Academic Board Terms of Reference Policy

Purpose

This policy outlines the membership and responsibilities of Alphacrucis University College (AC) Academic Board and its subcommittees.

Scope

Whole of AC

Policy

ACADEMIC BOARD

Academic Board is established by the AC Constitution as the principal academic body at AC. All academic bodies at AC report to Academic Board. The Board has the following commitments:

1. Membership

Members of Academic Board are expected to attend, face to face or remotely, the majority of the scheduled meetings, normally the entirety of the meeting. For example, in a calendar year of six board meetings, a member is expected to miss no more than two, barring unforeseen circumstances.

1.1 Appointment of a Chair

The Chairperson will be appointed by Council and is an ex officio member of Council. Appointment is for a term of three years.

1.2 Membership

The membership of Academic Board includes:

Ex officio members

• Chair
• President
• Vice President and Provost
• Deputy Vice President Faculty
• Chairs of each standing subcommittee of Academic Board
• If not already included as the chair of a subcommittee of Academic Board:
  • Director of Student Experience
  • Director of Quality Assurance

Appointed/Elected Members

• two or more senior academic leaders from the faculty  
• two or more external members
• one student-elected student representative

1.3 Term

For ex officio members, the term will be for the duration of their employment in those positions. External members will be appointed by Academic Board for a term of three years. The student representative is appointed for a term of one year, with the option for re-appointment. The senior academic leaders are appointed for a term of one year, with the option for re-appointment. 

1.4 Secretary

The Chair will appoint a Secretary.

1.5 Deputy Chair

The Chair may appoint a Deputy Chair at his or her discretion.

2. Terms of reference

Academic Board performs the functions as outlined in the AC Constitution. These broad functions require Academic Board to:

1. report to the Council on all issues and policy matters affecting AC’s academic organisation, quality, standards, ethics, practices, processes and resources;
2. develop and accredit new courses of study which have been approved for development by Council and which fall within the fields for which AC has self-accrediting authority;
3. approve course of study reviews;
4. make recommendation to the Council, for degree admission, those students who have satisfied their respective program requirements;
5. appoint subcommittees of Academic Board;
6. sustain the development, expertise and autonomy of faculty;
7. foster an AC research and scholarship culture;
8. develop, implement and review academic policies, initiatives and related academic requirements;
9. supervise the development of AC library and teaching resources;
10. oversee the academic proficiency, safety and wellbeing, and spiritual formation of the student body.

3. Meetings

3.1 Frequency of meetings

Academic Board will meet at least once a quarter, and at other times at the discretion of the Chair.

3.2 Quorum

The quorum for meetings will be at least fifty percent of voting members present in person (including via teleconferencing or videoconferencing).

3.3 Attendance by AC staff members

Academic Board can invite any staff member to attend meetings and may refer matters deemed to require attention directly to the appropriate staff member.

4. Reporting to Council

The Chair will include in his/her quarterly report to Council major decisions and outcomes from Academic Board meetings held during the preceding quarter.

5. Sub-committees of Academic Board

Academic Board may delegate any of its powers or functions to subcommittees or advisory boards. The Chairs of each subcommittee are appointed by Academic Board on an annual basis. The current Academic Board subcommittees are:

Learning and Teaching Committee

Chair: Appointed by Academic Board

Membership: A minimum of three faculty (excluding Chair) and one external representative as appointed by Academic Board. LTC may also recommend other members to Academic Board for appointment as required.

Function: Carry out the work of Academic Board in the following areas:

• student assessment standards, policies, guidelines, practices, comparisons, evaluation of internal monitoring and external moderation;
• good practice, review and improvement in pedagogy;
• professional development of faculty in learning and teaching related areas, fostering of academic scholarship activities and overseeing the mentoring of new faculty;
• review of new and revised subject outlines;
• ensuring currency of Faculty Register;
• other matters as referred by Academic Board concerning program quality, curriculum standards, academic integrity and misconduct and related issues;
• other tasks as guided by the AC Learning and Teaching Plan.

Learning and Teaching Committee may appoint ad hoc specialist subcommittees as required.

Internal Monitoring of Grades Committee (IMGC)

Chair: Appointed by LTC

Membership: Head of School or their delegate, and relevant faculty and administrators

Function: IMGC is a sub-committee of LTC that convenes at the end of each semester to review grades across all subjects delivered in that teaching period, to assure the validity and reliability of assessment. The duties and parameters of IMGC are outlined in the Higher Education Monitoring and Moderation of Grades Policy.

