Course Coordinator
Handbook
An Introduction to Course Coordination at ECU
Assuming the Role
Centre for Learning and Development
Tel: +61 8 6304 2554 | Fax: +61 8 6304 2344 | Email: cld@ecu.edu.au | Web: http://intranet.ecu.edu.au/learning
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Preface
Many of the ideas underpinning this book and much of the content is taken directly from:
Vilkinas, T., Leask, B., & Ladyshewsky, R. (2009). Academic leadership: Fundamental building blocks
[Resource book]. Strawberry Hills, New South Wales: Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
I thank the authors for their tremendous work. That publication is released under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution. As I have made additions, changes, omissions and substitutions to
that work, this publication is also released under that licence.
This work is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NoncommercialShareAlike 2.5 Australia Licence. Under this Licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and
perform the work and to make derivative works.
Attribution: You must attribute the work to the original authors and include the following statement:
Support for the original work was provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd, an
initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations.
Noncommercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Share Alike: If you alter, transform, or build on this work, you may distribute the resulting work only
under a licence identical to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the
licence terms of this work.
Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. To view a
copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/ or send a letter to
Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Our sincere thanks to Rick Ladyshewsky and Sue Jones for their generosity in allowing use of
material in this book. Rick’s contribution is referenced above and appears in the first section of the
book dealing with leadership. Sue’s contribution appears in the section to do with conducting a
major course review.
Thanks very much!
(Revised December 2013)
Document1
2
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Contents
Preface .................................................................................................................................................... 2
Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4
About this Book................................................................................................................................... 4
Assuming the Role .................................................................................................................................. 5
Clarify Responsibilities .................................................................................................................... 6
Get to Know your Course ................................................................................................................ 6
Strategic Considerations ................................................................................................................. 6
Other Initial Considerations ............................................................................................................ 7
Why Course Coordinators need to be Academic Leaders .................................................................. 8
Policies .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Readings ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Breaking Down Barriers to Higher Education ....................................................................................... 11
Document1
3
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Introduction
Congratulations on being appointed to the role of Course Coordinator!
A Course Coordinator is part of the academic leadership team at Edith Cowan University and the role
of Course Coordinator in the changing higher educational environment is particularly important.
At ECU the Course Coordinator's role involves the following broad topics:





Implementation of effective teaching and learning strategies and practices;
Reporting;
Mentoring of staff;
Promoting currency and relevance into the course; and
Liaising with industry, business and professional groups, identifying opportunities for
collaboration.
About this Book
The Course Coordinator Handbook discusses the role of the Course Coordinator and what the job
entails. You are also introduced to some concepts that are useful for assisting your leadership
development. This book is about improving your effectiveness in your role and helping you to
become more self-aware that much of what you do can be considered leadership. In order to do
this, you are also introduced to various administrative processes, educational principles as well as
leadership concepts.
There are a few sections to the handbook, however this specific file contains the section: Assuming
the Role. In this part you are introduced to what your responsibilities will be and various
considerations you will need to take into account in your role.
Any feedback will be graciously received and can be sent to the ECU Centre for Learning and
Development at cld@ecu.edu.au.
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Assuming the Role
Some of you will find your new role quite exciting and invigorating, others will find it a bit
confronting because you may realise you need to change the way you go about things. Change can
be challenging, however, good Course Coordination is essential. To that end it is important for you
to understand that the Course Coordinator is responsible for:










