Partnership Oversight and Development Handbook 2017 - 18 · PDF fileLink Tutor Report Template...

Partnership Oversight and Development

Handbook 2017-18 Process guide standards and enhancement for franchised provision

Issued by: Dr. Julian Coleman

September 2017

http://www.bolton.ac.uk/

Preface

This handbook is intended to provide detailed information about the University’s

process for assuring the standards of its franchised programmes with partners. The

process is designed to facilitate a collaborative approach to assurance and the

enhancement of teaching quality, the learning environment, student outcomes and

learning gain.

From September 2016 the oversight process will be underpinned by upto three

annual Partnership Development Meetings (PDMs). The PARTNERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT MEETING will act to bring relevant colleagues from the University

and the Partner together to collectively consider quality monitoring data and

documentation. A Live Action Partnership Plan (LAPP) will be created and updated

at the PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETING. LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP

PLANs will form an appendix of the Partnership Overview Form (POF). The

PARTNER OVERVIEW FORM is a shared summary document containing the

partnership details with appendices including the LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP

PLAN and a Partnership Business Plan.

Partnerships with institutions that have their own mature quality systems may

negotiate with the University to use their own documentation for monitoring. This

negotiation is undertaken using a document equivalency listing, and the handbook

also explains this process.

The handbook is set out in sections covering the PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

MEETING, the LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN, and the Quality Portal (a web-

based storage area set-out in academic years, for Quality monitoring documentation)

At the end of the handbook are a number of appendices containing the standard

agendas, membership list and document templates.

We hope you find the handbook helpful and that the process it describes is both

efficient and effective.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of the process, please contact the Academic Group

Co-ordinator for Standards and Enhancement in the Off-Campus Division –

Mrs Claire Aindow e: [email protected] t: 01204 903694

Version: September 2017

mailto:[email protected]

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Partnership Development Meetings

3. Live Action Partnership Plan

4. Quality Portal

5. Partner Overview Form

6. Appendices

6.1. Process diagram

6.2. Partnership Development Meeting Agenda, Membership List and Document

List

6.3. Live Action Partnership Plan Template

6.4. Link Tutor Report Template

6.5. Quality Document Equivalency List

6.6. Module Box checklist

1. INTRODUCTION

The process outlined in this handbook is designed to promote a joint approach for

assuring standards, reviewing and continuously improving provision.

‘Oversight and Development’ is the phrase used to describe the annual cycle of

collecting/reviewing data on the partnership and determining continuing

improvements. ‘Data on the partnership’ means feedback from key stakeholders

such as students, external examiners, internal moderators, module tutors, link tutors

and programme managers as well as numerical data on student attainment and

achievement. This set of data is further defined and described within the University’s

Annual Monitoring Process Guidelines (current version dated 2016/17 - available by

following the link below):

(http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Quality/RM/AnnualMonitoring/Home.aspx)

This Handbook describes how the above process is applied in the context of our

collaborative provision partnerships.

The process diagram in Appendix 1 presents an overview. The process is centred

around four main concepts:-

Partnership Development Meeting (PDM) a meeting up to three times per

year to review quality monitoring data, update and decide upon new

improvement activities

Live Action Partnership Plan (LAPP) a continuously updated improvement

plan capturing actions normally determined at the PARTNERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT MEETING (actions can be added at any time, but the

majority of actions will result from the pro-active review of quality monitoring

data at the PDM)

Quality Portal (QP) data collected for review at the PARTNERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT MEETING will be stored on a web-based quality portal

(currently using the University MOODLE system). Administrative assistance

from the University to upload.

Partner Overview Form (POF) a brief document with partnership details (key

contacts, address, programmes etc.) with appendices including the LIVE

ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN, the Equivalency Listing (see below), a

Business Plan, and a log of partnership visits.

Partners with their own mature and functioning quality monitoring systems may

agree the equivalency of their own document set to replace standard University

documentation. This is carried out via a Quality Document Equivalency Listing

(appendix 5), with the agreed alternative document then used at the PARTNERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT MEETING, and stored on the QUALITY PORTAL.

The PARTNER OVERVIEW FORM (complete with appendices) is reviewed

periodically at the University’s Partnership Panel.

http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Quality/RM/AnnualMonitoring/Home.aspx

2. PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS (PDMs)

Each partnership normally holds up to three Partnership Development Meetings

(PDMs) per academic year. The timing of the meetings is normally -

1) Meeting 1 Oct / Nov;

2) Meeting 2 Feb / March

3) Meeting 3 June / July

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETINGs may be held physically on partner

premises, or at the University, or by video conference. They may be minuted if

Administrative Support is available, or otherwise noted by the Academic Partnership

Manager.

