Accreditation 25 June 2015

Course accreditation

Report on accreditation of three higher education courses of study offered by Nan Tien Institute Limited (NTI)

A delegate of TEQSA has accredited, under section 49 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), the following higher education courses of study offered by NTI for a period of seven years until 25 June 2022:

• Diploma of Business
• Bachelor of Business
• Graduate Certificate of Business Analysis

TEQSA has, under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed four conditions on the accreditation of the above courses of study. NTI must:

Condition 1

Provide to TEQSA evidence of professional accreditation of the Bachelor of Business and Graduate Certificate of Business Analysis prior to commencement of course delivery, and if this is not available, NTI must provide evidence of all relevant marketing material that makes it clear to potential students that the courses are either pending professional accreditation or are not professionally accredited.

Condition 2

Prior to the commencement of delivery of all courses, NTI is to provide TEQSA with evidence of the appointment of:

1. an academic leader with requisite disciplinary qualifications and experience
2. appropriately qualified and experienced academic teaching staff for the delivery of the Business awards including abbreviated CVs
3. a qualified and experienced learning and research skills officer or equivalent

The response to this condition should also indicate F/T and P/T status and location of each staff member.

Condition 3

By 01 October 2015, provide to TEQSA evidence that NTI has developed assessment rubrics and assessment criteria for all subjects in each Business award.

Condition 4

By 01 October 2015, provide to TEQSA:

With regard to learning resources and library services, evidence to support information provided by NTI:

1. of purchase and accessibility of appropriate on-line business data bases;
2. for the NTI Sydney Campus library, an acquisition plan and purchase timeline for its physical library holdings to support the delivery of the Business awards; and
3. that NTI will make available appropriately qualified library support on site at its Sydney Campus, and provide a rationale for the nature of the role (e.g. type of appointment, number of hours, qualifications).

The course accreditation covers delivery at all Australian sites.

Main reasons for decision

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to NTI's application for accreditation of three courses of study is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as NTI is at risk of not complying with a number of the Threshold Standards. TEQSA considers that the risks of non-compliance with the Threshold Standards involve a number of matters that may affect NTI's capacity to manage and deliver its higher education awards.

• The broad issues which relate to the courses include:

  a) NTI state that the Bachelor and GradCertBA Business awards require professional accreditation. To ensure that students are adequately and accurately informed about the courses of study NTI will be required to either provide evidence of obtaining professional accreditation status to TEQSA, or provide its course marketing material that makes the status of the courses with respect to professional accreditation clear to potential students.

  b) Assessment criteria and rubrics were not available for TEQSA consideration at the time of course approval. NTI will be required to provide these to TEQSA prior to the delivery of the three Business courses.

  c) In terms of its staff resourcing and academic leadership profile, NTI will be required to appoint a Senior Academic Leader in the Business discipline to strengthen its academic capability in this field of education. NTI will also be required to appoint adequately qualified and experienced teaching staff to deliver its Business awards prior to the delivery of the courses.

  d) NTI is required to appoint an appropriately qualified learning and research skills officer (or equivalent) to support students, particularly at post graduate level, in the Business field. NTI are also required to appoint library support staff for its Sydney campus.

  e) NTI will be required to purchase its online learning resources for the Business awards prior to the delivery of the courses, and an acquisition plan and purchase timelines for physical library holdings at the Sydney campus.