Report of an Audit of

1
Report of an Audit of Central Queensland
UniversityAustralian Universities Quality
Agency (AUQA) 2006
2
Outline of Presentation

• Overview of the Audit
• Commendations, Affirmations, Recommendations
• Summary of Findings
• Practice
• Academic Board
• Progress Report
• Action Plan
• Discussion and Questions

3
Overview of the Audit

• Audit based on CQUs objectives and National
  Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes
• Full scope of CQU activities subject to audit
• Report relates to situation at end of audit
  (October 2005)

4
Outcomes

• 12 Commendations
• 4 Affirmations
• 19 Recommendations
• Affirmations and Recommendations will influence
  the ongoing tasks of building CQU and assuring
  quality across the organisation.

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Summary of Findings (1/4)

• A unique university
• Undergoing major organisational changes
• Relationship with C_MS
• Consistency of course delivery and student
  participation amongst best practice
• Commonality across teaching sites

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Summary of Findings (2/4)

• Improvement of Academic standards
• Junior academic staff profile
• Scholarly culture lacks depth
• Low entrance standards
• Expect a higher level of academic dynamism
• Academic Services area of good practice

7
Summary of Findings (3/4)

• Processes for consistency are tight,
  comprehensively implemented and effective
• Research of regional importance
• Generally low level of research activity
• Gap between Research and Teaching
• Particular attention for HR and Website
• University holds promise

8
Best/Good/Excellent/Innovative Practice

• Consistency of course delivery student
  participation
• Academic services
• Information literacy
• Use of Five Star Ratings for promotional material
• Audit model for offshore international student
  activities
• Floating collection policy
• IT Internal audit

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Mention of Academic Board

• Academic Governance, p12
• Planning Reporting, p20
• Teaching Learning, p23
• Advanced Standing, p26
• Curriculum Development Approval, p27
• Fast-Tracked Approval, p28
• Ombudsman, p39
• Ethics Approval, p 43

10
Progress Report

• Submitted to AUQA 18 months after release of
  audit report
• Indicate actions that have been taken and their
  effect
• Released in the public domain
• Included in scope for next AUQA audit.

11
Action Plan

• Relates to Affirmations and Recommendations
• Incorporates improvement suggestions from audit
  report
• Responsibility of VCE
• Linked to
• Strategic Plan 2006 2011
• Annual Operational Plan and Budget 2006
• Management Plans

12
Conclusion and Discussion

• Report is reasonably balanced
• AUQA does not rate or rank CQU
• Improvements have and will be made
• Opportunities for improvement need to be
  identified and implemented by Academic Board