The purpose of the PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETING is to reflect upon

data about the partnership that is relevant and available at the time of the meetings

(For example meeting 1 will consider External Examiner reports and responses,

Programme Survey data (e.g. National Students Survey NSS) and module level

monitoring from the previous academic session.

The University programme administrator organises the meeting and sends out the

document request to the nominated partner contact.

Document listings appropriate to the timing and business at each of the three

meetings are set out in appendix 2. The documents listed and requested for the

meeting constitute those documents required by the University as part of Annual

Quality Monitoring. Where fewer than three meetings are held, the document request

list will be negotiated with the partner to provide sensible timings.

(http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Quality/RM/AnnualMonitoring/Home.aspx) .

After the meeting, documents will be stored on the Quality Portal (QUALITY

PORTAL) and administrative help at the University is available to upload.

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETINGs are normally chaired by the Academic

Partnership Manager. Membership is defined in appendix 2.

Actions arising from the review of data at the meeting should be agreed at the

meeting and entered (by the Academic Partnership Manager) onto a ‘partnership

continuing improvement plan’ termed the Live Action Partnership Plan (LAPP).

LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLANs can be updated continuously as actions take

place, and progress reviewed and actions added at the PARTNERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT MEETING.

http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Quality/RM/AnnualMonitoring/Home.aspx

The Partnership Development Meeting is in two parts.

Part 1 should be attended by the University Link tutors and partner Course

Managers. The purpose of part 1 is to complete a ‘link tutor report’ concerning

the assessment cycle for the academic cycle previous to the current

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETING. For example, for the

October/November assessment cycle, the previous summer semester/refer

period will be reviewed.

The link tutor report confirms that the module boxes from the previous

semester are up-to-date, following the module box checklist, and that any

improvement actions arising from moderation are recorded for action. The link

tutor report also confirms the storage location for the module box information

at the partner. A template for the link tutor report is presented in appendix 4.

The completion of the Link Tutor Report removes the need to store

module box information on the Quality Portal.

Link Tutors must complete this task with Course Managers at least 7

days prior to the PDM. This activity is not minuted.

Part 2 is the more formal part of the meeting (minuted or noted). The standard

agenda is set out in appendix 2.

3. LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN (LAPP)

The template for the LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN is shown in appendix 3.

The LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN is a continuous improvement plan, based

on the review of partnership quality data and documentation.

Actions must be discussed and agreed by all parties in the partnership and may

result in improvement action either at the University or at the Partner Institution.

It is the responsibility of the University Academic Partnership Manager (APM) to

keep the LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN up to date. This is a continuous

process, as actions are completed and signed off or new actions generated.

However it is recognised that the majority of new actions will be discussed and

agreed at the three PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETINGs as well as existing

items progressed or signed off.

The LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN forms an appendix to the PARTNER

OVERVIEW FORM (POF) and PARTNER OVERVIEW FORMs are periodically

reviewed at the University’s Partnership Panel (see appendix 1 for process diagram).

4. QUALITY PORTAL (QP)

Each partnership has a QUALITY PORTAL for the current academic year. The

QUALITY PORTAL is a web-based repository for Quality Documentation. QUALITY

PORTALs are pre-populated with the titles and timing of documents required. These

correspond to the document requests for the three PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

MEETINGs, hence documents supplied for the meetings will subsequently be stored

on the QUALITY PORTAL.

Partner staff and University staff (Link Tutors and Academic Partnership Managers)

have access to view documents and administrative support at the University is also

available to keep the QUALITY PORTAL up-to-date. Some partners may also

choose to store their module box documentation on the Quality Portal. In this case,

the partner will be responsible for uploading module box documents to the portal.

5. PARTNER OVERVIEW FORM (POF)

The PARTNER OVERVIEW FORM is a summary document providing key

information concerning the partnership. The main part of the form has key contact

details, address, programmes validated, contract numbers etc. Appendices of the

form contain:-

1. The LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN (LAPP)

2. The partnership Business Plan

3. A log of key visits, meetings, joint development events etc.

4. Quality Document Equivalency List

It is the responsibility of the Academic Partnership Manager (APM) to keep the

PARTNER OVERVIEW FORM up to date.

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Partnership Oversight Process

September October November December January February March April May June July August

3 weeks prior to

meeting.

Administrator

sends out

predetermined

document

request and

meeting agenda.

Document

requests to be

relevant to the

time of year.

Responsibility

for providing

each document

is made clear in

the request

APM Chairs.

Meeting agenda

created

including

updates on

actions from

LAPPs and

consideration of

NSS data. Link

tutors,

administrator

and partner staff

on membership.

Within 3 weeks

of meeting, APM

updates

reported

actions, and

adds any new

items to the

LAPP.

LAPPs go to

OfCD Quality

Standing Panel

which red flags

any for SEO

Intervention.

