Minor and Major Unit Changes
Procedures
Version: 1.01
Approved By: Academic Board
pro-054
Last amendment: 13 Aug 2013
Date: 25 May 2012
To be read in conjunction with:
Next Review: May 2014
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor,
Academic
Quality Policy
All procedures are intended to give further details to information contained in a particular piece of legislation,
policy, code or agreement and must therefore be read in conjunction with them.
INTRODUCTION
All courses and their related units are accredited by the University on a four (4) yearly cycle. However, it is
acknowledged that based on review of units and feedback from students, a process of continual improvement
may require changes to be made to units in between accreditation cycles.
INTENT
This document is intended to outline the procedure for approval of any minor and/or major change to units outside
of the accreditation cycle.
RELEVANT DEFINITIONS
In the context of this document:
ART means the Accreditation and Registration Team in the Office of Learning and Teaching;
Assumed Knowledge means units which form the basis of a particular program and which students will be
assumed to have passed before starting University and/or students are assumed to have completed or already
covered the content of the unit prior to enrolling in the subsequent unit;
Course means an award course, non-award course, enabling course, Bridging for Overseas Trained
Professionals, VET course or cross-provider program undertaken at a higher education provider;
Course Accreditation and Re-Accreditation Procedures (CARP) means the process for the accreditation and
re-accreditation of the University’s academic programs;
Credit Points means a value allocated to individual units in the Higher Education sector indicating its contribution
to the overall course requirements and to the enrolment load of a student. Most units are 10 credit points which
represents normally 10 hours per week of study, or a quarter of a full-time load for a semester. A full load for a
semester is 40 credit points; a full load for the year is 80 credit points. Points which are allocated to individual
units in the Higher Education sector in order to give value to a unit indicate its contribution to the requirements of
a course and to the enrolment load of a student. Credit points are also an indicator of the amount of work the unit
might entail.
Minor and Major Unit Changes Procedures – pro-054
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Version: 1.01
Page 1 of 5
Any governing document once printed is considered an uncontrolled document. Only documents in the University
Governing Document Library online are considered to be the most current version.
Elective Unit means a unit that a student chooses to undertake other than core units in order to satisfy the
requirements of his/her particular course/qualification. Elective units in the higher education sector cover material
that is relevant to undergraduate or postgraduate study generally, rather than being course-specific.
Major Change means changes including unit code; unit title; unit description (content change); field of education;
pre-requisite/s; learning outcomes (adding or removing); assessment (other than weight change); removed
offerings; new unit mode (a unit mode such as internal/external/intensive that has never been offered for the unit);
Minor Change means changes including assessment (weight change only); adding offerings (e.g. add the unit to
an additional semester or study period); learning method (online, online reliant, print based etc.); teaching
responsibility (who the unit is reported to); unit description (grammar, format, additional student information);
assumed knowledge; and refining current learning outcomes (to make them clearer); and
Unit means a subject or unit that a person may undertake with a higher education provider as part of a course of
study leading to a higher education award.
PROCEDURES
All of the information included in the accreditation documentation is required for a variety of reasons including
legislative requirements, quality assurance and operational planning. However, changes to some variables are
more significant than others for a variety of reasons. As such, changes to units are deemed to be either minor or
major.
The definitions of minor and major changes has been determined based on the Tertiary Education Quality and
Standards Agency (TEQSA) requirements; Higher Education Support Act (HESA) requirements; potential impact
on students; and potential impact across courses/cross disciplinary considerations.
To ensure the overall integrity of courses which are made up of units, the following parameters will apply within an
accreditation period
•
Minor changes to a unit can only occur a maximum of three (3) times before a full Unit CARP must
be completed (re-accreditation);
•
No more than one (1) major change to a unit can occur before a full Unit CARP must be
completed);
•
No more than ten (10) credit points per eighty (80) credit points in a course can be changed (i.e. in
an eighty (80) credit point diploma only ten (10) credit points can be changed, in a three-year
bachelor course only thirty (30) credit points can be changed etc.);
•
The following items cannot be changed through this process and must be done through the
University Course Accreditation and Re-Accreditation Procedures (CARP);
o
o
•
Unit credit points; and
Unit level.
