- Purpose
- Scope
- Legislative Context
- Definitions
- Actions
- 1. Creating a new course
- 2. Amending an existing course
- 3. Rebadging an existing course/adding a new badged stream
- 4. Discontinuing an existing course
- 5. Creating a new unit
- 6. Amending an existing unit
- 7. Discontinuing or reactivating a unit
- 8. Expedited approval process
- 9. Standard credit points
- 10. Nomenclature of Sealed Awards (Higher Education)
- 11. Examples
- Responsibilities
- Supporting documents
- Implementation
- Promulgation
- Records management
This procedure describes the processes used to approve the following for higher education courses and units:
- New award courses
- Amendments to award courses
- Discontinuation of award courses
- Non-award enabling and foundation courses
- New units
- Amendments to units
- Discontinuation and reactivation of units
This procedure applies to the approval and maintenance of all higher education award courses (including higher degree by research), non-award enabling and foundation courses, and units that are newly created, to be amended, reactivated, or discontinued.
- Federation University Australia Act 2010
-
Federation University Australia Statute 2021
- Part 5 – Division 1 – Academic Board
- Part 6 – Division 2 – Award Programs
- Australian Qualifications Framework Second Edition January 2013
- Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021
Term | Definition |
AB | Academic Board |
CC | Curriculum Committee |
Course | A course of study/research leading to the granting of an official award or qualification of the University contained in the University’s Higher Education Current Award Courses register. A course contains subsidiary elements referred to as units. |
CRICOS | Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students |
Curriculum Centre | The University’s approved records management system for curriculum records. |
Degree with Honours | A four-year degree where an honours year is embedded into the course as a fourth year of study. |
Discipline – Generic | Refers to the broad area of study and for most institutions is historically based, eg Arts, Science, Applied Science, Computing or Business. |
Dual Award | One VET award and one undergraduate degree - the student is eligible to receive two testamurs, for example, Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Business (Office Administration). |
Double Degree | Two undergraduate degrees -the student is eligible to receive two testamurs, for example, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Computing. |
Enabling course | A non-award course that prepares and enables domestic students, on completion, to undertake a higher education award course. It does not include a course that, in itself, leads to a higher education or VET award, or that the Minister determines is not an enabling course (HESA Schedule 1 and Ministerial determination). While students may receive credit towards a higher education award course for units undertaken in their enabling course, a course that consists primarily of units that lead to the higher education award that students are preparing to undertake would not be considered an enabling course. Requirements for enabling courses are set out in section 6.7 of the Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers (AIP). |
Foundation course | A nationally-recognised, CRICOS-registered, non-award course that equips international students with the skills for entry into an Australian higher education course. A foundation course provides international students with an academic entry pathway to undergraduate study or its equivalent and must comply with requirements set out in the National Standards for Foundation Programs. |
GRS | Graduate Research School |
HEBAC | Higher Education Business Approval Committee |
Honours course | A single year of study (or equivalent) following on from a Bachelor's degree consisting of 120 credit points (or equivalent). |
Joint Degree | One undergraduate degree (branching across two discipline areas). The student is eligible to receive one testamur, for example, Bachelor of Education/Bachelor of Technology |
Level | Defined under the Australian Qualifications Framework AQF guidelines and corresponds to the level of study |
New course | A course not currently listed on the University’s Higher Education Current Award Courses register. |
Non-award course | An individual short course, unit, or series of units that does not, in itself, lead to a qualification or award covered by the Australian Qualifications Framework. |
PMC | Program Management and Completions |
Post-nominal | The award abbreviation displayed after a person’s name to indicate their educational qualifications. |
Register of award courses | The Higher Education Current Award Courses register lists all sealed awards which can be awarded by the University. The register is maintained by the Manager, Registrar Services and includes all qualifications/courses included on the Scope. |
Specialisation – Badge Specific | An appropriate qualifier to the preceding generic term. It is an optional appellation to a broad area of study, which may indicate a specific area of expertise. Such expertise is most likely attained when 50% of the units, which make up the award, are based in this discipline. Guidelines for appropriate badge specific terms are given in the style section of this document. |
With Distinction | When academic performance is of a very high standard throughout a specified three or four year Bachelor's degrees at AQF7 level, a degree 'with Distinction' (not bracketed) may be granted. A grade point average of 6.5 or greater is required. |
As part of the planning process, it is important to factor in the deadlines below before proposing/changing courses and units.
