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Professional accreditation

Learning and teaching Topics Professional accreditation

On this page

     Your guide to accreditation submission  Accrediting bodies  Useful links  Frequently asked questions  Contacts

Many courses at Flinders are externally accredited by professional bodies. Quality assurance by external agencies is an important element of a robust quality assurance framework.

It ensures that students are receiving the most up to date and professionally relevant content in their course and will graduate with necessary skills and competencies.

Your guide to accreditation submission

Accreditation Framework

 Purpose of Accreditation

  • To support and facilitate continuous improvement, risk management and evidence based decision making.
  • To signal quality, reliability and/or comparability to others.
  • To demonstrate achievement of standards and measurements set by external agents, and once achieved the ongoing maintenance of those standards and measurements.


Underpinning Principles

Continuous Improvement: Ongoing reflective feedback involving monitoring, review and consequent evidence-based improvement

Quality Improvement Loop: A cycle of action, feedback and evidence, analysis, planning which includes experimentation

Feedback Loop: Seeking and reviewing feedback and evidence from multiple different relevant sources to determine progress, achievement, strengths, challenges and improvements

Benchmarking: Internal practice, policy, activities, inputs and/or outputs compared to external others to evaluate progress, towards and/or achievement of standards

Evidence-based Decisions: Decisions to act or not, and/or what actions to take, grounded in a critical analysis of sufficient, relevant, reliable, valid, current evidence

 

Participants

Decision Makers: Ultimately accountable for the outputs and impact of the quality assurance process

Planners and Actors: Operationalise and implement the decision makers’ decisions

Analysts: Evaluate, interpret and analyse the data to inform decisions

Data Gatherers: Source and collect data and information to be analysed

Reporters: Communicate the quality assurance processes, inputs, outputs and outcomes

Enablers and Supporters: Provide advice, information, actions and/or resources that enable the quality assurance process to be undertaken

 

Quality Assurance Process

Accreditation Framework

References:

Academic Quality Assurance https://www.teqsa.gov.au/latest-news/publications/guidance-note-academic-quality-assurance

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) https://www.aacsb.edu/about

Owlia, Mohammad S. & Aspinwall, Elaine M. (1996) "A framework for the dimensions of quality in higher education", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 4 Issue: 2, pp.12-20, https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889610116012

Recommended approach

Accrediting bodies differ in the support they provide for accreditation processes. Some accrediting bodies come equipped with detailed templates and comprehensive instructions for institutions to follow, while others provide more general guidelines. Regardless of the expectations of the accrediting body, there are some common steps that can be taken in the approach to leading an accreditation process:

  1. Nominate an academic lead to drive the project.
  2. Set up OneDrive folders for:
    • Draft submission
    • Accrediting body documents
    • Project group documents
    • Standard 1 evidence
    • Standard 2 evidence
    • Etc…
  3. Follow Office 365 Group Management Guidelines and naming conventions for documentation.
  4. Read the standards carefully to ascertain what is required.
  5. Delegate sections of evidence collation to relevant “expert” areas, eg Topic coordinators, course coordinators, Planning and Analytical Services with clear timelines for return of information. For Certificates of Insurance use Service One to send a request to Risk & Insurance.
  6. Maintain ownership over the Master Draft Submission to ensure changes are tracked and monitored and a consistent language is maintained throughout.
  7. If using FLO for storing and ultimately distributing materials to the accrediting panel, an important step in the process is contacting the Director of College Services to sponsor and obtain temporary FAN accounts for visiting panel members. Refer to the AccessNow page for instructions to set up FANs for the visiting panel.
  8. When you’re not preparing a submission, get involved with activities for the relevant accrediting authority. You can learn a lot from being an accreditor of other programs and it helps to see it “from the other side” when you are preparing accreditation submissions.
Genre writing tips: Writing to standards

"This report by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read." – Winston Churchill

Writing accreditation documents is unlike other forms of writing. The author is tasked with evidencing claims and addressing strict standards while at the same time telling the story of the degree or program being accredited in an engaging and persuasive way. The language of the documents is vital to ensure that the required audience – the accrediting panel – can easily interpret the message and receive the information they need to compile their report.

Here are four tips to help the budding accreditation lead:

1. Keep the reader in mind

The documents will be read by a panel of external accreditors who will likely have in depth understanding of the standards and requirements needed for accreditation. They will be looking for evidence and gaps but won’t have a lot of time at their disposal. Avoid overwhelming the panel with too much information and verbiage.

“writing is more likely to be persuasive if it is not pompous, unnecessarily complicated, or loaded with technical jargon… If a word, idea, or sentence does not contribute directly to the point, consider eliminating it.” (Chambers, 2018)

2. Consider the evidence

Think reflectively about what the evidence means and interpret it for the panel. If the evidence doesn’t speak to the criteria being addressed in an obvious way, contextualise it for the panel. If the evidence doesn’t make sense, isn’t clear, or isn’t accurate, don’t include it. Inaccurately evidencing the criteria suggests a deviation from the Standards, and this is not something you want to do! It is important to present evidence that is relevant, valid, reliable, and representative of the underlying situation. In some instances, multiple sources or methods should be employed. Importantly, the “entire body of evidence should be mutually reinforcing” (WASC, 2015). More evidence is not necessarily better – it depends on what it is.

