File Ref: F50138
The University of Western Australia
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COURSEWORK STUDIES HELD ON THURSDAY
16th MAY 2013 FROM 10AM TO 11.30AM IN THE PRESCOTT ROOM
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COURSEWORK STUDIES
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) as Chair (Winthrop Professor Alec Cameron)
Chair, Academic Board (Winthrop Professor John Cordery)
Deputy Chair, Academic Board (Professor Cara MacNish)
Dean, Coursework Studies (Winthrop Professor Grady Venville)
Executive Director (Academic Services) and Registrar (Mr Peter Curtis)
Academic Secretary (Ms Sue Smurthwaite for Ms Sylvia Lang)
President, Guild of Undergraduates (Mr Cameron Barnes)
Chair, Board of Studies (Bachelor of Commerce) (Winthrop Professor H. Y. Izan)
Chair, Board of Studies (Bachelor of Design) (Associate Professor Kate Hislop)
Chair, Board of Studies (Bachelor of Science) (Professor Cara MacNish)
Co-opted member (Winthrop Professor David Plowman, Faculty of Business)
Co-opted member (Mr Jon Stubbs, Director, Student Services)
INVITEE
Dean, Faculty of Business (Winthrop Professor Phil Dolan) for item 6 (agenda item 7)
APOLOGIES
Chair, Board of Studies (Bachelor of Arts) (Winthrop Professor Alan Dench)
Academic Secretary (Ms Sylvia Lang)
Nominee of the President, Postgraduate Students’ Association (Mr Jarrad Bothe)
WELCOME
The Chair welcomed members to the meeting of the Board of Coursework Studies, including the
following:
 Mr Jon Stubbs as a new co-opted member on the Board;
 Ms Sue Smurthwaite for Ms Sylvia Lang; and
 Winthrop Professor Phil Dolan as an invitee for item 6
DECLARATIONS OF POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT OR PERCEIVED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No conflict of interest was declared.
1.
MINUTES – Ref F50138
RESOLVED – 7/13
to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Coursework Studies held on 21st March 2013.
2.
ITEMS FOR COMMUNICATION DEALT EN BOC
Members noted the following items as outlined in Part 1 of the agenda:
 Review of Performance and Operation of the Boards of Studies – Ref F12202
 University Policy on Service Learning – Ref F49009
3.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE ECONOMICS HONOURS SPECIALISATION FOR
OFFERING FROM 2014 – Ref F31395, F31897, F36535
By R4/13, the Board of Studies for the Bachelor of Commerce resolved to recommend to the Board of
Coursework Studies that a number of changes relating to the Economics Honours specialisation be
approved.
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Members had before them the current unit sequence for the honours specialisation and the proposed
new honours unit sequence for offering from 2014.
RESOLVED – 8/13
to recommend to the Academic Council that from 2014:
i.
ii.
iii.
4.
ECON5501 Resource Economics be removed from the unit sequence for the Economics
Honours specialisation;
ECON4410 Environmental and Resource Economics be included within the unit sequence for
the Economics Honours specialisation; and
ECON5501 Resource Economics be deleted.
UNIVERSITY POLICY ON POSTGRADUATE
OBJECTIVES: AMENDMENTS – Ref F35423
COURSEWORK
STRUCTURES
AND
Since its approval (by R78) by the Academic Council in 2011, the University Policy on Postgraduate
Coursework Structures and Objectives had been reviewed and a number of amendments were before
the Board for consideration. Some of these amendments were noted as consequential in nature as a
result of the approval of related new policies and others were made with a view to providing further
clarification.
Members had before them the revised policy and a table which provided an overview of the rationale for
the revisions. In considering the proposed amendments to the University Policy on Postgraduate
Coursework Structures and Objectives, the following were agreed in the ensuing discussion:
(i) Noting that the definitions for the following has been approved by the Academic Council it was
agreed that the definitions should be converted to actual policy statements and that they should be
embedded in relevant sections of the policy: graduate certificate, graduate diploma, master’s
degree (by coursework), master’s degree (by coursework and dissertation) and the professional
practice master’s degree.
