before the course can be disestablished. The course disestablishment date cannot be before the effective date of its removal from any program, major, minor, or specialisation. Disestablishment of courses is permanent on approval.
23. Each taught course (that is, excluding administrative codes, codes for exchange, etc), other than special topics courses, must be taught at least once over each three calendar year period. Each year, Planning and Service Performance (PSP) provides a list of such courses to Colleges. If a course is not taught at least once in a three calendar year period, it is to be disestablished as at 01 January of the year following that period unless the College Education Committee in rare instances approves a case as to why the course should not be disestablished. A list of any retained courses together with the rationale for retention of each provided by Colleges is tabled at the second meeting each year of the Academic Quality Assurance Committee for discussion. For clarity, co-taught courses are not aggregated for this process.
24. A shorter review and reaccreditation cycle for courses may be triggered by the ANU College Education Committee or equivalent on the basis of evidence relating to viability, quality assurance, or student outcomes or experience.
25. Proposals to establish, modify or disestablish courses that involve either the academic content or resources of another ANU College must include documentary evidence of consultation with that ANU College. Applications for the reaccreditation of courses are approved by the ANU College Education Committee or equivalent according to ANU College processes.
26. Colleges will report their list of new, reaccredited and disestablished courses to the Academic Quality Assurance Committee once a year.
27. Alpha codes for coursework courses are University-wide, discipline based codes, and are not exclusive to particular programs, contractual arrangements, or organisational structures.
28. The creation of new alpha codes must be approved by the Registrar.
29. The first digit of the numerical component of course codes is determined by the overarching principle that learning outcomes must demonstrate the appropriateness of the coding to a particular level. Specific course-level principles are:

30. All course credit codes must begin with the word “Credit:” and refer to the course-code level at which the credit is awarded.
31. All exchange codes must begin with the word “Exchange:”
32. Co-teaching is where any course shares any teaching events, other than special events such as guest lectures by non-ANU staff or staff research seminars, with any other course.

Combined Programs

33. ANU offers combined programs on its own, and in partnership with universities of outstanding reputation, both at undergraduate and graduate level (table 2).
34. In order to graduate with two awards from a combined degree program the core requirements of both individual awards must be met in their entirety.
35. The minimum length of an undergraduate combined degree program must be at least as long as the longest of the two component award courses plus 48 units. The minimum length of a double Master program must be at least as long as the longest of the two component degree courses plus 24 units, or at least 96 units, whichever is longer. No degree in a double Master program will be shorter than 48 units.

Transnational education programs (coursework)

36. Approval for transnational education programs is only given where, in addition to other requirements outlined in this policy, any transnational partnerships are consistent with the Policy: International partnerships and agreements and Procedure: International partnerships and agreements.

Programs and courses delivered in a language other than English

37. English is the primary language of instruction for ANU programs and courses, with the exception of education that aims to develop proficiency in languages other than English.
38. All ANU programs and courses that are not taught in the English language and which do not provide education that aims to develop proficiency in languages other than English must be considered for accreditation by Academic Board.
39. Approval will only be given for a program or course to be delivered in a language other than English that does not have as its primary purpose education in language proficiency where, in addition to other requirements outlined in this policy:

• there is a demonstrated strategic benefit to the University; and
• adequate and regular monitoring and review systems are in place.

Table 1: ANU Academic Programs Design Principles

Table 2: ANU Combined Degree Design Principles

Master Degree (Coursework) Structural Requirements

40. Masters degrees (coursework):

• are constituted by 6000-, 7000-, and 8000-level courses. The only exception is that 1000, 2000 and 3000 level courses for learning a language other than English may be included in the orders, up to a maximum of 25 per cent of the global requirement.
• must require completion of at least 24 units (non-Advanced) or 48 units (advanced) of courses that are not co-taught with 1000-, 2000-, or 3000-level courses (to meet this requirement, all standard teaching events must be separate, but special events including guest lectures may be co-taught).

