7. Non-AQF accreditation: Microcredentials

7.1 Design principles for Microcredentials

1. Proposals for each new microcredential or microcredential stack will specify how it is aligned with the ANU Strategic Plan.
2. ANU microcredentials and microcredential stacks are part of the university’s suite of offerings to facilitate lifelong learning in support of:

Senior Executive education; and

Professional development

3. ANU microcredentials are not AQF Qualifications.
4. Microcredentials are not ANU programs or courses as defined in policy and procedure and must not be described as programs or courses.
5. Microcredentials cannot be co-taught with 1000-, 2000-, or 3000-level undergraduate courses.
6. Microcredentials cannot be included in the program orders for any ANU AQF qualification, but are eligible under the ANU Recognition of Prior and External Learning Policy and Credit and Exemptions Procedure for consideration for credit towards an ANU AQF qualification; ANU Microcredentials are regarded as formal learning.
7. Microcredentials are not eligible for HECS/CGS support and are not available for cross-institutional enrolment.

7.2 Microcredentials

8. The defining characteristics of ANU microcredentials are that they:

1. demonstrate the university’s intellectual leadership in the taught disciplines or fields;
2. are designed and taught at graduate level either by ANU staff or by ANU staff in conjunction with experienced practitioners;
3. are taught by one or more College AOUs aligned with the discipline/field;
4. include a face-to-face component which is normally in person but may be synchronous online; and
5. do not have their convening, teaching and assessment contracted out to third parties.

9. ANU Microcredentials are consistent with the Australian Government’s National Microcredentials Framework.
10. ANU quality assures each of its microcredentials in their:

1. design through the development and governance process set out in this Procedure;
2. academic integrity through requiring all enrollees to abide by academic integrity as specified by Academic Board and commit to this as part of the induction process prior to commencing their first ANU microcredential; elective training will be made available to all enrollees;
3. academic expertise through compliance with the Policy and Procedure: Knowledge, Pedagogical Skills and Qualifications Requirements for Educators;
4. enrollee outcomes through assessment that requires demonstration of each of the learning outcomes; and
5. enrollee engagement and impact through enrollee surveys that are consistent with the ANU Student Surveys and Evaluations Policy and Procedure.

11. If the language of instruction is not English the language of instruction must be specified in the proposal, on all material published by the University about the microcredential, and must appear prominently on any certificate of attainment or attendance. Approval for microcredentials to be delivered in languages other than English that do not have as their primary purpose education in language proficiency is contingent on fulfilment of additional requirements which are the same as the requirements for programs and courses, as per Clauses 2.4.23 and 2.4.25 above.
12. Language microcredential enrollees with previous language experience or exposure are required to undertake a language proficiency assessment to ensure enrolment at the most appropriate level. Enrollees who are not sure if they need to undertake a language proficiency assessment should seek advice from the microcredential convenor. Enrollees who intentionally misrepresent their language proficiency level may be investigated under the Academic Integrity Rule as having failed to comply with assessment directions and having sought unfair advantage.
13. To be eligible for the award of a microcredential, enrollees must successfully complete and pass the assessment for the microcredential. Enrollees who attend the contact for the microcredential but do not complete and pass the assessment are not eligible for the award of a microcredential but may receive a certificate of attendance.
14. Two or more ANU microcredentials may be stacked to form another ANU microcredential that demonstrates greater depth and/or breadth of study, following the principle that multiple courses may be combined to form a program.

7.3 Governance

15. The Governance framework reflects that an ANU credential is awarded upon successful completion of an ANU microcredential.
16. The governance, reviewing, and reporting processes for creation, amendment, or disestablishment of a microcredential are the same as those for AQF courses, except that all microcredentials are automatically disestablished five years after creation, and if it is wished to continue a proposal for a new microcredential must be submitted.
17. The governance, reviewing, and reporting processes for creation, amendment, or disestablishment of a microcredential stack are the same as those for AQF sub-plans, except that all microcredential stacks are automatically disestablished five years after creation, and if it is wished to continue a proposal for a new microcredential stack must be submitted.
18. Fees are approved by the Registrar. Standard fees for microcredentials must be at least the pro rata amount for an equivalent non-award course. Offerings tailored to and taught to particular closed cohorts may have their fees set in the contract in which case they do not need approval from the Registrar.