Activity | Deadline |
Domestic Admissions | New/amended courses approved after June may not be included in CourseSearch (previously known as the VTAC guide). |
International Admissions | Courses are opened for applications 12 months in advance for international students. Therefore, courses to be offered to international students should be approved at least 12 months prior to the commencement date. |
Domestic Marketing |
Course approvals should align with marketing plans 12 months ahead of the intake year. e.g. A course approved in 2024 will be marketed throughout 2025 (includes appropriate budget allocation) for 2026 intake year. To be included in the domestic course guide (published & digital) new courses must be approved by September. |
International Marketing | To be included in the international course guide (published & digital) new courses should be approved by February. This ensures locations, fees, intakes and CRICOS codes are confirmed by April. |
Timetabling |
Timetabling undertakes a 12-month data collection of the forthcoming year’s timetable between June-August.
|
Student HQ | If amended courses are approved after September, students may be enrolled into incorrect units. Student HQ will be required to review individual study plans and contact students to withdraw and re-enrol into units in the updated structure. |
Summary: |
1. Creating a new course |
2. Amending an existing course |
3. Rebadging an existing course/adding a new badged stream |
4. Discontinuing an existing course |
5. Creating a new unit |
6. Amending an existing unit |
7. Discontinuing or reactivating an existing unit |
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Complete the Initial Course Proposal and Business Case Form | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
B. | Submit the Initial Course Proposal and Business Case Form for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Approve or reject the Initial Course Proposal and Business Case | HEBAC |
|
D. | Develop a new course object and course rules | Institute/School |
|
E. | Submit the new course object and course rules to Institute/School Board for endorsement | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
F. | Submit the new course object and course rules to Curriculum Committee for endorsement | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
G. | Submit the new course object and course rules to Academic Board for approval. | Executive Officer or Chair, Curriculum Committee |
|
H. | Approve or reject the new course | Academic Board |
|
I. | Ratify the new course | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
J. | Undertake course implementation processes | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
K. | Prepare for delivery to international students | International Quality |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Amend the course object and/or course rules | Institute/School |
|
B. | Submit the amended course object and/or course rules to Institute/School Board for endorsement | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Submit the amended course object and/or course rules to Curriculum Committee for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
D. | Update the University approved student management system | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
E. | Submit the amended course to Academic Board for noting | Executive Officer, Curriculum Committee |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Prepare rebadged course object and course rules in curriculum centre | Institute/School |
|
B. | Submit the rebadged course object to Institute/School Board for endorsement | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Submit the rebadged course object to Curriculum Committee for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
D. | Submit the rebadged course to Academic Board for noting | Executive Officer, Curriculum Committee |
|
E. | Update the Higher Education Current Award Courses and/or Non-Current Award Courses register | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Prepare the course discontinuation in curriculum centre | Institute/School |
|
B. |
Submit the course discontinuation to Institute/School Board for endorsement
|
Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Submit the course discontinuation to Curriculum Committee for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
D. | Submit the course discontinuation to Academic Board for noting | Executive Officer, Curriculum Committee |
|
E. | Updating Higher Education Current Award Courses and/or Non-Current Award Courses registers | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Create a new unit object | Institute/School |
|
B. | Submit the new unit object to Institute/School Board for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Update the University approved student management system | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Amend the unit object in curriculum centre | Institute/School |
|
B. | Submit the amended unit to Institute/School Board for approval |
Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching/Dean GRS (or nominee) |
|
C. | Update the University approved student management system | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Complete the unit discontinuation or reactivation in curriculum centre | Institute/School |
|
B. | Submit the unit discontinuation or reactivation to Institute/School Board for approval | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS |
|
C. | Update the University approved student management system and Register – Discontinued Units | Manager, Registrar Services |
|
In exceptional circumstances, where an urgent decision is required, the Executive Dean of the Institute/Dean of GRS may submit a written notification to the Vice-Chancellor to activate the expedited approvals process for a new, amended, or rebadged course. The notification must include:
- The reason for activating the expedited approval process;
- Any potential impacts of expedited approval, including accreditation, university portfolios, resourcing, staff and students;
- Proposed teaching period of commencement of course/introduction of changes.
If approved by the Vice-Chancellor, the Institute/School must notify the Chairs of Curriculum Committee and Academic Board of their intention to activate the following expedited approvals process:
- Institute/School Board: endorsement of the new, modified, or rebadged course may be sought via circulatory resolution or out-of-session special meeting. In exceptional circumstances, where an out-of-session meeting or circulatory resolution is unlikely to be quorate (e.g. immediately prior to the end-of-year university shutdown period), the Executive Dean/Dean may seek Vice-Chancellor approval to endorse the recommendation on behalf of the Board.
- Curriculum Committee: the Chair, Curriculum Committee may call an out-of-session special meeting to consider the recommendation. In the case of a course amendment or rebadging of course, where the Chair judges the recommendation to be straightforward and the paperwork complete, a circulatory resolution may be utilised.
- Academic Board: for new courses, the Chair, Academic Board may call for a circulatory resolution or out-of-session special meeting to approve the recommendation. Course amendments and rebadged courses that have been approved by Curriculum Committee via the expedited process will be noted at the next scheduled Academic Board meeting.
Credit points provide an indication of the estimated hours of learning activities necessary for a student achieving an average performance needs undertake to achieve the objectives of the unit.
