ITP Academic Harmonisation

ITP Academic Harmonisation

Supporting ITPs through collaboration

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edit   Vision This Wiki has been set up to enable greater collaboration in moving toward an agreed set of academic regulations for the ITP sector. For about 15 years from the early 1990s the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) in New Zealand operated in an environment that emphasized institutional autonomy and encouraged competitive behaviour. During this period each ITP developed its own systems and culture, as well as developing many local programmes and qualifications. Notwithstanding this environment, the sector has always retained an element of cooperation, both in respect of individual programmes and in sharing expertise in other contexts. The Tertiary Accord of New Zealand (TANZ) is one example of an initiative to collaborate that was established by a group of institutions during the time when the motivation to compete was at its strongest. The tertiary reforms initiated in 2005 signalled a change in direction at a government policy level. As the implementation of these reforms has proceeded there has been a stronger expectation of collaboration between ITPs in programme development, rationalisation of delivery to contribute to the national network of provision, and the operation of the institutes. TANZ was well placed to respond to these shifts, as they aligned with the philosophy of the accord, and could build on the structures that had been put in place. As TANZ sought to strengthen its collaborative activities it became increasingly obvious that a key barrier to more effective collaboration with respect to the development and delivery of academic programmes lay in the differing academic processes, rules and regulations within the member institutions. These differences often forced repetitive activity, and undermined the consistency of practices across the accord. This project was designed to design a set of academic processes and related rules and regulations that could be adopted by each member in respect of programmes that were either developed collaboratively, or were to be delivered collaboratively.

edit   Purpose Academic Harmonisation: TEC funded project undertaken by TANZ. PROJECT OUTLINE The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) awarded funding to this project, which was specifically to develop the following six deliverables. 1. Shared Glossary of academic terms used in institutional academic statutes, qualifications regulations and other formal academic documents. 2. An agreed process for implementation and review of the glossary. 3. Documented process for qualification development and quality assurance body approval including templates, guidelines and academic board resolution for partner quality assurance. 4. A set of shared academic values and principles for teaching and learning that includes differences in academic practice (for example, around intellectual property, open entry, sustainability) that may need to be identified. 5. A generic Academic Statute that includes common understandings of Academic Board and sub-committee functions, and academic regulations (including admission and enrolment, fees, academic requirements, withdrawals from courses, assessment matters, examinations, grading systems, special assessment circumstances, notification of results, programme regulations and course information; and institutional Awards). Statute areas that are specific to institutions and or programmes will be identified. 6. Documented collaborative self assessment practices for quality assurance, including shared survey tools, checklists, development of benchmarks, guidance information and good practice scenarios. The project was intended to develop these deliverables for implementation by the TANZ members, but it was also envisaged that they would offer a framework that may be useful for other collaborative activity across the sector.

edit   Documents Download the PDF Background Document on Collaborative Academic Framework. A_Intro_Framework_Oct09.pdf Collaborative Framework Documents Education Values and Principles Download the Collaborative Framework Educational Values and Principles that were developed from the project B_Collab_Framework_Education_Values_and_PrinciplesSep09.pdf

Feedback

We invite feedback on the usefulness of the collaborative documents. This can be either though contributing /or editing specific wiki pages that are linked here, or by providing feedback via the email link provided.

• Comments on the Academic Harmonisation Collaborative Framework: email

Review Timeline and process

The documents, policies and procedures will be reviewed annually by the TANZ Academic Committee. Input is invited and once considered the revised documents will be uploaded to the both the TANZ site and this WikiEducator site. Download the Implementation Framework Document C_Implementation_Maintenance_ofCollab_Acad_Fram_Sep09.pdf‎

Links

http://www.tanz.ac.nz/about_us/academic_harmonisation.php

Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.