Degree Audit for Dummies

The Problem

• High cost of academic administration not adding value for students

• Lack of transparency, high risk, variability

• Low tolerance for change, established silos

• Student Management System developed in house

The Processes

•Degree audit

•Enrolment confirmation

• Clearance to graduate

Responding to staff needs – the design of APRU

• University created a purpose-built Academic Policy and Regulations Unit (APRU)

• Conceived as a ‘Lean Centre’

• Deliver support based on a sharp service culture

• Mission is to provide University-wide services for advice and support

Academic Policy and Regulations Unit

• Facilitate development of academic policy

• Guidance on appropriate consultation and approval processes

• Develop and implement a University-wide regulatory framework

• Provide dedicated central advice and support for accreditation

Academic Policy and Regulations Unit

• Coordinate fulfilment of internal and external regulatory and QA requirements

• Central repository

• Facilitate consistent and transparent communication

Academic Policy and Regulations Unit

• End-to-end service provision from initiation through the approval process and during post-delivery qualification reviews

• APRU consultants in direct contact with academic staff as they develop proposals

• Support for University-level decision making bodies; QA documents submitted

• Development of a ‘Qualifications Policy’ capturing the principles and standards required by the University

Academic Policy and Regulations Unit

• Approach taken

to provide central oversight and information sharing rebuild infrastructure for programme approval and review embed practice accessible to all academic staff

• Work of APRU will increasingly inform, and be informed by multiple perspectives

Which Year?

• Massey has large part time, distance student population

• Some long term students enrolled through multiple changes of regulation

• Implications for cost, maintaining knowledge of multiple regulation sets

• Developed tools to assess against current year of regulations, with exceptions

• One of many decisions incorporated into Qualification Framework

Key Learnings

• Experienced operational and policy staff to consider and develop processes over two year period

• Required competencies for academic administration changed

• Identifying decision makers a challenge

• Software development drove process change, not ideal

• Show rather than tell

Before and AfterPre-Project Project Delivering

Manual intervention for all enrolments Management by Exception

Complexity/variability process Consistent process supported by guidelines or policy

Institutional knowledge/ discretion / “soft rules”

Transparent structured approach with rules embedded in system

Qualification regulations not machine readable

Repository for structured qualification regulations

Inappropriate paper choices by students Self advisory tools (regulations) Rules based assessment controls

Delayed University advice on eligibility to graduate

University notifies students well in advance

Minimal operational reporting Detailed operational reporting:•Performance against targets•Progress to completion