ensuring the course is informed by meetings of the Consultative Committee;
ensuring all course details are current in the CMS;
ensuring a strategy is in place to enable the course to meet minimum satisfactory levels
on the Engagement Mapping Index;
ensuring the course develops and assesses students’ achievement of graduate attributes;
ensuring there is a benchmarking strategy in place for the course;
reviewing the Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) and mid-course CEQ data and
addressing issues where possible;
ensuring the course demonstrates teaching informed by research;
compiling unit moderation reports for all units;
completing the annual Course Coordinator Report; and
monitoring the delivery of all units to identify those which may not be meeting ECU
policies, procedures and guidelines
Reporting to and in conjunction with the Head of School/Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, the
primary role of the Course Coordinator is taking responsibility for an assigned course and supporting
the planning, development, delivery and review of the School’s Academic programs. In particular,
the role promotes excellence and currency in the assigned course, ensures the course aligns with
university and faculty plans, integrates where necessary with other courses and units, efficiently
manages resources associated with course’s delivery and undertakes all requisite monitoring,
evaluation and reporting associated with the course.
In conjunction with the Head of School, the Course Coordinator leads in the development and
implementation of effective teaching and learning strategies and practices, mentors staff, promotes
currency and relevance into the course, liaises with industry, business and professional groups and
identifies opportunities for collaboration.
In addition, the position manages the evaluation of course quality and improvement, ensures
compliance with University policies and strategies, and ensures relevant accreditations are obtained
and maintained.
In conjunction with the Head of School, the Course Coordinator contributes to the strategic direction
for the faculty through the faculty operational plan, aligning the School’s operational plan and
participating in broader university/faculty policy and strategy development and implementation.
As a leadership role, the position will contribute to faculty planning and broader strategic matters. It
will also be a strong advocate and representative for the faculty and University, both on internal and
external committees and in community, higher education and professional forums.
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Clarify Responsibilities
As Course Coordinator it is important that you arrange a time to meet with your Head of School to
clarify his/her expectations of your role. Is the role to be about things like staffing and timetabling
or is it more about raising the quality of the course? Is it about quality delivery or is it about
engaging more with industry partners? What is the main focus for this year?
You also need to clearly define your areas of responsibility as the role of the Course Coordinator is
not the same from School to School and in some schools the role of Program Director may overlap
with the role of the Course Coordinator.
If you are part of the Faculty of Regional and Professional Studies then your discussion might well be
with the Associate Dean of Academic programs. This is because this position has Head of School type
responsibilities for the delivery of academic programs. It is also important for you to collaborate
with representatives of other faculties, where cross-campus course and/or unit offerings are the
same or similar.
Get to Know your Course
The next step is to familiarise yourself with the course. Through CMS you can obtain the course
outline and gain an understanding of the overall aims of the course. Details such as where the
course is offered (on or off-campus; on or off-shore) can be obtained from your School
Administration Office or your Faculty International office.
Following this, it is best to investigate the structure of the course and become familiar with the units
that comprise it. This can be achieved quickly and easily by reading the unit outlines in CMS.
It is important at this stage to find out what students think of the course and in particular its units.
This data can be obtained from Course Evaluation Questionnaires and from UTEIs for each unit.
Once you are familiar with this you should then meet with all Unit Coordinators involved in the
course and discuss the structure of the course, any problems with the structure, clarify the longer
term aims for the course, discuss goals for the course over the next year and then discuss particular
units. Common problems in teaching and learning across units can be identified from UTEIs and
discussed at such a meeting. Resourcing issues can also be identified and discussed as well as any
timetabling issues.
Strategic Considerations
The Course Coordinator is responsible for ensuring the relevance and currency of the course, the
quality of the curriculum and effective, efficient delivery. You need to ensure all teaching activities
and units within your course support the strategic direction of ECU.
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Edith Cowan University’s mission is to further develop valued citizens for
the benefit of Western Australia and beyond, through teaching and
research inspired by engagement and partnerships.
The vision for the University is for our staff, students and graduates to be
highly regarded as ethical and self-reliant contributors to more
prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities.
Engaging Minds; Engaging Communities: Towards 2020 articulates the
following strategic priorities for ECU:
Priority 1: To create positive outcomes in our communities through mutually beneficial
engagement.
Priority 2: To deliver accessible world-class education and an enriching student experience.
Priority 3: To enhance the personal and professional outcomes of graduates.
Priority 4: To strengthen research, capability, capacity, translation and impact.
Priority 5: To enhance organizational resilience, sustainability and reputation.
ECU has identified University-community engagement as a central strategic priority with a target to
thoroughly and effectively integrate engagement activities into ECU’s core functions of Teaching,
Learning and Research.
It is important that you familiarise yourself with the current ECU strategic priorities and check your
course to confirm that it complies with these policies.
You should also review ECU policies relating to Assessment, Moderation, e-Learning and Course
Review and then revisit your Course and Unit descriptions to ensure that they comply with these
policies.
You need to ensure consistent implementation within your course of learning and teaching policies.
These policies are listed below together with a relevant page number that may help you become
familiar with each policy. The separate policies are available from ECU's policy database at
http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/policies_db/az_listing.php.
Other Initial Considerations
Contact your School Administration Officer and let them know that you are the coordinator for your
course so that you can be added to any relevant mailing lists to receive the most up-to-date
information about course or other changes.
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Try to meet with the outgoing coordinator and get a sense of the institutional history of the course,
as well as a list of all current teaching staff and a copy of any documents like certification or
registration files.
Obtain a copy of the latest course review, a list of any specific topics that need to be addressed and
whether any changes have already been approved and implemented. Familiarise yourself with this
information before the next review.
Ask all teaching staff in the course to forward UTEI reports to you and start an appropriate file for
those materials. Ask them to include an update on any changes that may have been implemented
following the latest UTEI reports. Even though you may have already accessed these, this step
establishes lines of communication with Unit Coordinators.
Consider whether your current method of collecting information from your teaching colleagues is
effective. If not, you might schedule a meeting to discuss the implementation of more effective
methods.
Check if any new teachers are now part of your course. Make contact with them and ensure they
understand the objectives, goals and requirements of your course. Share with them any rubrics,
formative assessments, or teaching strategies that have been designed to be used across all sections
of the course.
Start a new file and take note of any innovations or modifications to later assess for outcomes
effectiveness, as well as any discrepancies or anomalies that need to be addressed through your
stewardship.
Remember that evaluation is only useful if the results are acted upon. Maintain an ongoing
conversation among all staff teaching your course, dedicated to improving or modifying the way the
course is taught, specifically when such changes point toward a more effective way of achieving the
goals, meeting the objectives and completing the requirements for your course.
When and if it is time to move on then consider how you might hand over to a successor. Ideally
your successor will be appointed before the end of the semester giving you plenty of time to
handover. Give your successor an organized data file, a sense of the institutional history of the
course, and general tips for successful course maintenance (its relationship to the School dynamic,
any unresolved weaknesses revealed in recent reviews, any proposed modifications or suggestions
on ways of enhancing teaching participation).
Why Course Coordinators need to be Academic Leaders
An Australian report by Scott, Coates and Anderson (2008) identified a leadership succession crisis in
Australian higher education, and an urgent need to improve the leadership development at many
levels of universities.
The study identified a number of change forces in higher education which dictate the need for good
academic leadership including:
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development










