Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy

1. Purpose

1.1 The Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities Policy (the policy) establishes a framework for the management and delivery of offshore teaching and learning activities to ensure that:

1. the development and administration of offshore teaching and learning meet all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements
2. equivalent and appropriate academic standards and quality assurance practices apply for the management and delivery of both onshore and offshore courses, and
3. the quality of the offshore student learning experience and the educational value of the course and any award when offered offshore is equivalent to that delivered onshore.

2. Scope

2.1 This policy applies to all staff and affiliates involved in the establishment and management of UTS offshore courses, which include the:

1. teaching and delivery of award courses
2. supply of teaching and learning services
3. management of academic arrangements that allow entry to UTS award courses in Sydney, including dual programs of study.

2.2 The Offshore Teaching and Learning Activities in Modern Standard Chinese Policy has been developed to outline additional requirements.

3. Principles

3.1 UTS offshore teaching and learning activities must:

1. meet the university’s standards of academic quality
2. advance the strategic and financial interests of UTS, and
3. comply with the legislative and regulatory requirements of the country in which the activities are delivered.

3.2 The principles and statements outlined in the Offshore Activities Policy also apply for this policy.

4. Policy statements

Establishment and approval of an offshore teaching and learning activity

4.1 Offshore courses must be run on at least a cost recovery commercial basis and cannot be subsidised by Commonwealth Grants Scheme funds (refer Commercial Activities Policy).

4.2 International partner agreements for offshore teaching and learning must be developed and approved in line with the Offshore Activities Policy and the International Memoranda of Understanding and Agreements Protocols and Procedures (available from UTS International).

4.3 Offshore courses must be approved in line with the Student Rules and the Course Approval Policy. 

4.4 Offshore courses cannot start until UTS approval processes are completed and appropriate in-country government approvals have been secured.

Review and monitoring of offshore teaching and learning activities

4.5 Annual reviews (January to December) and monitoring reports on each UTS award course delivered outside Australia in the preceding year are to be submitted to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) at the beginning of each year. Reviews include:

1. strategic relationship and development with the international partner through the offshore course delivery
2. risk management (reputational, financial and legislative)
3. academic management
4. course performance and benchmarking
5. offshore student administration, services and support (equivalency)
6. quality assurance
7. exit strategies, where applicable.

4.6 The review report on each offshore course must be provided to the Courses Accreditation Committee and the Vice-Chancellor and Academic Board for noting.

4.7 Where a physical campus or site is part of the offshore activity, annual or biannual visits to international partner institutions by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) or their nominee should be undertaken. The frequency of these visits should be outlined in the partner agreement.

Management of offshore courses

4.8 Offshore courses must be developed and approved in line with the Course Approval Policy. Responsibilities for the course content, academic management and delivery of UTS offshore courses must be clearly outlined in the relevant partner agreement. The management of UTS offshore courses in operation before 1 January 2005 may remain the responsibility of the initiating faculty unless or until they inform the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) otherwise.

International partners

4.9 UTS is committed to the development of long-term relationships with suitable international higher education providers or partners for the purpose of delivering offshore courses. Partner agreements must only be established where there is clear evidence of mutual benefit and development potential.

4.10 The development of a proposal for the establishment of an international partnership to deliver teaching and learning activities may be undertaken by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) and/or the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International).

4.11 Potential international partners must undergo the appropriate due diligence process as required for all offshore activities (refer Offshore Activities Policy).

4.12 Partnership arrangements for the delivery of UTS offshore courses must be supported by a series of formal agreements, which must be renewed on a regular basis (refer Offshore Activities Policy). A partner agreement will normally comprise:

1. a memorandum of understanding or a legal contract between UTS and the international partner (refer also International Memoranda of Understanding and Agreements Protocols and Procedures)
2. a head of agreement, term sheet, protocol or equivalent that deals with the strategic interaction between UTS and the partner
3. an operations manual (or equivalent) that details academic, administrative and quality assurance interactions between UTS and the partner
4. a schedule for the delivery and review of each specific course, and
5. an annual plan that agrees on the operational details for the delivery of each course in the year ahead.

Financial management

4.13 The financial management of all UTS offshore teaching and learning activities must be done in the approved UTS financial management system.

