INSPIRE

ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE FOR VET PROVIDERS – IDENTIFYING AND APPLYING AN EFFECTIVE MODEL FOR YOUR RTO

Kevin Ekendahl, CEO and Principal Lead Auditor, Audit Express

Training Organisations across Australia have many legal and regulatory obligations to meet. Nothing is more important than providing quality training and assessment services and ensuring learners get the skills they need to get the jobs they want. With this in mind, it is important that there is effective governance and oversight of the academic operations of providers to ensure they are meeting their core mission and vision – providing excellence in education.

Whilst higher education providers have established Standards requiring effective academic governance to be in place, I have found that many Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) fail to implement effective academic governance. Whilst the current Standards for RTOs do not specify that academic governance structures must be in place, I have found that those organisations who have implemented effective oversight of their academic operations are better able to respond to the changing needs of their learners, industry and the regulatory environment.

The National VET Regulator has focused their regulatory effort towards a system of self-assurance. Effective academic governance is certainly one of the many key recommendations we make to RTOs when looking at improving the quality of their training and assessment services, and their ongoing compliance with their regulatory obligations.

Let us now consider ASQAs definition of self-assurance;

“Self-assurance refers to how providers manage their operations to ensure a focus on quality, continuous improvement and ongoing compliance with the Standards. It means providers have systems in place to critically examine their performance against the Standards and training outcomes, on an ongoing basis, to identify ways to continuously improve”

No doubt implementing effective academic governance would contribute towards a system of self-assurance. The challenge now, is to determine how this would work for your organisation and how to implement an academic governance model which is right for you.

Through my work with a range of training providers across the globe, I have found the following three elements to be essential in implementing an effective model of academic governance:

Framework, Structure and Tools.

1 - Framework

This is the understanding of the obligations and the enabling legislation and regulations which the organisation must operate in. Part of the initial discussion to establish the framework is around the obligations hierarchy – what are the essential legislative, regulatory and contractual obligations of the organisation?, and what elements of these are relevant to the academic operations of the organisation? Having a clear and documented obligations hierarchy enables organisations to identify and address all of their obligations – and assign these to relevant governance or management functions.

2 - Structure

This refers to how the organisation will identify the relevant roles and responsibilities of each of the stakeholders, and assign the accountability and responsibility to each stakeholder. The structure of the model of academic governance will vary from organisation to organisation depending on the type of training provided, the size and nature of the organisation and the complexity of its business or activities. For example, the model for a TAFE will be significantly different to a small RTO delivering a single unit of competency.

Key questions to consider when developing the structure of your academic governance models are: What are the roles and responsibilities of each of the key stakeholders? – will the governance committees/boards be accountable for key decisions or will they merely provide advice to management? What will be the powers vested in each of the stakeholders? What are the reporting responsibilities of the stakeholders? And finally, what is the extent of the decision making powers of each of the stakeholders?

Having the right structure in place is crucial to the success of effective academic governance – and this process takes time to consider and get right.

3 - Tools

The tools to implement an effective academic governance model will vary for different organisations, however there are essential tools which must be considered when deciding on implementing academic governance structures in your organisation.

Firstly, it is essential to have a clear and documented terms of reference (ToR) for the different manifestations of governance bodies such as boards or committees. The development of this should be informed by the work undertaken in identifying the framework and the structure. The ToR should reflect what the academic board/ committee should look at and discuss (Framework) , and also what powers will be vested in it (Structure).

Next, it is essential to have other tools which will assist the work of the academic governance boards/ committees: Such as, setting agendas and taking minutes, formats and lengths of board/committee papers, allowing sufficient time to consider matters, work plans, calendars and organising for the recording and following up of actions arising from meetings.

Periodic reviews

Reviewing and amending the academic governance model should be a continuous process. It is good practice to have periodic independent reviews on the effectiveness of your academic governance and look at how you can improve your oversight and governance of academic matters. Finding the right model to fit your organisation will take time – but prioritising academic governance and effective oversight of your operations will be rewarding for your RTO and your learners.

Kevin Ekendahl

is the

CEO

and

Lead Auditor at Audit Express. He has a passion for governance, quality assurance and excellence in education. You can link with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ kevinekendahl/

Principal