(ii) It was agreed that the policy statement in 2.3.2.1 (f) should be simplified to read as follows: “ensure
that between 12% and 25% of at least one of the specialist units specified in (c) is a unique unit”.
(iii) That there should be clarity in the way the term ‘discipline’ has been used in the policy.
Further, there was broad discussion with regard to streamlining, in the future, the way in which policies
were drafted. For instance, although it has been stated that the current policy “deals with the objectives,
definitions, structures and articulation of coursework postgraduate courses”, aspects relating to
articulation in the policy were addressed only by way of a reference to the existing University Policy on
Articulation. It was noted that Academic Policy Services is currently in the process of undertaking a
comprehensive review of all related academic policies, procedures and the processes associated with
the formulation of policies.
RESOLVED – 9/13
to recommend to the Academic Council that the proposed amendments to the University Policy on
Postgraduate Coursework Structures and Objectives, as attached to the agenda, be approved subject
to revisions in line with (i) – (iii), as minuted above.
5.
FACULTY OF EDUCATION: CAPPING OF ENROLMENTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE UNITS
– Ref F31939, F32295
The Board considered a proposal, submitted by the Faculty of Education, for imposing quotas on the
following Level 1 undergraduate units:
 EDUC1102 Learning Effectively: Improving Your Learning and Teaching (existing Level 1
unattached elective offered in the Bachelor of Arts);
 EDUC1103 Education for a Global Knowledge Society (existing Level 1 ‘Category A’ broadening
unit offered to students enrolled in degrees other than the Bachelor of Arts); and
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
EDUC1104 A World of Mobile Learning (a new unit yet to be approved as a Level 1 ‘Category A’
broadening unit for offering to students enrolled in degrees other than the Bachelor of Arts).
In considering the Faculty’s proposal to impose quotas on the above listed undergraduate units, the
following were amongst the points raised in the ensuing discussion:




Restricted entry would be at odds with the spirit of the New Courses Framework, which has been
envisaging fairly open access to units. Currently, very few units, as part of New Courses, across the
University have any quota restriction, and as a strong general principle the University has aimed to
minimise quotas.
The Board also expressed strong reservations for imposing quotas on ‘Category A’ broadening
units. It was agreed that there should be a serious physical constraint for imposing a quota on any
New Courses unit. For example, the rare instances where physical limitations on certain kinds of
field work or on specialised teaching spaces such as laboratories and studios could not be
overcome by using the full range of timetabling options (8am to 8pm Monday – Friday). It was
pointed out that where high numbers posed a challenge, unit coordinators should be expected to
make flexible arrangements, such as scheduling repeat classes.
That the quality of educational experience has been judged to be extremely good by students
enrolled in units with high enrolments.
There was also broad discussion with regard to faculty funding models and the management of
unplanned growth in student enrolments.
In summary, although there was some empathy for the challenges faced by the Faculty of Education in
dealing with unplanned growth in enrolments for the above-listed units, there was a common view that
these challenges were not unique to the Faculty, and that they did not warrant an exemption to the
principle for limiting access to units offered within New Courses.
There was also agreement that a University Policy on Quotas should be developed with a view to
providing clearer directions on some of the key principles underpinning quota restrictions for New
Courses units.
6.
FACULTY OF BUSINESS: MASTER OF COMMERCE (41680) AND MASTER OF
PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTING (40610) – PROPOSAL FOR PRINCIPLED EXCEPTION TO
RULE – Ref F1202, F5224
By way of background, the Academic Board (by R146) resolved to approve the following rule which was
proposed as part of the review of course structures in 2008:
“That, except in cases endorsed by the Board of Coursework Studies and Academic
Council, credit not be granted in postgraduate courses for Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3
units undertaken as part of undergraduate courses”.