4.14 Each UTS offshore teaching and learning activity has its own unique Finance Unit activity code and all financial management for each activity must use its unique code. The Finance Unit will work with the relevant division to ensure activity codes are consistent, up-to-date and reports are accurate.

4.15 Fees for UTS offshore courses are collected and revenue shared in line with the terms of the partner agreement.

4.16 Income from the delivery of offshore courses is managed by the Finance Unit.

4.17 For offshore courses in operation before 1 January 2005, where the teaching faculty (or faculties) also provide overall management functions to the operation of the courses, the teaching faculty (or faculties) receives the net revenue to UTS, less 16 per cent of gross revenue generated by the offshore course.

4.18 Payments to staff for their involvement in a UTS offshore course must be in accordance with the Enterprise agreements, contract of engagement, relevant policies and procedures.

4.19 Fees for each offshore teaching and learning activity are reviewed annually and adjusted as needed based on CPI, exchange rates, market conditions and the strategic value to UTS.

Recruitment and marketing

4.20 UTS must ensure that no inappropriate or misleading statements are used in the promotion of UTS offshore courses and the UTS brand and visual identity guidelines and protocols governing the use of its logo and emblem are applied (refer UTS brand and visual identity and Use the UTS logo (Staff Connect)). Regular reviews of marketing material must be undertaken to ensure accuracy and brand alignment.

4.21 Any external marketing agencies must be approved by the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.

Quality assurance

4.22 All offshore courses must meet the university's criteria set out in its teaching and learning statement of values and the Award Course Nomenclature and Issuance Policy.

4.23 Criteria for the selection and admission of offshore students must be in accordance with the Student Rules, the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy and the partner agreement.

4.24 UTS staff must be involved in the delivery of offshore courses. Where teaching delivery is localised, or where a partner is licensed to provide a UTS course, UTS staff must be involved in quality assurance procedures.

4.25 The Feedback Survey Policy applies for all offshore coursework subjects. The content of these surveys and the tools used for the surveys may be modified to suit specific offshore teaching and learning environments. Such variations must consider the compatibility of the onshore and offshore surveys to allow meaningful comparison and benchmarking.

Offshore student learning support

4.26 Learning supports are provided to enable offshore students to achieve the desired learning outcomes in the course. This includes access to:

1. teaching and learning advice from teaching staff
2. appropriate library and learning resources
3. advice on other available support services
4. course and other offshore student information
5. advice on relevant rules and policies applicable to UTS offshore students.

Intellectual property

4.27 UTS, in line with the Intellectual Property Policy and its procedures, retains and will assert ownership of intellectual property in:

1. course and teaching materials developed for the purpose of the delivery of offshore courses, and
2. all translations of course and teaching materials, where those translations have been commissioned and paid for by UTS.

Records management

4.28 The authoritative student enrolment and record system for all students in UTS offshore courses is held in CASS (refer Course Approval Policy). All offshore students must have appropriate records in CASS and records must be managed in line with the Records Management Policy.

4.29 All records relating to offshore students that may be kept by the international partner must be maintained at the same levels of privacy and protection required by the Privacy Policy.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Policy owner: The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) is responsible for coordinating UTS offshore activities and for ensuring that they are conducted in line with this policy. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) is also responsible for approving UTS International’s student recruitment agent protocols.

5.2 Policy contact: The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Partnerships) provides executive support to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) in implementing this policy.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles:

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) is responsible for the content and quality of UTS courses in line with the Course Approval Policy. Deans of faculties that offer offshore courses are responsible for the overall approval, delivery, academic management and quality assurance of the respective courses offered offshore (refer also Course Approval Policy).

Academic Board is responsible for the approval of UTS courses in line with the Course Approval Policy.

The Courses Accreditation Committee (CAC) receives offshore review reports to facilitate the consideration of course reaccreditation by Academic Board.

Table 5.3: Summary of roles and responsibilities for offshore course management

6. Definitions

The following definitions apply for this policy and all associated procedures. These are in addition to the definitions outlined in Schedule 1, Student Rules and the Offshore Activities Policy. Definitions in the singular include the plural meaning of the word.

Affiliate is defined in the Code of Conduct.

Dual program of study is defined in the Admissions and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy.

International partner is defined in the Offshore Activities Policy.

Offshore student means a student who lives outside Australia, and does not hold an Australian visa, and who has been admitted to a UTS course offered offshore.