Re-accreditation 06 June 2014

Renewal of course accreditation

Report on renewal of accreditation of three higher education courses of study offered by Morling College 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 Morling College Ltd (Morling) for a period of seven years from date of decision:

• Master of Education (Leadership) (Coursework)
• Master of Education (Coursework)
• Graduate Diploma of Education

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

Condition 1:

That Morling:

a) within 30 days of both parties renewing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provides TEQSA with a copy of the signed MOA with the National Institute of Christian Education (NICE);

b) within 60 days of the notice of decision, provides TEQSA with a strategy and implementation plan detailing how Morling will centrally and effectively manage the requirement that Morling ensures that NICE complies with the Threshold Standards, including Provider Course Accreditation Standards (PCAS) 1.9, 1.10, 2.3, 2.4, and 5.4;

c) within 12 months from the date of signing the MOA, ensures that its Academic Board completes a review of all aspects of Morling's third party delivery arrangements with NICE, including the terms of the MOA, including the extent to which:

i) there is consistency and accuracy between the course outlines, course materials and course guides available to all prospective and enrolled students at both Morling and NICE; and

ii) there is annual collection, monitoring and reporting to the Academic Board of attrition and completion rates across Morling and NICE

d) within 15 months from the date of signing the MOA, Morling College must provide a copy of the annual review in 1) c), its recommendations and the recommendations accepted by the Academic Board to TEQSA.

Condition 2:

That within 60 days of the notice of decision, Morling College provides a detailed implementation plan for the instructional design review of post graduate education courses, that includes a revised timeline to ensure all units of the three courses are reviewed by the end of 2015.

Condition 3:

That within 30 days of completing the instructional design review of the courses, Morling report to TEQSA on the outcomes of the review, including actions taken to ensure equivalence of student learning outcomes across Morling and NICE online learning environments and Learning Management Systems.

Condition 4:

That within 60 days of the notice of decision, Morling provides TEQSA with a framework on how it will obtain, monitor and act on comparative data in relation to the performance of students to include:

a) the benchmarking methodology and indicators that it will use;

b) the data likely to be the subject of benchmarking (including attrition, progression, course completion, grade distributions and other relevant comparative data); and

c) how benchmarking outcomes will be reported and used for improvements across teaching and student learning outcomes.

Condition 5:

That within 12 months of the notice of decision, Morling provides a report detailing its progress against the implementation of the framework in 4) and the outcomes of its benchmarking activities completed.

Condition 6:

Within 12 months of offering the above courses Morling must provide a report, which has been considered by the Academic Board, on how the Education Course Review Committee systematically updates the courses, through internal revision and external reviews, including external review committee feedback and comparisons with standards at other higher education providers.

Background to Decision

Morling submitted an application for renewal of accreditation of three 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 three higher education courses of study submitted by Morling for renewal of accreditation comply with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards. The course accreditation covers online delivery at all Australian sites and third party delivery by the National Institute of Christian Education.

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to Morling's application for renewal of accreditation of three courses of study is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as Morling 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 Morling's capacity to manage and deliver its higher education awards.

• The broad issues which relate to the Master of Education (Leadership)(Coursework), Master of Education (Coursework) and Graduate Diploma of Education include:

  a) managing and quality assuring third party arrangements, including to ensure consistent online delivery approaches and Learning Management Systems

  b) internal and external course review processes, and

  c) benchmarking of academic standards against similar accredited course processes.

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.