Discussion of Standard 14 – Staff capability, educational resources and premises

Introduction
What's new
Obligations and responsibilities
Implications for different sectors
Documents, knowledge and procedures
 Definitions
Assistance and examples
Learning Activity
National Code 2007

Introduction

DEST (now DEEWR) Commentary

Students are to be given every opportunity to achieve their educational objectives while in Australia. The staff of registered providers need to be suitably qualified or experienced and appropriate educational resources are to be made available. The premises of registered providers, including the nature of the tenure of the registered provider’s occupancy of the premises, will also be appropriate for the courses provided to students.

Generic standard applicable to all sectors

What's new

Obligations and responsibilities

  • If a quality assurance framework applies to a course, the provider must have and implement policies and procedures in relation to:
    • ensuring that its staffing resources are adequate and capable by employing suitably qualified or experienced staff, and
    • providing adequate education resources including facilities, equipment, learning and library resources and premises.
  • Where a course is not covered by a quality assurance framework, the institution must document and implement appropriate policies:
    • for ensuring the quality and capability of staff involved with recruitment of students, delivery of education or client services to students
    • for ensuring that there are adequate education resources and premises needed to deliver the course.
  • The designated authority and enrolled students must be notified at least 20 working days before any relocation of premises (including head office and campus locations).

Implications for different sectors

  • Smaller institutions may need to identify and address physical educational resources that need improvement before enrolling international students.

List of document and specific knowledge of institutional and government matters and procedures required for this standard

  • Documents:
    • premises' ownership or tenancy arrangements.
    • staff qualifications and experience
    • documents to prove the required level, adequacy and suitability of educational resources including facilities, equipment, learning and library resources, and the premises including ownership, tenancy and floorspace.
  • Knowledge:
    • quality assurance frameworks that apply to registered courses.
  • Procedures:
    • where a course is not covered by a quality assurance framework, the institution must document and implement appropriate policies covering:
      • recruitment of staff
      • induction of staff
      • performance assessment of staff, and
      • ongoing staff development opportunities for staff that recruit students, or deliver education or client services to students.
    • where a course is not covered by a quality assurance framework, an institutional process to ensure the adequate supply of educational resources including facilities, equipment, learning and library resources, and premises.

Definitions of key words/phrases

  • Adequate staffing resources
    - Support staff to student ratio can vary from sector to sector, institution to institution. At present there is no formal determination for this ratio. Some examples of current practice exist in the school sector: 0.2 staff to 5 international students enrolled, 1.0 staff to 100 students; in the tertiary sector some ratio examples are: 1.0 staff to 300 students, 1.0 staff to 1000 enrolled students in larger institutions.
  • Designated authority
    - As defined by section 5 of the ESOS Act, this means a person responsible under the law of a state for approving providers to provide courses to overseas students in that state. See AQF Register of Recognised Education Institutions & Authorised Accreditation Authorities in Australia
  • Education resources
    - Physical resources such as library, equipment, facilities and learning materials.
  • Experienced staff
    - In relation to support staff, no formal skill set has been defined however, the ESOS Evaluation Report (2005) indicates some desirable attributes for international student support personnel such as confidentiality, ability to balance tensions between student needs and those of the institution, knowledge of ESOS and migration requirements, cross-cultural sensitivity, specialist language skills, and experience with international students and issues they commonly encounter.
  • Quality assurance frameworks
    - The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) was developed under instruction from the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA ) and is a key national policy instrument to protect the quality of Australian education and training. The AQF comprises:
    • agreed national guidelines for each of the current national qualifications issued in schools, vocational education and training and higher education sectors;
    • principles for articulation and credit transfer;
    • registers of authorities empowered by governments to accredit qualifications and to issue qualifications; and
    • protocols for issuing qualifications and a structure for monitoring implementation of the AQF and advising Ministers, including recommending any changes.
  • Suitably qualified staff
    - Recruitment and education delivery staff can be assessed on the basis of formal qualifications but there are very few recognised qualifications that exist for support staff. In the ELICOS sector, the National ELT Accreditation Scheme Limited (NEAS) provides a three-stage accreditation process designed specifically for the needs of students and demands of English language training and includes detailed requirements for teacher and supervisor qualifications in teaching English as a second language, provider facilities and student support.

Where to find assistance and quality practice examples

Learning Activity

National Code 2007

Outcome of Standard 14

The staff of registered providers are suitably qualified or experienced in relation to the
functions they perform for students. The educational resources of registered providers
support the delivery of courses to students. The premises of registered providers, including the floor space available for each student, support students to achieve their course outcomes.

14.1

The registered provider must have and implement policies and procedures to ensure its staffing resources are adequate and have the capabilities as required by the quality assurance framework applying to the course. Where the course provided by the registered provider is not subject to an appropriate quality assurance framework, the registered provider must have and implement appropriate documented policies and processes for the recruitment, induction,
performance assessment and ongoing development of members of staff involved with the recruitment or delivery of education or client services to students.
14.2 The registered provider must have adequate education resources, including facilities, equipment, learning and library resources and premises as required by the quality assurance framework applying to the course. Where the course provided by the registered provider is not subject to an appropriate quality assurance framework, the registered provider must ensure it has adequate education resources, including facilities, equipment, learning and library
resources, and premises, including ownership or tenancy arrangements for the premises, as are needed to deliver the registered course to the students enrolled with the registered provider.
14.3 The registered provider must notify the designated authority and the students enrolled with the registered provider of any intention to relocate premises (including the head office and campus locations) at least 20 working days before the relocation.

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