Research Committee

Chair: Appointed by Academic Board

Membership: A minimum of three faculty (excluding Chair) and one external representative appointed by Academic Board.

Function: Carry out the work of Academic Board in the following areas:

• fostering a vibrant and productive research culture at AC;
• exploring opportunities for research collaboration with external organisations;
• supporting research active faculty to produce high quality published research;
• encouraging faculty, Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidates and postgraduate students to participate in academic networks and conferences;
• developing and supporting proposals to funding sources for research funding;
• ensuring appropriate HDR research supervision training;
• appointing external examiners of HDR theses;
• approving major changes to HDR theses after examination, if required;
• providing direction for AC’s research centres, journal and scholarship publications, where appropriate;
• measuring and reporting on research outputs and academic scholarship activities;
• other tasks as guided by the AC Research Plan.

HDR Examinations Advisory Committee

Chair: Appointed by Research Committee

Membership: at least one senior academic (excluding Chair) and one relevant discipline expert as appointed by Research Committee.

Function: HDR Examinations Advisory Committee (EAC) is an ad-hoc committee of Research Committee that is convened, if required, as outlined in the HDR Thesis Examination Policy.

Quality Assurance Committee (QAC)

Chair: Appointed by Academic Board

Membership: Administrative staff and faculty representatives (excluding Chair) as appointed by Academic Board.

Function: Carry out the work of Academic Board in the following areas:

• monitoring of academic quality and standards;
• monitoring and co-ordinating academic reporting and other quality assurance and compliance activities, as required;
• monitoring the quality and compliance of HE & VET Third Party Arrangements and LOTE.

The QAC is advised by a Student Affairs Committee (SAC) which is a subcommittee of the QAC.

Student Affairs Committee (SAC)

Chair: Appointed by QAC

Membership:  Program Directors (not including Chair) and other staff as appointed by QAC.

Function: addresses student academic matters, including but not limited to student late withdrawal requests, international student matters, appeals for continuation of study and appeals of academic integrity breaches.

• SAC advises QAC of any other student procedural concerns as raised by Program Directors or equivalent.
• SAC provides a report to QAC at each scheduled QAC meeting.

Human Research Ethics Committee

Chair: Appointed by Academic Board

Membership: Constituted as per Australian national guidelines on research involving human participants.

Function: Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is a committee of the Academic Board that is convened to evaluate research proposals involving AC faculty, HDR candidates and coursework students or other AC projects involving human participants that are not classified as "negligible risk." The duties and parameters of the HREC are outlined in the Research Ethics Policy and the Research Ethics Handbook.

• HREC reports annually to the Academic Board.

Accreditation Committee

Chair: Appointed by Academic Board

Membership: Minimum four members (excluding Chair) appointed by Academic Board.

Function: Carry out the work of Academic Board in the following areas:

• monitoring changes and developments in the field of vocational and higher education and in government educational policy;
• overseeing design and development of new courses of study;
• overseeing course of study review processes;
• supervision and co-ordination of new delivery sites or changes to existing delivery sites;
• appointment of Course Development Committees (CDC) and Course Review Committees (CRC);
• ensuring community engagement and social responsibility are included in course development and review processes;
• other responsibilities related to government or professional accreditation or registration as required.

Course Development Committee (CDC)

Chair: Appointed by Accreditation Committee

Membership: in addition to relevant AC faculty, at least one external expert in the field.

Function: CDC is an ad-hoc committee of the Accreditation Committee that is convened to design and develop new courses. The duties and parameters of CDC are outlined in the Course of Study Design and Development Policy.

Course Review Committee (CRC)

Chair: Appointed by Accreditation Committee

Membership: in addition to relevant AC faculty, at least one external expert in the field.

Function: CRC is an ad-hoc committee of the Accreditation Committee that is convened to review current courses. The duties and parameters of CRC are outlined in the Course of Study Review Policy.

 

The Accreditation Committee may also appoint ad hoc specialist subcommittees or advisory groups (e.g. Australian Indigenous Advisory Group) or commission external expert reviews to assist in its role.

Responsible for implementation

Chair, Academic Board

Key stakeholders

Whole of AC

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Procedures

Academic Board Terms of Reference Procedures

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