Re-accreditation 04 September 2014

Renewal of course accreditation

Report on renewal of accreditation of 12 higher education courses of study offered by International College of Management Sydney Pty Ltd

TEQSA has determined, under section 56 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), to renew accreditation of the following higher education courses of study offered by International College of Management Sydney Pty Ltd (ICMS) for a period of five years until 4 September 2019:

• Bachelor of Business Management
• Bachelor of Events Management
• Bachelor of Hospitality Management
• Bachelor of International Tourism
• Bachelor of Sports Management
• Bachelor of Property Services Management
• Diploma of Business Management
• Diploma of Events Management
• Diploma of Hospitality Management
• Diploma of International Tourism
• Diploma of Property Management
• Diploma of Sports Management

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

Condition 1

1. ICMS must develop, and provide to TEQSA with its application for renewal of registration, policies which:
   
   1. Set out ICMS's approach to determining the extent to which professional experience of current and prospective staff is equivalent to a qualification one AQF level above the course being taught. The policy must specifically address how ICMS will determine whether professional experience gives a staff member the knowledge, skills and capacity to apply knowledge and skills equivalent to those given to a graduate holding a qualification to which the experience is said to be equivalent;
   2. Set out ICMS's approach to supporting the study and professional development of its existing staff to ensure that those staff have either:
      
      • a qualification one AQF level above the course taught by those staff; or
      • professional experience which gives the staff member knowledge, skills and capacity to apply knowledge and skills equivalent to a graduate holding a qualification one AQF level above the course taught by the staff member.
   3. Evidence that demonstrates ICMS has appropriate human resource strategies to ensure that the numbers, qualifications, experience and expertise and sessional full time mix of academic staff are appropriate to the courses of study being taught and that ICMS takes action to mitigate the risk created by the high proportion of casual staff.

Condition 2

2. ICMS must provide to TEQSA, in its application for renewal of registration, details of how the policies at condition a. have been applied to each member of staff teaching the courses, including:
   
   1. ICMS's assessment of whether each staff member without a qualification one AQF level above the course taught has professional experience which gives the staff member the knowledge, skills and capacity to apply knowledge and skills equivalent to a graduate holding a qualification one AQF level above the course taught; and
   2. the support the International College of Management Sydney Pty Ltd. will provide to each staff member without a qualification one AQF level above the course taught to undertake further study or professional development and scholarship in the discipline they teach.

Condition 3

3. ICMS must provide TEQSA with the following information in its application for renewal of registration:
   
   1. Evidence that demonstrates ICMS benchmarks the academic standards intended to be achieved by students and the standards actually achieved by students in the course of study against similar accredited courses of study offered by other higher education providers. This evidence is to include details of the courses and institutions selected for comparison and examples of action taken as a result of analysis of the data.

Background to Decision

ICMS submitted an application for renewal of accreditation of twelve courses of study under Part 4 of the TEQSA Act. Subsection 45(4) of the TEQSA Act requires a registered higher education provider who is not authorised to self-accredit the course of study to apply to TEQSA for accreditation. Subsection 56(4) enables TEQSA to renew accreditation of a course of study for a period not exceeding seven years.

Main Reasons for the Decision

TEQSA has determined that the twelve higher education courses of study submitted by ICMS for accreditation comply with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards. The course accreditation covers delivery at all Australian sites.

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

• The broad issues which relate to the twelve courses of study include:

  a) Qualifications and professional experience of academic staff

  b) The sessional/full time mix of academic staff

  c) Benchmarking of academic outcomes

  d) Mapping of learning outcomes to assessment tasks

  e) Currency of and access to information resources required to achieve the learning outcomes

Issues A, B, C and D are dealt with by conditions and a request for information. However it is also noted that required texts do not appear to be the most current version and access to newspapers, magazines and journals, which would allow more examination of recent and current events and developments, was limited.

The currency of texts and limited access to some materials presents a risk that ICMS has not ensured that students readily have access to information resources required to achieve the learning outcomes as required by PCAS 2.2. ICMS should consider revising texts to ensure ongoing compliance with PCAS 2.2.

In accordance with subsections 53(2) and 53(3) of the TEQSA Act, TEQSA may vary or revoke a condition imposed on the registration of a higher education provider, either on its own initiative, or upon application by the provider for variation or revocation.