“A structured and well-explained presentation, anchored on a succinct body of well-documented and reflected-upon evidence, will be far more convincing than simply a “data dump.”” (WASC, 2015)

3. Answer the question

What exactly is the criterion asking? If it is asking for Terms of Reference of a Review Committee, supply the Terms of Reference. If you don’t have a Review Committee, but some other form of committee to oversee the course, explain this in the submission document and supply the Terms of Reference of that committee. If the criterion is asking you to show engagement with a group that you have not engaged with before, explain this and note that it is an area that requires improvement. Acknowledging failure to evidence criteria but willingness to improve is always better than ignoring or avoiding criteria.

4. Work as a team

Accreditation should be a team effort. It is not a task to be performed by one person in isolation. It requires input from people with different expertise, experiences and viewpoints. An important early step in the accreditation process is therefore establishing who will be working on the project. Within this, clear lines of communication need to be established together with document management protocols. It is sensible for one person to manage the master draft, distributing sections out for input from other areas as necessary, before incorporating contributions back into the master draft. In this way, an accreditation document is a “live” document, with the source held by one master. A team approach to compiling evidence and telling the “story” of the course will ultimately benefit the entire group in terms of their own understanding of the course and its broader context. It will also help to create a cohesive and collaborative environment which will be evident for any visiting accreditors.

"a successful visit with accreditation awarded will only be achieved when faculty, staff, administrators, and students work collaboratively to support and collect the evidence needed (Head & Johnson, 2011). Accreditation can be the driving force behind a push to demonstrate institutional effectiveness (Head & Johnson, 2011)." (Hail et al, 2019)


References

Chambers, Richard (2018). Writing an Impactful Audit Report: 6 Tips for Being More Persuasive. Internal Auditor

Hail, C., Hurst, B., Chang, C. W., & Cooper, W. (2019). Accreditation in Education: One Institution's Examination of Faculty Perceptions. Critical Questions in Education, 10(1). 

WASC Senior College & University Commission (2015). Using Evidence in the WSCUC Accreditation Process Guide.

Exemplars

The following exemplars show how FLO sites and Microsoft Teams and SharePoint can be used to house accreditation documentation.

flo-accreditation

Credit: ACHSM Accreditation 2017 Team - Professor Mark Mackay, Joanne Earls, Dr Jessie Gunson, Dr Annie Murray (Accreditation Project Manager).

 

accreditation

Credit: LPEAC Accreditation 2018 Team - Associate Professor Tania Leiman and Ms Melissa Huish.

 

Mock up of Microsoft Teams accreditation site

Mock up of Microsoft Teams accreditation site.

 

Mock up of SharePoint accreditation site

Mock up of SharePoint accreditation site.

Process map
process-map
Useful templates

Template report sample

Accrediting bodies

Business, Government and Law

Australian Marketing Institute (AMI)

Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM)

Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI)

Legal Practitioners Education and Admission Council (LPEAC)

Certified Professional Accountants Australia (CPA Aus)

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ)

Education, Psychology and Social Work

Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)

Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)

Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC)

Teachers Registration Board of South Australia (TRBSA) 

Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications

Medicine and Public Health

Australian Medical Council (AMC)

Council of Ambulance Authorities Inc (CAA)

Nursing and Health Sciences

Audiology Australia

Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA)

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC)

Australian Physiotherapy Council

Dietitian's Association of Australia

Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA)

Occupational Therapy Council (Australia and New Zealand)

Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand (OCANZ) 

Rehabilitation Counselling Association of Australasia (RCAA)

Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)

Science and Engineering

Australian Computer Society (ACS)

Australian Institute of Physics (AIP)

Engineers Australia (EA)

Environmental Health Australia (EHA)

Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI)

Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA (UK))

Design Institute of Australia

Useful links

Curriculum links

     Course rules  Topic search  FLEX for SAMS (access required)

Governance documents and links

     TEQSA Registration of Flinders  Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching Data  University organisational structure  University council and committees  College organisational structure  Flinders University annual report and financial statements  Assessment Policy  Courses Policy  Strategic Plan  Library support for accreditation via Service One

Frequently asked questions

Who leads the accreditation process?

Every course that is subject to professional accreditation or recognition will have an academic staff member nominated to lead professional accreditation/recognition activities with oversight of the Dean (Education).

I am the academic lead for my course accreditation. Where do I get my information?

You can request relevant data and information from other areas of the University including Planning & Analytical Services/IDS, CILT, the Flinders website, and this page. 

Who will do a final quality assurance check, edit and format?

Upon completion of the final draft of the full submission, the academic lead forwards it to the Educational Quality Team for final quality assurance checking, editing and formatting.

What does the Educational Quality Team do with the submission after they have checked it?

An educational quality team officer will provide the final, edited submission back to the academic lead for submission to the relevant College Senior Executive Team.

Who lodges the submission with the relevant accrediting body?

Once approved by the College Senior Executive Team, the Dean (Education) is responsible for ensuring the submission is lodged with the accrediting body.

What happens when we receive notice of accreditation or reaccreditation?

The Dean (Education) notifies the Associate Director, Educational Quality, who will ensure the new accreditation expiry date is recorded in University systems.

How do I know when my course is due for re-accreditation?

The University maintains a schedule of accreditations. Check with your Dean (Education) or Teaching Program Director. The relevant accrediting body website can also be a good source. 

How/where should I store all the documents, links and other evidence needed for the accreditation package?

You can use Teams/Office 365 or a bespoke FLO site. For tips and tricks see the recommended approach information on this page.

Need further information?

Contact the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) if you need any further assistance.

cilt@flinders.edu.au

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Last Updated: 09 Dec 2021
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