Academic board
June 2005
by Peter Cardwell
Credit transfer arrangements with TAFE
New credit transfer arrangements with TAFE were approved. A minimum amount of block credit was approved for all undergraduate programs at the University for completed TAFE awards at each level from Certificate IV onwards.
Completed TAFE awards may be used fro both entry and credit, and block credit beyond the minimum may also be given in related and unrelated awards.
Credit may be both horizontal, where credit is given for individual courses at introductory levels, or vertical, where credit is given for sequences throughout the award.
Maximum credit must not exceed the provisions of the University’s Recognition of Prior Learning for Credit, Exemption and Studies in Lieu (A13), which means that a minimum of one year’s full-time study must be undertaken at the University in order to gain a University of South Australia undergraduate award.
Block credit decisions will be managed at program level, reported to the Division, and entered in a credit transfer database, setting a precedent for block credit for future applications. Where there are significant deviations from the University’s guidelines, the Division-based processes for endorsing credit arrangements will interrogate the justification for other arrangements and report the reasons to Academic Policy and Program Review Committee.
Guidelines for teaching and learning resources
Academic Board noted that there had been long discussions at the University Teaching and Learning Committee (TALC) into practices within the University such as the extent of student print quotas to ensure that costs are not unreasonably shifted to students with increases in online forms of delivery, identification of ‘textbooks’, the use of course specific readers, and the need for a set of teaching and learning guidelines.
On the recommendation of TALC, the Board approved an amended set of guidelines which require the following:
- The required printing for 4.5 unit courses, that is, printing necessary both to prepare and to submit assignments, including the printing of readings which cannot be accessed by the student in any other way, should not exceed 1/8 of a full year’s print quota.
- Where readings are provided to students these should be drawn from a wide range of sources to reflect the literature of the field, provided to students at cost recovery and photocopied rather than commercially published.
- Readings may be provided in either electronic form or hard copy.
- Where hard copy is provided, the quality of the copy should be at an acceptable standard and in a font size not less than Times Roman 10.
- A textbook should only be nominated where it is used in a substantial part of the course.
- A book referred to on a regular basis should be identified as textbook.
- Resources required for a course should be stated in the Course Information Booklet and the costs associated with the acquisition of these resources should be part of the program approval process.
Academic Integrity
The Board approved the appointment of Academic Integrity Officers in Schools in the belief that academic integrity is a critical area for quality assurance and risk management for the University.
The role of Academic Integrity Officers will be acknowledged in workload allocation. While the network of Academic Integrity Officers will be coordinated by a staff member from the Flexible Learning Centre.
A central register of cases and penalties will be established University-wide and maintained by School Academic Integrity Officers and other authorised staff.
At the end of 2006, the effectiveness of Academic Integrity Officers and the amount of time required to fulfil their role will undergo review.
Program Development
The following program development proposals were approved:
Division of Business
- Category B Amendment – Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management
- Category B Amendment – Bachelor of Business Administration Transnational Delivery in Malaysia
Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences
- New Program – Foundation Studies