Short Courses Procedure

Policy code: AG2079
Policy owner: Chair, Curriculum Committee
Approval authority: Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global and Engagement)
Approval date: 11 November 2024
Next review date: 31 July 2026

Purpose
Scope
Legislative context
Related policy documents
Definitions
1. Creating a new short course
2. Recognising and recording short course completion
3. Modifying an existing short course
4. Discontinuing an existing short course
5. Reviewing short courses
Responsibility
Promulgation
Implementation
Records Management

Purpose

To establish a procedure for the approval of non-award and award short courses.

Scope

This procedure applies to the approval and maintenance of higher education short courses.

Please refer to the VET Program Approval and Maintenance Procedure for development and approval of VET non-award and/or vendor accredited programs.

Legislative context

  • Federation University Australia Act 2010 (Vic)
  • Federation University Australia Statute 2021
  • Federation University Australia AcademicRegulations 2022
  • Tertiary Education Quality and StandardsAgency Act 2011 (Cth)

Related policy documents

  • Australian Qualifications Framework
  • National Microcredential Framework
  • Higher Education Academic Credit Transfer Procedure
  • Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021
  • National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018

Definitions

Term Definition
Award Degree, diploma, certificate, licence or other award in any discipline
Category A A non-credit-bearing short course which has no specific relationship to AQF qualifications and need not include assessment.
Category B A credit-bearing short course designed at a defined AQF level which includes assessment.
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.
Institute University Institute within the Academic portfolio.
Non-award 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.
Policy Administration Management System (PAMS) The University-approved centrally controlled policy repository policy library which is the authoritative source for all University-wide governance documents, accessible through the Federation University website policy portal.
Proponent The person seeking approval of a proposal.  
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.
Short courses An overarching description for short education offerings that typically address a particular area of knowledge or skill. Short courses may be credit or non-credit bearing. Short courses are available in a range of formats including workshops and seminars, and cover a range of delivery modes including digital, face-to-face and/or hybrid/blended learning.
TEQSA Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.

1. Creating a new short course

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A. Complete the short course category A or B object in curriculum centre Institute/School
  1. Identify or establish a non-award program code and title and a non-award short course code and title. PMC can advise.
  2. Determine the cost structure in consultation with Student Finance.
  3. In curriculum centre, complete the Short CourseCategory A object for non-credit bearing short courses or Short Course Category B object for credit-bearing short courses.
B. Submit the short course for approval Institute/School
  1. In curriculum centre, workflow the short course object to Institute/School Board for approval.
  2. If the short course is approved, it will be workflowed to PMC for actioning. Institute/School Board may require corrections to the documentation prior to progressing the workflow to PMC. The short course object must also be listed for noting on the proposal to Curriculum Committee.
  3. If not approved, the proposer will be advised of the reasons for rejection.

2. Recognising and recording short course completion

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A. Recognising completion Graduation office
  1. Graduation office recognises completion of the short course with a certification of participation or attainment or a digital badge for recording in the student management system.
B. Recording credentials Student HQ
  1. Configure and capture in an approvedUniversity student records system.

3. Modifying an existing short course

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A. Amend the short course object in curriculum centre Institute/School
  1. Open the existing short course object in curriculum centre and complete the amendment.
  2. A change to short course title and/or code must be treated as a new short course.
B. Submit the amended short course to Institute/School Board for approval Institute/School
  1. In curriculum centre, workflow the amended short course object to Institute/School Board for approval.
  2. If the amended short course is approved, it will be workflowed to PMC for actioning. Institute/School Board may require corrections to the documentation prior to progressing the workflow to PMC. The amended short course object must also be listed for noting on the proposal to Curriculum Committee.
  3. If not approved, the proposer will be advised of the reasons for rejection.
  4. Minor short course amendments can be approved by the Dean, Learning and Teaching/Dean GRS (or nominee) and noted by Institute/School Board. Minor modifications are limited to spelling, punctuation and grammar corrections and minor edits to the description of the unit and unit content fields, to a maximum of 10% change to the overall short course outline.

4. Discontinuing an existing short course

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A. Complete the short course discontinuation in curriculum centre Institute/School
  1. Open the existing short course object in curriculum centre, select amendment, and complete the short course discontinuation.
B. Submit the short course discontinuation to Institute/School Board for approval Institute/School
  1. In curriculum centre, workflow the short course discontinuation to Institute/School Board for approval.
  2. If the short course discontinuation is approved, it will be workflowed to PMC for actioning. Institute/School Board may require corrections to the documentation prior to progressing the workflow to PMC. The discontinued short course object must also be listed for noting on the proposal to Curriculum Committee.
  3. If not approved, the proposer will be advised of the reasons for rejection.

5. Reviewing short courses

Short courses that provide credit into a Federation University award course must be reviewed as part of the scheduled review of the award course, as detailed in the Review of Established Sealed Award Courses (Higher Education) Procedure.

Responsibility

  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Engagement 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.

Promulgation

The Short Courses Procedure will be communicated throughout the University via:

  1. An announcement in FedNews, FedEngage, and on the ‘Recently Approved Documents’ page on the University’s Policy Central website;
  2. Distribution of e-mails to Executive Deans of Institutes, Deans & Directors and Heads of Campus.

Implementation

The Short Courses Procedure will be implemented throughout the University via:

  1. A FedNews announcement and on the ‘Recently Approved Documents’ page on the University’s Policy Central website. 

Records Management

Document Title Location Responsible Officer Minimum Retention Period
Master set of curriculum records submitted for approval Curriculum centre Executive Dean/Dean Permanent
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Policy Glossary

Approval Authority: Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global and Engagement) Original Issue 28/11/2022
Policy Sponsor: Chair, Curriculum Committee Current Version: 11/11/2024
CRICOS Provider Number 00103D Review Date: 31/07/2026
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12151 Provider Category: Australian University
RTO Code 4909 Policy Code AG2079