A standard system of credit points based on student workload is to be used for all University higher education units as follows:
- One (1) credit point is the standard value of approximately ten (10) hours of learning activity directed at achieving the objectives of a unit for a student achieving an average performance. Acceptable variations to the total time commitment are in the range of ñ 20%.
- Fifteen (15) credit points is the standard value per unit.
- A semester coursework workload for an average student is approximately 600 hours.
- The credit point value of a unit is constant regardless of the course and year in which the unit is taken.
- Sixty (60) credit points is the standard value of one FTE teaching period workload in a course and 120 credit points is the standard value of one year’s FTE workload in a course.
All units will be expected to conform to the standard credit point value including those relating to practical, clinical, practicum, fieldwork, work and teaching experience.
While most units have a standard credit point value of 15, credit points per unit can range from 5 to 60. In some cases, zero-point units operate for units approved prior to August 2022 for work experience/placements in industry without learning activities at the University. These units were deemed a compulsory prerequisite (eg. hurdle requirements) to undertake a future unit or to receive the award. NOTE: Proposed new units from August 2022 should not be zero-point units. Institutes/Schools should apply for a variation at the proposal stage or through a course review if there is a belief that this policy is unsuitable for a unit or impractical to implement under particular conditions. Reasons for variation must be in the unit and course documentation submitted to Curriculum Committee. The variation applies until the following review when the Institute/School would need to justify a further variation of these units.
Activity | Responsibility | Steps | |
A. | Conventions for naming awards | Institute/School |
|
B | Conventions for Assigning a Post-Nominal | Institute/School |
|
Single Awards | |||||
Level | Discipline:Generic | Optional Specialisation: badge-specific in brackets | Honours – if appropriate | Post-Nominal | |
Certificate III | in | Plumbing | CertIIIPlumbg | ||
Diploma | of | Graphic Design | DipGraphDes | ||
Advanced Diploma | of | Building Design | (Architectural) | AdvDipBldDes(Arch) | |
Bachelor | of | Arts | (Social Sciences) | (Honours) | BA(SocSc)(Hons) |
Bachelor | of | Commerce | (Honours) | BCom(Hons) | |
Bachelor | of | Commerce | (Accounting) | BCom(Acc) | |
Bachelor | of | Business | (Marketing and Information Technology) | BBus(Mkt&IT) | |
Master | of | Strength and Conditioning | MStr&Cond |
Double Degrees | |
Two components | Post-Nominal |
Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Business | BCom/BBus |
Joint Degrees | |
Two components | Post-Nominal |
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business | BA/BBus |
- The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Global, Enagement and Quality (as the Approval Authority) is responsible for monitoring the implementation, outcomes and scheduled review of this procedure.
- Chair, Curriculum Committee (as the Document Owner) is responsible for maintaining the content of this procedure as delegated by the Approval Authority.
Forms
- Curriculum Approval Pathway Overview (DOCX 213.7kb)
- Federation University Post-Nominals Index (XLSX 19.3kb) (XLSX 19.3kb)
- Initial Course Proposal and Business Case Form (DOCX 131.6kb)
- Supplementary Guidelines Learning Outcomes and Assessment (DOCX 480.9kb)
- Unit Description Higher Education Form (DOCX 212.1kb)
The Approval and Maintenance of Award Courses (Higher Education) Procedure is to be implemented throughout the University via:
- An Announcement Notice under 'FedNews' website and through the University Policy - 'Recently Approved Documents' webpage to alert the University-wide community of the approved Procedure;
- Inclusion on the University Policy, Procedure and Forms website; and/or
- Distribution of emails to appropriate staff.
The Approval and Maintenance of Award Courses (Higher Education) Procedure is to be communicated throughout the University via:
- An Announcement Notice under 'FedNews' website, FedEngage and through the University Policy - 'Recently Approved Documents' webpage to alert the University-wide community of the approved Procedure;
- Inclusion on the University Policy, Procedure and Forms website; and/or
- Distribution of emails to appropriate staff.
Title | Location | Responsible Officer | Minimum Retention Period |
Master set of curriculum records prepared in curriculum centre and submitted for approval | Curriculum centre | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS | Permanent |
Master set of curriculum records prepared outside curriculum centre and submitted for approval or accreditation including:
|
The University’s approved records management system | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS | Permanent |
Unapproved curriculum records, draft and working papers prepared outside curriculum centre including:
|
The University’s approved records management system | Executive Dean of Institute/Dean of GRS | Destroy 3 years from date of last action |
Institute/School Board Agenda and Minutes – Master Copy | The University’s approved records management system | Institute/School Board Executive Officer | Permanent |
Curriculum Committee Agenda and Minutes – Master Copy | The University’s approved records management system | Curriculum Committee Executive Officer | Permanent |
Academic Board Agenda and Minutes – Master Copy | The University’s approved records management system | Academic Board Executive Officer | Permanent |