LAPPs also form

appendix to

Partnership

Overview Forms

(which are

viewed by the

University

Partnership

Panel)

LAPPs go to

OfCD Quality

Standing Panel

September October November December January February March April May June July August

Interim concerns escalated to Off

Campus Management at any point

in time and could potentially be

escalated to SEO

Partnership Panel Raise

"Cause for concern"

triggering specific SEO

Intervention (to be defined

by SEO), risk based by

exception

Update

Live Action Partnership Plan (LAPP) - Owned and created jointly by APM, Link Tutors and partner staff (forms appendix A of Partnership Overview Form)

Quality Portal Repository1)Agreed Equivalency Assessment (agreed by Partnership Panel)

2)Minutes of PDM meetings

(including Link Tutor report forms)

3) Other documents as per

document request list

Agenda and DocumentRequest 1

Partnership Development Meeting 1

UpdateAgenda and DocumentRequest 2

Partnership Development Meeting 2 Update

Agenda and DocumentRequest 3

Partnership DevelopmentMeeting 3

Off Campus Quality Standing Panel 1

Off Campus Quality Standing

UniversityPartnership Panel

UniversityPartnership Panel

Off CampusDivision Board of Studies

Off Campus Division Board of

Appendix Two: PDM documentation

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MEETING

Date: [ ]

Location: [ ]

AGENDA

Part One LINK TUTOR AND PROGRAMME MANAGER REVIEW OF

MODULE BOXES (please refer to module box checklist for

required content) – complete link tutor report for item 6

below at least 7 days prior to PDM

Part Two FORMAL MEETING

PART A

1. Welcome to members and apologies for absence

2. Minutes or notes of previous meeting held on [ ]

3. Matters arising

PART B

4. Review quality documentation papers (see document request list)

5. Review and update Live Action Partnership Plan (LAPP)

6. Link tutor report (s)

7. New programmes: existing developments and future plans 8. Partnership operational matters and agreement of new LAPP items

9. Any Other Business

10. Reserved matters (confidential matters – attended by partnership senior management and APM only


Membership

Partner

Head of HE/Centre Director

Program Managers

Head of Quality

University

Academic Partnership Manager (Chair)

Link tutors

Invited members

AGC SELE for school (University)

AGC SELE Off-Campus Division (University)

Head, Off-Campus Division

Head of School, University of Bolton

Nominated partner/ University staff including administrators

Document request The following documents will be requested from those identified in the table as papers for the meeting. Document

request to be circulated three weeks to the meeting (and will be loaded onto the Quality Portal (QP) by UoB staff –

with any updates collected on the day of the meeting)

Where it is agreed that a partner has fewer than three PDMs per year, the documents will be allocated to the meetings

in agreement with the APM.

In brackets and emboldened indicates the member of staff to supply the data/document.

Meeting 1 Oct/ Nov Meeting 2 Feb/March Meeting 3 June/ July

Documents to

be reviewed

at meeting

(Agenda item

4) and

uploaded

onto QP

Programme Survey Data (e.g.

NSS data, UPSS)

(APM or Partner Contact,

depending on who conducts

NSS)

Latest SSLC minutes


depending on who

conducts SSLC)

Latest SSLC minutes



SSLC)

EE report(s) and responses

Link Tutor to supply EE

report and response

(Link tutor to circulate EE

reports to Partner and co-

ordinate response)

Enrolment data

(APM or Partner Contact

depending on whether

students are counted as

UoB numbers or partner

numbers)

Enrolment data





numbers)

Latest SSLC minutes



SSLC)

Retention data





numbers)

Retention data





numbers)

Enrolment data





numbers)

Attainment data





numbers)

Attainment data





numbers)

Retention data





numbers)

Updated Programme plans

(Course Manager with

support from Link Tutors)

Marketing material for next

academic year (Partner)

Attainment data





numbers)

External Access list for review

(APM)

Draft programme plans



Report on staffing, resources

and staff development

requirements

Report on complaints and

academic misconduct cases

(Partner)

Induction plan (Partner)

e.g. link to relevant resources,

timetable, induction pack

Report on student enrichment

and employability activities

(Partner)

Student support (personal

tutoring) plan (Partner)

Updated Programme plans



Link tutor report per

programme (after meeting)

(Link Tutor)



(Link Tutor)



(Link Tutor)

Documents

requested for

QP upload

only

Programme handbooks

(Partner staff)

Partner student handbook

(Partner)

Updated Operations Manual

(APM)

Updated Operations Manual

(APM)

Programme summaries for Off

Campus Division Quality

Standing panel (Course

Manager)

A brief over view of the

current operation of the

programme (max. approx..