Requests for unit changes should be submitted and supported by the school that ‘owns’ the unit
but must identify other courses where the unit is a core or specialist elective.
Minor and Major Unit Changes Procedures – pro-054
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Version: 1.01
Page 2 of 5
Any governing document once printed is considered an uncontrolled document. Only documents in the University
Governing Document Library online are considered to be the most current version.
Timeframes for changes will depend on the nature of the change and the timing of the request. These timelines
are dependent on external reporting requirements, student enrolment dates and associated operational
requirements. However, the following timelines should be expected:
• No changes will be applied to a unit in the current teaching period; and
• It should be anticipated that major changes will take at least a full semester from the time of submission to
be implemented.
Anything leading to re-accreditation will follow the accreditation timeline.
Minor and Major Unit Changes
The steps to be followed for minor and major changes to units are:
The relevant Discipline and School should undertake a review of units at the end of semester, taking into account
Student Evaluations of Learning and Teaching; other student feedback (e.g. complaints, focus groups etc.);
reports from moderation at each stage (see Assessment and Moderation Policy and the Assessment and
Moderation Procedures); and professional accreditation requirements.
The relevant Discipline and School should discuss any potential changes identified and considered in relation to
regulatory requirements, impact on students and other schools/disciplines. If this is not evident from the
submission, it will not be progressed for approval.
The relevant Discipline and School academic staff must then complete the Request to Amend Accredited Unit
Form if changes are considered appropriate.
The Faculty Learning and Teaching Committee (LTC) must ensure that the faculty support and/or approval
process has been completed as per the delegation register on the relevant Request to Amend Accredited Unit
Form. The completed form is submitted to the Accreditation and Registration Team (ART).
The Accreditation and Registration Team then reviews all the documentation and initiates action of any minor
changes including notifications, or seeks further approval for major changes as per the delegations register. ART
will then disseminate the outcome of requests for major changes to the relevant faculty and other stakeholders as
per the delegations register.
A copy of the request and outcome will be placed by Accreditation and Registration Team staff on the Learning
and Teaching Committee, Accreditation Change data base.
Minor and Major Unit Changes Procedures – pro-054
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Version: 1.01
Page 3 of 5
Any governing document once printed is considered an uncontrolled document. Only documents in the University
Governing Document Library online are considered to be the most current version.
ESSENTIAL SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Internal
Course Accreditation and Re-Accreditation Procedures
Delegations Approval and Notification of Changes to Existing Unit Register
Quality Policy
Request to Amend Accredited Unit Forms:
UAS A1: Change to Unit Administration: Code, Title, FOE
UAS A2: Change to Unit Offering: add, remove unit, new mode or learning method
UAS A3: Change to Teaching Responsibility
UAS A5: Change to Assumed Knowledge or Pre-Requisite
UAS A6: Change to Unit Description
UAS B1: Change to Learning Outcomes
UAS B5: Change to Assessment Items
Minor and Major Unit Changes Procedures – pro-054
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Version: 1.01
Page 4 of 5
Any governing document once printed is considered an uncontrolled document. Only documents in the University
Governing Document Library online are considered to be the most current version.
Document History and Version Control
Version
Date
Approved
Approved by
Brief Description
1.00
25 May 2012
Academic Board
Creation of original document and posting to the University
website.
1.01
13 Aug 2013
Governance
•
•
•
Minor and Major Unit Changes Procedures – pro-054
Contact Officer: Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic
Assigned document number
Converted document to current template
Updated hyperlinks
Version: 1.01
Page 5 of 5
Any governing document once printed is considered an uncontrolled document. Only documents in the University
Governing Document Library online are considered to be the most current version.