Content of Proposal

19. For microcredentials that are intended to be marketed directly to the public (B2C; open offerings), a business case and market research must be submitted. For microcredentials that are intended to be offered under a contract for specific cohorts (B2B; closed offerings), this is not required if it is certified that a contract has been entered into, or that the microcredential is approved conditional upon a contract being entered into. For clarity, these requirements do not apply to microcredential stacks, just to the constituent microcredentials.
20. A proposal for a microcredential or microcredential stack should be made on the approved form which will include:

1. Name and Code;
2. List of at least five keywords to be used on the website as search terms;
3. Language of instruction (if not English);
4. Statement of alignment with the ANU Strategic Plan;
5. Statement identifying ANU as the developer and deliverer of the microcredential;
6. Evidence of the outcome of consultation with other AOUs with an academic interest in the discipline/s and/or fields;
7. Description of content (max. 100 words); for microcredentials only: if taught as a “special topics” microcredential, this is stated here and is to be based on the principles in section 5.5 “course topics and repeat enrolment”.
8. Learning outcomes;
9. For microcredentials only: assessment of the learning outcomes;
10. For microcredential stacks only: list of all microcredentials that constitute the stack at that time;
11. Assumed knowledge (there should not be formal prerequisites for microcredentials, but there should be a statement that it is taught at graduate level);
12. For Microcredential stacks only: any ANU microcredentials that are prerequisites, noting that no other pre-requisites are permitted;
13. Workload in hours (see clause 7.5.1 below), including (for microcredentials only, as required by the National Microcredentials Framework):

1. Number of hours of in-person face-to-face contact with teaching staff;
2. Number of hours of synchronous online contact with teaching staff;
3. Number of hours of peer-to-peer engagement and its mode;
4. Estimated number of hours of asynchronous online content and reading/viewing of audiovisual material, etc;
5. Estimated number of hours spent on assessment.

14. ANU unit value, which may be either specified or unspecified; if specified, any programs to which credit is guaranteed (noting that credit for other programs may be applied for under the ANU Recognition of Prior and External Learning Policy);
15. The AQF level (8, 9, or 10) or course code level (7000, 8000, or 9000) at which credit into an ANU program would be given;
16. Proposed Fees;
17. Any specific software or equipment that enrolees are expected to supply (other than a computer, Microsoft Office, and a PDF reader),
18. Any specific materials that the university is expected to provide, such as library databases, virtual desktop access, specialist software, etc., and
19. Contact details.

7.4 Delivery

Workload and unit value

21. The ANU standard course workload is 130 hours workload = 6 units. Drawing on this, any assigned unit value is based on 22 hours = 1 unit. Microcredentials that are not primarily designed for credit towards an ANU program are not required to assign a unit value.
22. The unit value of a single microcredential must not exceed 6 units and must be a whole number. There is no maximum unit value for a microcredential stack.
23. Non-nested assessment should not normally exceed 1500 words per unit value; nested assessment should not normally exceed 1500 words in final version per unit value.
24. Microcredentials:

1. Contact for ANU microcredentials is typically at least one third of the total number of hours workload. Contact less than this needs to be justified to the College Education Committee. For clarity, asynchronous online is not regarded as contact.
2. All ANU microcredentials are required to include face-to-face contact that is preferably in person but may be synchronous online. This may be supplemented by online offerings.
3. Face-to-face contact for ANU microcredentials is normally taught in intensive mode. Any microcredential of more than three units is required be taught in intensive mode.
4. Face-to-face contact may be on the ANU campus or at any other location in Australia; off-shore teaching of a microcredential that involves international travel by staff is required to be approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

Assessment

25. To receive a microcredential an enrolee must demonstrate attainment of the learning outcomes through completion of assessment. Owing to the brief nature of the microcredential and its assessment, the ANU Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure do not apply.
26. Assessment must have the following characteristics:

1. All written assessment is to be submitted electronically using university-approved text matching software;
2. Each assessment item is to be marked as pass/fail and written feedback is provided to the enrolee;
3. Where more than one staff member is involved in marking, moderation processes must be undertaken to ensure consistency of marking;
4. Supplementary assessment is not available; if an enrolee receives an overall failing mark (less than 50%), the enrolee may request that all assessment be remarked by a marker who was not involved in the teaching of the course and who is appointed by the Head of School; if there is disagreement between the markers, the final decision shall rest with an Associate Dean of the managing College, whose decision is not subject to further appeal;
5. For microcredentials only: The microcredential outline must state principles for extensions and any penalties for late submission;
6. Given the level of assumed English language ability required for admission into microcredentials, there are no special assessment arrangements for enrolees from language backgrounds other than English; and
7. Assessment is subject to the same rules, policies, and procedures regarding Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct as for ANU courses.

Certification

27. Microcredential certification is managed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) portfolio. On successful completion of assessment, a certificate will be awarded in the form of a digital artefact.

Surveying engagement and impact

28. Each iteration of a microcredential, microcredential stack must implement an enrolee survey to measure engagement and impact. The preferred, but not required, model is to have one pre-credential survey undertaken on enrolment and one post-credential survey, to measure change in sentiment. Surveys must be conducted according to the Student Surveys and Evaluations Policy and Procedure.