150 words) highlighting any

issues or areas of good

practice

Appendix 3: LIVE ACTION PARTNERSHIP PLAN Template

Live Action Partnership Plan: [UoB/[Partner name]]

*Evidence source – indicate how the issue/good practice arose (NSS data, Retention Data, Module Evaluation, SSLC minutes, External Examiner Report)

** TEF Aspect – indicate if the issue is related to a) Teaching Quality, b) Learning Environment, c) Student Outcome and Learning Gain

Date of latest update:

NB: APM to update and save to the Quality Portal after each Partnership Development Meeting

Problem to be

addressed/good

practice to be

enhanced

Evidence

source*

Action to be taken Target

Date

Action

by

Related TEF

aspect**

Success

indicators

Evaluation, update and sign-off

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Appendix 4: Link Tutor Report Template

Partner Centre Name :…………………………….. Link Tutor Name :…………………………….. Partner Course Leader / Manager Name :…………………………….. Date of Visit :…………………………….. Sample module boxes reviewed on visit:

Module Number and Name

I have reviewed the module boxes for content as per the Module Box checklist and confirm

that quality assurance processes are proceeding as per University requirements:

Signed: (Link Tutor)

Name:……………………………..

Signed: (Partner Course Manager / nominee)

Name:…………………………….

Comments / improvement actions Link Tutor:

Comments from partner staff:

Precise location / storage of Module boxes:……………………………………………

Appendix 5: Equivalency Listing

Quality monitoring equivalency listing

The documents in column 1 (and described in column 2) are required as part of the University of Bolton Quality monitoring cycle.

The purpose of this listing is to indicate the equivalence of Further Education College quality documentation, in place of the standard University of Bolton

document. Once agreed, it is permissible to use existing FE documentation in place of its UoB equivalent, on the Quality Monitoring MOODLE portal. Because

documents can vary between FE Colleges, this listing is created per partner centre.

Partner to complete columns 3 and 4 and submit to the Academic Partnership Manager

Partners Centre:

1 2 3 4 5

UoB Document Requirement

(to be loaded onto Moodle

Quality Portal)

Brief description, purpose, who

creates it, when

Partner equivalent

Document title

Brief description,

purpose, who creates it,

when

Equivalence comments

1. MR Module Report – A brief review of

the module, written by the module

tutor at the end of the module,

indicating what went well and what

might be improved for the next

running.

2. Module Guide

Sets out an overview of the module,

a teaching strategy, a reading list and

details of the assessment. These are

created prior to the commencement

each time a module is taught.

It is mandatory under the franchise

arrangement to include ALL of the

sections in the Bolton Template and

to follow the Bolton Structure as

closely as possible.


3. Assessment

briefs and Exam Papers

Assessment briefs should be

included in the Module Guide, and it

is mandatory to include the

information in the Bolton Template.

4. Moderation Forms

1. A) Assessment brief

B) Exam paper

C) Marked work

Bolton format

Forms for internal and external

moderation of assessments and

marked work – these are stored on

the portal to evidence that each

assessment has been internally and

externally moderated, along with a

sample of marked work.

5. Programme Plan

Programme Quality Enhancement

Plan

Reflective enhancement plan for the

programme. Includes reference to

programme content, assessment,

teaching and learning, quality

monitoring. Evidenced from student

feedback, course committee

meetings, external examiner reports,

analysis of results etc.

Should be updated incrementally

through the year. Would normally be

created by the partner Course

Manager or equivalent, and shared

with the link tutor via the quality

portal.


8. SSLC Minutes Staff Student Liaison Committee

minutes. The SSLC meets at least

twice per year. It has students

representation (usually at least one

Student representative per year per

programme) Student reps are trained

by the student union. Agenda items

include Student feedback, course

leader report, discussion of

improvement plans, discussion of

external examiner report, discussion

of achievement rates, discussion of

programme changes

This is an agreed equivalence listing:

Signed: University of Bolton

-------------------------------------------------

Print:

Signed: Partner College

-------------------------------------------------

Print:


Appendix 6 Module Box Checklist Module Box Checklist

Partner Name here: Programme Name here

Programme Handbook supplied Programme Handbook Approval pro forma completed

Programme Handbook Yes/no Yes/no

Please

list

modules

by name

and

number

below

Module

guide

Module

Guide

Approval

Pro

forma

Module

Spec

1st page

of

Moodle

Assessment

1 brief and

model

answer /

indicative

content

Brief Ans

Assessment

1

moderation

pro forma

Assessment

2 brief and

model

answer /

indicative

content

Brief Ans

Assessment

2

moderation

pro forma

Assessment

1 sample of

marked work

Int / ext

moderation

of

assessment

1 sample

Int Ext

Assess

ment 2

sample

of

marked

work

Int / ext

moderation

of ass 2

sample

Int Ext

Module

Evaluati

on

question

naires

Module

Report

e.g.

MPA

7001

Intro

to PA


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