41. A Master degree must require students, amongst other things, to “demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills to plan and execute a substantial research-based project, capstone experience and/or piece of scholarship” (Australian Qualifications Framework: Addendum to the Second Edition January 2013, p. 6).
42. A Master (Advanced) degree includes a thesis of at least 24 units.

Graduate Coursework Admission Requirements

43. Admission will normally be available directly into a 48 unit Master’s degree that requires cognate entry; or into a 72 or 96 unit Master’s degree that either does or does not require cognate entry.
44. The cognate requirement may be met by a Bachelor degree, Bachelor Honours degree, Graduate Certificate, or Graduate Diploma, or equivalent professional experience. Cognate disciplines must be specified for each Master degree at the time of accreditation.
45. Graduate coursework programs have admission requirements that specify at least the first line in Tables 3 to 6. The GPA and length of professional experience specified in Tables 3 to 6 are minimums, exemptions in place with different minimum GPA as at 01/01/2019, or a different minimum professional experience as at 01/01/2021 are grandfathered until the next review.
46. Unless academically justified, admission requirements that include informal or non-formal learning are expressed as “full-time equivalent years of professional experience at ANSCO Skill Level 1 in [a field related to the program]”, where the bracketed text may be replaced with a more program-specific reference. In Tables 3 to 6, ‘years…’ should be read to refer to this statement.
47. Graduate coursework programs may specify additional admission requirements.

Table 3: Admissions Requirements for 48, 72 and 96 unit Masters degrees

Table 4: Admissions Requirements for 48, 72 and 96 unit Masters degrees with compulsory honours requirement

Table 5: Admissions requirement for Masters Advanced degrees

Table 6: Admissions Requirements for Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma degrees

ANU Specialisations Design Principles

48. ‘Specialisation’ is a type of approved sub-plan of at least 24 units that indicates depth of specialist knowledge of the discipline or field identified by the name of the specialisation and that is distinct from and sits within a broader program. As such, a program of 24 units or less cannot include a specialisation. Specialisations are not listed on testamurs, but for programs of at least 48 units are listed on academic transcripts and the Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).
49. A specialisation must be listed in the orders of at least one program.
50. A 48-unit specialisation is available only in honours plans that are one year following completion of a Bachelor degree.
51. A 24-unit specialisation is available only in the program types specified in Table 7 and consists of courses at the two most advanced levels, as indicated by numeric coding, that are available within the program type, including a minimum of 12 units at the most advanced level.

Table 7: Design Principles for ANU Specialisations

Advanced Minor Design Principles

52. An Advanced Minor is an approved undergraduate sub-plan of 24 units that indicates depth of knowledge equivalent to the completion of the corresponding major. It is distinct from and sits within a broader program. As such, a program of 24 units or less cannot include an Advanced Minor. Advanced Minors are not listed on testamurs, but for programs of at least 48 units are listed on academic transcripts and the Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).
53. An Advanced Minor has an identified corresponding major. The Advanced Minor and the major are incompatible with each other, that is, both cannot be listed on a transcript and AHEGS.
54. An Advanced Minor is to be named as ‘Advanced [X] Minor’, where [X] is the wording of the corresponding [X] major.
55. An Advanced Minor must be listed in the orders of at least one program.
56. An Advanced Minor must conform to the following design principles:

1. has the same learning outcomes as the identified corresponding major;
2. consists only of 2000-level and 3000-level courses, all of which must be available within the identified corresponding major;
3. has at least the same requirements for completion of 3000-level courses as the identified corresponding major;
4. requires the student to take a placement test, the result of which is, at a minimum, an exemption from all 1000-level courses listed in the orders for the major (for a structured series of courses, this may be processed as a requisite waiver); and
5. is self-contained, that is, it must be able to be completed by taking exactly 24 units of courses including all pre- and co-requisites necessary for completion.
6. The word ‘Advanced’ is not to be used in the name of a minor that does not conform to these principles.