Academic Integrity

29. Before commencing the assessment for their first ANU microcredential, all enrolees must declare their commitment to abiding by the University’s Academic Integrity Rule. To support enrolees in understanding the University’s current standards, training in Academic Integrity is made available. The nature of this training is approved by Academic Board. There is no additional fee for this training.
30. All assessment task submissions require agreement to the following declaration by the enrolee: “I declare that this work:

1. upholds the principles of academic integrity, as defined in the Academic Integrity Rule;
2. is original, and is my own work except where collaboration (for example group work) has been authorised in writing by the convener;
3. is produced for the purposes of this assessment task and has not been submitted for assessment in any other context, except where authorised in writing by the convener;
4. gives appropriate acknowledgement of the ideas, scholarship and intellectual property of others insofar as these have been used; and
5. in no part involves copying, cheating, collusion, fabrication, plagiarism or recycling.

Admission requirements for Microcredentials

31. All ANU microcredentials have an admission requirement of completion of at least an AQF Level 7 Bachelor Degree or equivalent work experience, with no minimum GPA specified.
32. Where the language of instruction is English, all microcredentials must state the following: the assumed level of English Language competency is equivalent to completion of an undergraduate degree program taught in English.
33. Although it is preferred that prior knowledge is stated as assumed knowledge, an ANU microcredential may specify another ANU microcredential as a formal pre-requisite; no other formal pre-requisites may be specified.
34. The following assumed knowledge may be specified where relevant:

1. A minimum period of work experience may be assumed, which may include particular type/s of work experience.
2. Specific knowledge or skills may be assumed (e.g. a specific software package or a specific research technique)

35. Microcredentials, or specific iterations of microcredentials, may be available only to nominated members of specific organisations.
36. If cohort size for particular offerings is capped, a transparent selection mechanism must be specified.

Credit into ANU Programs

37. Enrolees who have attained a microcredential or microcredential stack, may apply under the ANU Recognition of Prior and External Learning Policy and Credit and Exemptions Procedure for consideration for credit towards an ANU AQF qualification; ANU microcredentials are regarded as formal learning.
38. ANU Micro-credentials that are primarily designed for credit towards an ANU program are required to assign a unit value in line with the Workload Section 7.5.1-7.5.4.
39. Just because an enrolee is eligible for or receives credit into an ANU program does not mean that the credit is able to be counted towards completion of the ANU program: enrolees must complete the approved program requirements and there may be no space in the program for the credit to be used.

Teaching

40. Those delivering a Microcredential must be appointed as per the Procedure: Knowledge, Pedagogical Skills, and Qualifications Requirements for Educators.

Publication of Microcredentialed offerings

41. Information to be published is:

1. Name and Code;
2. Language of instruction (if not English);
3. Description of content (max. 100 words);
4. Learning outcomes;
5. Assessment of the learning outcomes (for microcredentials only);
6. For microcredential stacks only: list of all microcredentials that constitute the stack at that time;
7. Assumed knowledge;
8. Workload in hours including hours of contact;
9. ANU unit value, which may be either specified or unspecified; if specified, any programs to which credit is guaranteed (noting that credit for other programs may be applied for under the ANU Recognition of Prior and External Learning policy);
10. The AQF level (8, 9, or 10) or course code level (7000, 8000, or 9000) at which credit into an ANU program would be given;
11. Admission requirements (for microcredentials only);
12. Depth of learning: taught at graduate level, the content of the microcredential is introductory/intermediate/advanced.
13. Fees (if available for individual enrolment);
14. any specific software or equipment that enrolees are expected to supply (other than a computer, Microsoft Office, and a PDF reader), and
15. Contact details.

42. Optional information

1. As recommended, but not required, by the National Microcredentials Framework, it should be stated in the proposal where, in the development of a microcredential, there is or has been:

1. Industry support that the microcredential meets an industry need and reflects skills sought by employers;
2. Evidence that a microcredential sits within an industry or profession, and the occupations / career pathways to which the microcredential is aligned;
3. An Industry competency framework/s that the microcredential may be aligned to;
4. Jurisdictions where the microcredential is applicable or recognised;
5. Consideration of Industry competency framework/s that the microcredential may be aligned to;
6. Industry-recognition, where the microcredential is recognised by a professional body, satisfies or aligns to an industry standard or professional development requirement, or constitutes recognition towards an industry or vendor certification.

2. Offerings (for example, offerings only available to members of a particular organisation are not required to have the offering advertised).

43. Standard statements:

1. Academic integrity
2. Microcredentials are taught at graduate level
3. There is no requirement that any part of the contact is recorded or that a written record of the content is made available
4. Microcredentials are not AQF Qualifications
5. Feedback mechanisms