In introducing the faculty’s proposal for seeking a principled exception to R146, the Dean, Faculty of
Business noted the following:


That the principled exception to R146 was being sought in line with the Faculty’s plan to:
(i) rescind the current 96-credit points Master of Commerce (Advanced) and the Master of
Professional Accounting (Advanced), which included additional four units compared to the
Master of Commerce (41680) and the Master of Professional Accounting (40610), since the
“advanced” label would not be allowed under AQF (Australian Qualification Framework)
from 2015; and
(ii) increase the volume of learning for the Master of Commerce (41680) and the Master of
Professional Accounting (40610), which were both conversion courses, from 1.5 years (72
credit points) to 2 years (96 credit points) and at the same time permit graduates who have
successfully completed an undergraduate degree in the relevant cognate areas to complete
these courses with 72 credit points.
That students enrolled in the proposed 96-credit points Master of Commerce (41680) and the
Master of Professional Accounting (40610) should not be required to pay fees for material that had
been already covered in the relevant cognate areas of their undergraduate study.
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There were different views expressed with regard to the proposal for a principled exception to R146, as
follows:
 A number of members supported the proposed way forward, as described in (ii) above, on the
grounds that it:
a) aligned with the volume of learning prescribed by the AQF for Master’s degree courses by
coursework, which states the following: “The volume of learning of a Master’s Degree
(Coursework) is typically 1-2 years; in the same discipline 1.5 years following a level 7
qualification [which relates to an undergraduate degree] or 1 year following a level 8
qualification [which includes, honours, graduate certificate or graduate diploma]; in a
different discipline 2 years following a level 7 qualification or 1.5 years following a level 8
qualification]”;
b) aligned with the national best practice, which has been moving towards establishing 96credit points courses;
c) would help to make UWA courses more attractive and competitive in the national market
arena. It was noted that the following variables should be carefully considered when
developing postgraduate coursework courses in such a competitive environment: visa
requirements for international students, the extent to which prior learning was recognised
and its impact on the volume of learning, deterrents that might persuade international and
domestic-fee paying students to enrol in similar courses offered at other universities.
 However, a few members argued that the granting of credits for undergraduate units in
postgraduate coursework courses was contrary to a firm principle approved by the University. The
proposal might be an attempt to align with the AQF’s notion of volume of learning in a principled
way and that there might be an impetus to do so due to marketing considerations. However, this
should not be done at the extent of compromising the fundamental principles of New Courses which
had sought to clearly differentiate between Cycle I and Cycle II coursework courses for a number of
reasons, including issues relating to pedagogy. Moreover, the fundamental difference between
postgraduate units and undergraduate units has been also recognised in the University’s budget
model.
Further to the foregoing discussion, it was suggested that the Faculty should consider (1) retaining the
Master of Commerce (41680) and the Master of Professional Accounting (40610) as 72-credit points
coursework courses and (2) developing graduate certificate courses that might allow students who did
not have an undergraduate background in the relevant cognate area to articulate into the courses at the
master’s level. Although this might not be attractive for international students for the reasons described
in (b) and (c) above, it was pointed out that the University should assess the immediate and wider
implications for its currently aligned postgraduate coursework courses if it were to head in the direction
of granting credits for undergraduate units in postgraduate coursework courses.
In summary,
 It was agreed that the 96-credit points Master of Commerce (Advanced) and the Master of
Professional Accounting (Advanced), and the 72-credit points Master of Commerce (41680) and the
Master of Professional Accounting (40610) should continue to be offered in their current form until
the issue of giving credits for undergraduate units in postgraduate coursework courses, via a
reduction in the volume of learning in the latter has been resolved.
 There was also agreement that a number of the approved rules for postgraduate coursework
courses should be reviewed in the broader contexts of the changing external landscapes and their
implications for the University.
Confirmed:
______________________________
Chair
18th
/ 07
/ 2013
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