Subject Information Procedure

1. Purpose

1.1 The Subject Information Procedure (the procedure) outlines how subjects are approved, updated and published at UTS.

1.2 This procedure should be read in conjunction with the Student Rules, the Coursework Assessments Policy and the Coursework Assessments Procedure.

2. Scope

2.1 This procedure applies to all staff and affiliates and for all UTS subjects.

3. Principles

3.1 Good subject design leads to high-quality student learning. Clear subject information: 

1. shows how subjects contribute to the course(s) of which they are a part 
2. helps students to achieve course intended learning outcomes (CILOs), academic integrity requirements and graduate attributes, and 
3. supports the UTS 2027 strategy and the Student Experience Framework. 

3.2 UTS’s Curriculum Management System (CMS) and Curriculum and Student System (CASS) are the authoritative sources of UTS course and subject information (refer Course Approval Policy). 

3.3 All subject information provided to students (and prospective students) or otherwise published must be consistent with the information recorded in the CMS, CASS and the UTS Handbook (refer Rule 3.2.3). 

3.4 Faculties are best placed to determine a subject’s disciplinary and professional currency and quality and how it aligns with the faculty’s courses.

4. Procedure statements

Approval and change process

4.1 Faculty boards approve subject requirements, including attendance and participation requirements, via the CMS. The CMS captures subject information as part of the design process for approval via an automated workflow and has mandatory fields and minimum subject information requirements. Faculties may specify additional minimum requirements or information for approval.

4.2 Each subject must have a subject coordinator (approved by the dean) and an owning faculty. 

4.3 Faculties must have procedures to approve changes to subjects and subject information in line with the faculty’s curriculum change approval processes (hereafter faculty approval processes) (refer Faculty approval processes (SharePoint)). These procedures must: 

1. specify the levels and types of changes that require faculty board approval and the types of changes that may be approved at other levels in line with the UTS Delegations 
2. allow subject coordinators to update certain subject information to maintain currency and respond to feedback. 

4.4 Approved subject information must be made available through the learning management system (LMS) to all students enrolled in the subject (refer Rule 3.7.3) no later than the Monday before week one of the relevant teaching session to allow students to plan their study.

Additional subject information and supporting documentation

4.5 Additional subject information (including additional assessment, subject, course or faculty-level information) must be: 

1. included in either the subject information provided to students, or in a course or faculty student guide if the same information applies to all subjects in a course or faculty (and this must be referred to in the subject information), and 
2. provided to students, or available online, by the first teaching week of the subject, except with the permission of the relevant responsible academic officer (available at Faculty management). 

4.6 Additional information may be provided to students in supporting documentation (for example, detailed assessment briefs, subject guides, tutorial guides, laboratory manuals) and through the LMS. This additional information must be consistent with the subject information provided to students.

5. Roles and responsibilities

5.1 Procedure owner: The Provost is responsible for procedure enforcement and compliance, ensuring that its principles and statements are observed.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) is responsible for the educational strategies that underpin this procedure.

5.2 Procedure contact: The Head, University Academic Programs Office is responsible for providing advice on the implementation of this procedure and for ensuring the integrity of subject data in the CMS and CASS.

5.3 Implementation and governance roles:

Deans are responsible for:

1. ensuring that faculty boards approve subjects and provide students with appropriate subject information in accordance with Rule 3.7.3
2. appointing subject coordinators (refer Schedule 1, Student Rules and Delegations).

Faculty boards are responsible for approving subjects via the CMS.

The responsibilities of responsible academic officers are outlined at Faculty management: Responsible academic officers.

Subject coordinators are responsible for: 

1. ensuring that the subject information provided to students is accurate and aligned with the information in the CMS 
2. making subject information available to all students enrolled in the subject in line with Rule 3.7.3 
3. preparing the subject information in sufficient time for subject assessors to meet their responsibilities 
4. responding to reasonable requests from academic liaison officers, staff in the accessibility service and UTS Library (for alternative formats) for early provision of information (such as required texts and readings) to meet the needs of students with accessibility requirements 
5. ensuring that any additional assessment and other information is consistent with the subject information 
6. ensuring that the subject information is regularly updated to maintain currency and respond to feedback 
7. submitting changes to approved subject information in line with the faculty approval processes 
8. ensuring that all staff teaching or assessing in the subject, including tutors, demonstrators and markers, are provided with approved subject information and any additional subject information and briefed, where possible, on their contents and student requirements 
9. responding to reasonable requests for clarification of the subject information from subject teaching staff and students. 

Teaching staff, including tutors, demonstrators and markers, are responsible for ensuring that: 

1. they are familiar with the subject information and requirements 
2. any advice they provide to students is consistent with the subject information and any additional assessment, subject, course or faculty-level information. 

Students are responsible for: 

1. making sure they are familiar with all subject requirements 
2. complying with published subject requirements and any additional assessment information and any UTS, faculty or course student guide or other information that is published in line with this procedure.

6. Definitions

The following definitions apply for this procedure. These are in addition to the definitions outlined in Schedule 1, Student Rules. Definitions in the singular also include the plural meaning of the word.

Curriculum Management System (CMS) is defined in the Course Approval Policy. 

Learning Management System (LMS) means the system through which students engage with their subjects. The learning management system at UTS is Canvas.