Academic Board
July 2004
by Peter Cardwell
Academic Board endorsed a draft UniSA submission to the South Australian
Certificate of Education (SACE) Review, which will be refined by the Vice
Chancellor, the Pro Vice Chancellor (Access and Learning Support) and the
Chair of Academic Board before being forwarded to the Review Secretariat.
Members noted that in February 2004, the SA Government announced an external review of the SACE. Subsequently, the Vice Chancellor informed staff of a process that would allow for University-wide consultation to prepare a response to the review. The Chair, Assoc Prof Adrian Vicary, reported that consultations were then held on each campus and led by himself and the Pro Vice Chancellor (Access and Learning Support). Divisions were asked to discuss the SACE Review Issues Paper at Divisional Board level, and staff were invited to send their comments to a specially-created web site on the University’s home page.
Following the consultation process a draft submission to the SACE Review was prepared, focussing on four areas: English as a compulsory requirement for Stage 2 SACE; the internationalisation of the SACE; the relationship between the SACE and the TER; and the relationship between SSABSA and the South Australian universities.
Academic Board supported the arguments addressed in the draft University submission to the SACE Review. There was a long discussion that concentrated on a number of issues including:
- The need to argue that satisfactory achievement in English at Stage 2 should be a compulsory requirement for university entry in line with other Australian states.
- The proposed compulsory English requirement needed to be more than Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and in particular should prepare students for Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.
- It was important that SACE be internationally recognised and benchmarked against an international standard.
- It was important that SACE be portable and that it reinforce other aspects of the Australian Qualifications Framework.
- It was alarming to see the decline in the proportion of school leavers making the transition to university study in South Australia, which was now well below other states.
- The relationship between SSABSA and SA universities was discussed and the level of university representation on the Board was regarded as too low.
- The possibility of the three SA universities making a combined response to the SACE Review was mooted, particularly in relation to a compulsory requirement for Stage 2 English.
New scholarships: Whyalla
The Acting Director for Regional Engagement and Dean of Whyalla Campus, Assoc Prof Adrian Viacry, introduced a proposed new Northern Interests Outback Communities Development Scholarship, which will be sponsored by Northern Interests Pty Ltd to the value of $10,000. It would be available annually for one full-time undergraduate student enrolled in any UniSA program who could demonstrate a link between their studies and the development of outback communities in South Australia. Members welcomed the new scholarship. Following discussion, the proposal was approved in principle subject to further information on the eligibility criteria being provided to the August meeting of Academic Board.