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Teaching and Learning Roles and Responsibilities Policy

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Section 1 - Purpose and Scope

Purpose

(1) The purpose of this Policy is to describe and identify the range of roles and responsibilities that may be performed by academic staff in coursework teaching and learning at The University of Queensland.

(2) Some of these roles may be coordinative and/or leadership roles.

Scope

(3) This Policy applies to incumbents in the position of academic leadership and coordination roles as outlined in Section 3 below.

Context

(4) This Policy:

  1. assists the University to meet its strategic and legal obligations around teaching and learning quality assurance and governance of educational offerings (e.g. compliance with requirements of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), and Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)).
  2. improves clarity around workload allocation.
  3. enables clearer understanding of the workloads and duties of staff in accordance with the University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2021-2026 (or as amended or replaced).
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Section 2 - Principles and Key Requirements

(5) UQ values both the quality of its academic programs and excellence in all aspects of teaching and learning. Quality and consistency of approach to all aspects of teaching and learning are achieved through coordination of teaching-related activities at School, Program, Faculty and University levels. These activities include curriculum development, assessment, program review, teaching quality evaluation, student academic advising and oversight of academic integrity and misconduct.

(6) Coordination of these activities is achieved by:

  1. assigning a range of key roles and responsibilities to academic staff; and
  2. acknowledging these roles through workload allocation and through the confirmation and promotion process where there is evidence of quality and impact.

(7) The appointment of academic roles is outlined in the Academic Categories Policy and Academic Categories Procedure.

(8) This Policy should be read in conjunction with:

  1. Academic Categories Policy and Academic Categories Procedure
  2. Workload Allocation for Academic Staff Policy and Workload Allocation for Academic Staff Procedure
  3. Criteria for Academic Performance Policy
  4. Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure
  5. Human Resources Sub-Delegations Instrument
  6. Assessment Policy, Assessment Procedure, and associated guidelines
  7. Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Student Integrity and Misconduct Procedure
  8. Enterprise Agreement 2021-2026.
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Section 3 - Roles, Responsibilities and Accountabilities

(9) The coordination of teaching-related activities in line with the Strategic Plan is achieved at University, Faculty, School, Program and Course levels through a number of identified roles. Some roles are required within a Faculty or School in accordance with Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure or other relevant University policy and these are indicated with an asterisk (*).

(10) New or comparable roles may be assigned by the Executive Dean or Head of School. In this case, the organisational unit is responsible for developing an appropriate position description that adequately indicates the dimension and alignment of each role in relation to key responsibilities, and ensuring that the Faculty Associate Dean (Academic) is notified.

(11) The Teaching and Learning Roles and Responsibilities Guideline provides guidance on the types of responsibilities that might be associated with various roles at the School, program and course level.

University

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning)

(12) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) are responsible for directing the University’s commitment to providing high-quality university teaching and student learning outcomes. This involves promoting a culture of excellence in teaching and learning, providing a distinctive student experience enriched by the University’s research capacity and the regular review of strategies, policies and practices, through the Academic Board's Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Committee and Committee for Academic Programs Policy.

Faculty

Executive Dean*

(13) The Executive Dean is responsible, through the Provost, to the Vice-Chancellor, for the academic and administrative leadership and management of the Schools and Centres within the Faculty, to achieve the goals of the Faculty and to further the mission and strategic aims of the University. In relation to teaching and learning, the Executive Dean has overall accountability for the academic programs and shorter form credentials offered by the Faculty, including ensuring the quality of teaching and the provision of effective learning services for students by Schools and Centres in the Faculty, in conjunction with the Associate Dean (Academic), and as set out in the University’s strategic and operational plans.

(14) The Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Executive Dean in relation to teaching and learning.

Associate Dean (Academic)*

(15) The Associate Dean (Academic) is responsible to their respective Executive Dean for the strategic oversight of all matters relating to teaching and learning, for academic administration and for the coordination of student administration in the Faculty.

(16) The Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure outlines the roles and responsibilities of Associate Deans (Academic) in relation to teaching and learning.

Faculty Integrity Officer

(17) A member of academic staff who is responsible for promoting the values and practice of academic integrity to students and staff; providing guidance to academic staff about the delivery of education strategies associated with academic integrity; and providing guidance and support to decision-makers in relation to student academic misconduct. At Faculty level, the Integrity Officer is nominated by the Executive Dean and is usually the Associate Dean (Academic).

(18) The Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Student Integrity and Misconduct Procedure outline the roles and responsibilities of the Integrity Officer in relation to teaching and learning.

School

Head of School*

(19) A member of academic staff who is responsible to their respective Executive Dean for the teaching, research and administration of a particular School.

(20) The Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure outlines the roles and responsibilities of Heads of Schools in relation to teaching and learning.

Chair, School Teaching and Learning Committee*

(21) A member of academic staff who is responsible to their respective Head of School for providing leadership to the Committee and to the School in promoting excellence in student learning and teaching as well as assuring the quality of learning and teaching.

Chief Examiner*

(22) A member of academic staff responsible to their respective Head of School who is appointed for a School, discipline or program, and who is responsible for ensuring quality assurance in summative assessment.

(23) The Assessment Procedure outlines the role of the Chief Examiner.

School Integrity Officer*

(24) A member of academic staff who is responsible for promoting the values and practice of academic integrity to students and staff; providing guidance to academic staff about the delivery of education strategies associated with academic integrity, and providing guidance and support to decision-makers in relation to student academic misconduct. At School level, the Integrity Officer is nominated by the Head of School and is often the Chair of the School Teaching and Learning Committee.

(25) The Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Student Integrity and Misconduct Procedure outline the roles and responsibilities of the Integrity Officer in relation to teaching and learning.

Programs and Majors

Program Convenor

(26) A member of academic staff who is responsible for coordinating a particular program (e.g. Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science).

(27) Program Convenors oversee development and review of programs in consultation with senior stakeholders and may provide assistance to Major Convenors, Academic Advisors, Course Coordinators, Course Contributors and Year Coordinators in course development and implementation, and accreditation, where required.

Major Convenor

(28) A member of academic staff, in collaboration with Convenor(s) of the program(s) in which the major is offered, who oversees the development and management and conducts periodic reviews of an approved sequence of study in a field of disciplinary focus.

Year Coordinator

(29) A member of academic staff who oversees curriculum and delivery of courses for a given year in the program.

Course

Course Coordinator*

(30) A member of academic staff responsible for coordinating the development, preparation, delivery and assessment of a course.

Course Contributor

(31) A member of academic staff who supports the Course Coordinator in the preparation, delivery, and assessment of a course.

Support Roles

Academic Advisor

(32) A member of staff, either at the Faculty or School level, who provides expert academic advice about degree programs and disciplines within those programs, assisting students to make well-informed decisions on enrolment, degree study plans, and academic progression in degree programs.

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Section 4 - Monitoring, Review and Assurance

(33) This Policy is monitored by the Academic Board through the Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Committee.

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Section 5 - Recording and Reporting

(34) Each of the roles also have in place monitoring reporting mechanisms as outlined in the relevant policy below:

  1. Academic Categories Policy and Academic Categories Procedure
  2. Workload Allocation for Academic Staff Policy and Workload Allocation for Academic Staff Procedure
  3. Criteria for Academic Performance Policy
  4. Faculty, School and Institute Governance and Management Procedure.