Registration Renewal 19 January 2017

Renewal of registration

Report on renewal of registration of Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd

TEQSA has renewed the registration as a higher education provider, under Section 36(1) of the TEQSA Act, of Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd for a period of four years to 19 January 2021 in the provider category of 'Higher Education Provider'.

TEQSA has, under subsection 32(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed four conditions on the registration of Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd as a higher education provider.

Condition 1:

By 31 March 2017, Collarts must provide TEQSA with the 'Formal Scholarship Policy', the 'Scholarship and Research Portfolio' and a Workforce Plan. The Workforce Plan must demonstrate:

a) the maintenance of an appropriate level of academic leadership for each course of study and academic field

b) that all teaching staff are qualified to at least one AQF qualification level higher than the course of study being taught by them or have equivalent professional experience relevant to the units they are teaching, and that the AQF+1 Qualification Mapping Policy is consistently applied

c) academic staff will be active in a range of relevant types of scholarship that informs their teaching

Condition 2:

By 30 June 2017, Collarts must provide TEQSA with a plan to ensure that facilities and infrastructure, including staff office space, student meeting areas and library facilities, and IT infrastructure are appropriate. Collarts must also provide a report, by 31 March 2018 and each subsequent year until further notice, on the implementation of the facilities and infrastructure plan.

Condition 3:

In the event of a breach of the loan agreement between Australian College of the Arts International Pty Ltd and National Australian Bank that gives rise to action by National Australia Bank, Collarts must notify TEQSA within 2 business day of any financial impact on the college.

Condition 4:

By 31 March 2017, and each year thereafter, Collarts must provide reports on:

• student performance data including attrition, progression and completion rates (this report must include Collarts' own analysis of the causes and sources of attrition and plans to address them
• the implementation of the workforce plan
• scholarship activities carried out by academic staff through the Annual Scholarship Report and scholarship portfolios

Main Reasons for Decision

As part of the renewal of registration process, TEQSA has assessed the application submitted by Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd against the Threshold Standards. The scope of the assessment included all its Australian sites.

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd registration is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as Australian College of the Arts Pty is at risk of not complying with a number of the Threshold Standards.

• The broad issues which relate to the Australian College of the Arts Pty registration include:

  a) The academic leadership and staffing profile, which may not be appropriate to the AQF level of the courses for the attainment of expected student learning outcomes, and for students to receive adequate feedback on their assessed work from appropriately qualified academic staff.

  b) The relatively low level of scholarship, in particular associated with teaching and learning that could denote a risk that staff are not sufficiently knowledgeable in pedagogy that promotes active and critical learning in students.

  c) The high level of attrition in two of the three Bachelor courses

  d) Physical and electronic resources and infrastructure at the main campus, which may not be suitable for both students and teaching staff, particularly if student numbers increase as planned.