The Award Course Approval Process comprises five stages:

• an initial strategic assessment (approved by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
• a course plan, including a business case (approved by the Vice-Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor's delegate on the recommendation of the Courses Planning Committee)
• course accreditation (approved by Academic Board on the recommendation of its Courses Accreditation Committee or University Graduate School Board)
• course and award nomenclature (approved by the Vice-Chancellor)
• course commencement (approved by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor).

See the UTS Course Approval and Accreditation diagram for an overview of the process.

The Courses Planning Committee assesses the strategic and commercial soundness of course proposals and advises the Vice-Chancellor or Vice Chancellor's delegate on whether a course proposal should proceed.

The Course Accreditation Committee focuses on the educational quality of proposals and makes recommendations to Academic Board, or the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, as applicable, on:

• the accreditation of proposed or existing coursework award courses and pan-university subjects
• admissions requirements, including selection criteria and the recognition of foundation studies programs and articulation arrangements, and
• policy and practice related to the accreditation and removal of accreditation of coursework award courses and pan-university subjects.

The University Graduate School Board makes recommendations to Academic Board on the accreditation of new and existing research degrees.

The Course Development website facilitates access to course approval processes, some of which are computer based. The Online Course Approval Process (OCAP) has been developed to implement aspects of the Award Course Approval Policy, and is used for:

• new course proposals
• new arrangements for existing courses
• external articulation proposals for existing courses
• changes to existing courses that require the full approval process.