Ramsay fast-track ‘subverts the intent’ of standards framework

An authority on academic governance has questioned Wollongong’s fast-tracking of its Ramsay Centre-sponsored degree.

A leading authority on academic governance has questioned the University of Wollongong’s decis­ion to fast-track approval of its Ramsay Centre-sponsored Western civilisation degree.

Hilary Winchester, a former chairwoman of the academic board at two universities and a respecte­d consultant on acad­emic governance, said she was concerned that the university’s acad­emic senate had been bypassed during the approval process.

Instead, under a clause in the University of Wollongong’s course approval procedures, it had been approved directly by vice-chancellor Paul Wellings through a fast-track process.

“My concern about (the) vice-chancellor’s approval of new courses is that such a process subvert­s the intent of the Higher Education Standards Framework on both academic governance and course approval,” Dr Winchester told The Australian.

She pointed to a requirement in the standards framework — which is the rule book for the higher-education regulator — which requires course approval to be “overseen by peak institutional academic governance processes” and requires that approval processes are “applied consistently to all courses of study”.

Dr Winchester said that a proces­s of special approval by an executive of the university — even the university chief executive — was unlikely to meet the requiremen­t of “overarching acad­em­ic scrutiny” that the standards framework required.

She also cast doubt on whether the University of Wollongong course approval procedures met the requirements of the Higher Education Standards Framework.

“It’s also possible a university policy itself, by allowing such an approval, does not conform (to the Higher Education Standards Framework),” she said.

The University of Wollongong said in response that its fast-track approval process for courses did comply with the Higher Educa­tion Standards Framework.

It said that about five courses a year, about 10 per cent of annual course approvals, were fast-tracked in such a manner.

In a statement, the university said that the requirement that course approvals be “overseen by peak institutional academic gov­er­n­ance processes” meant that the processes should be overseen by an academic governance body, and that had been the case.

The university said that oversight of process was distinct to oversight of specific decisions.

“Oversight of processes is not proposal-specific decision-making,” the university said.

The university also argued that despite the approval not being given by its academic senate — the body which is the seat of academic governance — it had met the standards requirement that the decision to approve the Western civilisation degree was “informed by overarching academic scrutiny of the course of study”.

It noted that the course, which is based on a study of the great books in the Western canon, had been scrutinised by international experts in the field.

“Because the University of Wollongong did not offer a ‘Great Books’ liberal arts program compar­able to the proposed bachelor of arts in Western civilisation, the university ensured that its approval­ decision-making was inform­ed by the scrutiny of those competent to assess such a course by seeking independent feedback from world-leading liberal arts academics­,” the university said.

The National Tertiary Educa­tion Union also criticised Wollongong’s decision to fast-track approval of the Ramsay degree and bypass the academic senate.

“The NTEU is astounded that the vice-chancellor, who nego­tiated the secret Ramsay deal last year, should also be the person who approves the new degree,” NTEU national president Alison Barnes said.

The Tertiary Education Stand­ards and Quality Agency, the govern­ment body which regulates higher education, did not give a substantive response when asked whether the University of Wollon­gong’s approval process for the new Western civilisation degree met the standards.

“The Higher Education Stand­ards Framework requires all ­higher-education providers, including the University of Wollongong (a self-accrediting provider), to have a course approval process that is overseen by academic governance processes that are consistently applied to all courses of study,” TEQSA chief executive Anthony McClaran said.

“In approving any course of study, a self-accrediting provider must also ensure that the course meets — and continues to meet — all applicable standards of the Higher Education Standards Framework.”