Opening up of access and a resulting diversified student body;
Changes in funding;
Pressure to generate new sources of income;
A trend towards user-pays;
Rapid growth in the higher education export market;
Growing competition;
The challenge of maintaining standards with the changing nature of the student cohort;
Students seeing themselves as consumers;
Paid employment patterns of students for survival (average student works 14.8 hrs per
week); and
Changing characteristics of a new generation of students (Generation Y).
For universities to remain competitive they need excellent leadership at all levels of the
organisation. Course Coordinators have been the least recognised for their role in determining
whether change is affected. Course Coordinators are critical to engage with the change agenda, as
they focus efforts and assist staff to learn how to make the desired change work in practice (Scott et
al. 2008, p. xvii).
As the role of Course Coordinator has little direct authority or control over resources, people in
these positions need to be particularly deft at ‘leading through influence,’ and therefore their
personal and interpersonal skills, networking, relationship management and conflict management
are critical.
Scott et al. (2008) identified key capabilities and competencies required for effective academic
leadership in a conceptual framework as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Academic leadership capability framework

Personal capabilities include elements like commitment to teaching and learning excellence
and wanting to achieve the best outcome (leading by example and taking responsibility for
program activities and outcomes, being determined, pitching in when things are not working
out as anticipated).
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development



Interpersonal capabilities include attributes of empathising and working productively with
students and staff from a wide range of backgrounds, listening to differing points of view
before making a decision, developing and contributing positively to teams and giving and
receiving constructive feedback to/from work colleagues and others).
Cognitive capabilities are a leader’s capacity to diagnose accurately what is happening and
taking action; recognising how seemingly unconnected activities are linked, recognising
patterns in complex situations, identifying from a mass of information the core issue or
opportunity in any situation and developing strategy.
Generic and role-specific competencies include learning and teaching knowledge
(understanding how to develop an effective higher education course) and understanding
university operations (risk management and litigation, industrial relations issues and
processes etc) and using IT effectively to communicate and perform key work functions,
organise work and effective time management, present effectively to a range of different
groups.
Policies
The policies and procedures that govern your role as Course Coordinator are available in the
Academic Leadership and Administrative Roles in Faculties at:
http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/policies_db/policies_view.php?rec_id=0000000223
Readings
Bryman. A. 2007. Effective leadership in higher education: a literature review. Studies in Higher
Education. 32 (6): 693-710.
Ladyshewsky, R. 2003. Peer coaching and professional development: A learning support strategy for
students at the Graduate School of Business, Curtin University.
Ladyshewsky, R. 2006. Peer coaching: A constructivist methodology for enhancing critical thinking in
post-graduate business education.
Scott, G. 2003. Learning principals: Leadership capability and learning research in the NSW
Department of Education and Training. University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Quality
Development Unit.
Document1
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Learning and Development
Breaking Down Barriers to Higher Education
2 July 2009: Campbelltown resident, Steven Foster, was once among those Australians for whom
tertiary level education was not an option. Last week however he was one of the first students to
complete a Certificate in Liberal Studies through the Clemente Australia Program at Campbelltown’s
St Vincent De Paul Nagle Centre.
Steven said university had never been on the cards until staff at the Centre recognised his potential
and invited him to participate in the Program, which offers people who have faced a range of life
challenges – including addiction, poverty and homelessness – access to university level study.
“I didn’t have much of an opportunity in life,” he said. “I knew I was fairly intellectual, I just
needed a kick off, and there are a lot of people like me out there who don’t have that
chance.”
In light of his life experience, the Program has inspired Steven to pursue a degree in social work.
“I see there’s a lot of need out there,” he said. “There are a lot of sad, desperate people who
need help through no fault of their own, it’s just the environment they’re living in.
“I’d like to be able to advise them, give them other options, other roads.”
The three students who studied alongside Steven - Jenny Sheppard, Cindy Lockhart and Stephanie
Haule - are also looking forward to the opportunity for further study.
“This for me was a realisation that I could get to uni,” said Stephanie, who left school at 15 in
order to help support her family.
“I hadn’t worked for a number of years due to poor health and didn’t think I’d ever be able to
go and do anything.
“This has given me the opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do, get a teaching
degree and teach kids.”
There is considerable support available in the University should you wish to implement a particular
equity program. The first point of contact is http://www.ecu.edu.au/equ/index.html.
Document1