TEQSA’s new Higher Education Integrity Unit is continuing to take shape, with the appointment of Dr Helen Gniel as the unit’s new director. 

Dr Gniel brings a wealth of experience to the role following a 20 year career in Australia's higher education sector as a scientist, academic, and quality assurance professional. 

Since 2018, Dr Gniel has served as the Senior Advisor, Quality and Standards at Monash University. Prior to her appointment at Monash, Dr Gniel worked as a Senior Assessment Manager at TEQSA and an academic at the Australian National University.

Dr Gniel said she was looking forward to continuing her work with Australia's independent quality assurance agency for higher education. 

"TEQSA has an important and valued role in Australia's higher education sector, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with providers and across government to ensure the integrity of Australia's world-class higher education sector," she said.

Dr Gniel will commence at TEQSA in January 2021.

A new report from TEQSA has outlined the experiences of Australian higher education students during the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Foundations for good practice: The student experience of online learning in Australian higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic report was based on a thematic analysis of summaries of student experience surveys conducted by 118 Australian higher education providers in the first half of 2020.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders said the report showed students had identified positives and negatives about the switch to online modes of delivery.

“Our analysis showed students were genuinely understanding and appreciative of efforts by providers and academics to rapidly switch to online learning at the start of the pandemic.  A significant number were also positive about the increased flexibility online study offered, the level of online support offered by institutions and technology making it easier for students to learn,” Professor Saunders said.

“However, students did also raise several concerns including a reduction in interactions with academics and peers, IT issues, assessment changes, feelings of isolation and reduced motivation and difficulty with the translation of some subject areas to online delivery.

“TEQSA’s analysis also found that a number of students, particularly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, reported they were affected by the closure of campus libraries as their home was not a conducive environment for study.”

Professor Saunders said TEQSA would continue to work with Australia’s higher education sector to assure the quality of the online student experience as campuses gradually re-opened.

“Most providers have already acted upon the findings of these surveys at an institutional level, and TEQSA will continue to share learnings and good practice resources around the online student experience with the sector,” Professor Saunders said.

Professor Saunders thanked the 118 providers that shared their summaries of student experience surveys with TEQSA, and Dr Lin Martin AO for her work on the report. 

The full report is available on the TEQSA website, along with a range of Online Learning Good Practice resources for higher education providers.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012

TEQSA has welcomed the appointment of Emeritus Professor Peter Coaldrake AO as TEQSA’s next Chief Commissioner.

Professor Coaldrake’s appointment was announced earlier today by Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan MP.

Professor Coaldrake has a distinguished record in higher education, having served as Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) from 2003 to 2017. 

A dual Fulbright scholar, he is also a former chair of both Universities Australia and the governing board of the OECD’s then higher education group IMHE.  

In October 2018 Professor Coaldrake was appointed by the Education Minister to conduct a review into the Higher Education Provider Category Standards.

In June this year, he was appointed to the TEQSA Commission, where his extensive leadership experience and comprehensive understanding of Australia’s higher education sector, quality assurance and regulatory standards has greatly supported TEQSA’s work.

TEQSA CEO Alistair Maclean congratulated Professor Coaldrake on his appointment.

“I welcome the appointment of Professor Coaldrake as TEQSA’s next Chief Commissioner, and look forward to working with him to ensure TEQSA continues to be an effective regulator that upholds the quality of higher education and protects student interests,” Mr Maclean said.

“On behalf of TEQSA, I would like to acknowledge and thank our retiring Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders AO for his leadership and many contributions to TEQSA, Australian and international higher education during his time as TEQSA Chief Commissioner.”

Professor Coaldrake will commence as TEQSA’s Chief Commissioner on 1 March 2021.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012

Australia’s Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, has officially launched TEQSA’s new Academic Integrity Toolkit.

The Minister launched the new resource, which was developed with $150,000 in funding from the Australian Government, during an academic integrity webinar attended by more than 500 people from across the sector earlier today.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders, who also spoke at the launch event, noted the toolkit was a key part of TEQSA’s ongoing approach to engaging with the sector to support academic integrity.

“TEQSA considers academic integrity a key issue, recognising that breaches of academic integrity have broad and serious implications, in addition to the risks to the reputation of Australian higher education,” Professor Saunders said.

“The development of good practice in maintaining academic integrity remains a key focus for TEQSA and this new toolkit, with its strong focus on supporting the sector to prevent, detect and respond to commercial academic cheating services, will complement our existing resources.”

The new toolkit includes a guide to substantiating when contract cheating occurs, benchmarking tools, advice on policy and case studies from Australian higher education providers.

It was developed following a series of workshops in late 2019 and the sector was also consulted through the beta-release of the toolkit in June.

Professor Saunders also thanked the project team, comprising the late Professor Tracey Bretag from the University of South Australia, Dr Guy Curtis from the University of Western Australia, Dr Margot McNeill from the International College of Management Sydney and Dr Christine Slade from the University of Queensland, for their work.

• Visit the Academic Integrity Toolkit
• View the Academic Integrity Toolkit launch webinar video recording (opens in YouTube)

A new TEQSA report has found most Australian higher education providers have taken steps to improve the transparency of admissions information for prospective students.

TEQSA evaluated admissions information at 28 universities and 36 independent higher education providers that offer courses to Australian domestic students.

Overall, TEQSA found that there have been improvements in the transparency of admissions information, with 92 per cent of sampled providers having implemented changes to their admissions information.

The improvements follow recommendations from the Higher Education Standards Panel and agreement by the sector-wide Implementation Working Group that aim to provide prospective domestic undergraduate students with easily accessible, high-quality admissions information that allows them to compare both providers and courses to make informed choices.

TEQSA also identified several areas for further improvement within the sector. These include:

• Providers needing to ensure that ATAR profiles are up-to-date.
• The types of ATAR adjustment factors should be detailed more clearly and consistently.
• Greater quality, consistency, and clarity of admissions information for the four applicant groups (Higher Education Study, Vocational Education and Training, Recent Secondary Education, and Work Life Experience).
• The availability of course level admissions information on credit transfer, recognition of prior learning and advanced credit can be improved.

TEQSA Chief Executive Officer Alistair Maclean welcomed the sector’s work to improve the transparency of admissions information, but noted it was essential providers continued to focus on further improvements.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the need for clear and transparent information, with the increased demand from domestic school leavers for tertiary education and providers offering different entry options for students whose final year of schooling has been disrupted,” Mr Maclean said. 

“It is essential that transparent admissions information is made available for prospective students, and TEQSA encourages higher education institutions to make use of resources such as the Good Practice Note and checklist for providers available on our website.”

The Improving the transparency of higher education admissions report was developed by TEQSA as part of the sector-led Admissions Transparency Implementation Working Group (IWG)’s final implementation plan.

The report is based on a summative evaluation of admission transparency actions by providers against the Higher Education Panel’s admissions transparency recommendations and the IWG’s Phase Two Common Terminology and Information Sets.

TEQSA reported the results to the Minister for Education and presented the report at the Higher Education Standards Panel meeting in September 2020.

Further information

• Improving the transparency of higher education admissions report
• Admissions transparency

Every year, the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) holds an International Day of Action against Contract Cheating (IDoA). 

This year’s IDoA is on Wednesday 21 October 2020 and ICAI is hosting Twenty in 20 – Sharing and Conversation about Contract Cheating, a series of 20 live feed events from across the globe over 20 hours involving students, institutions, higher education institutions, and quality assurance agencies.

TEQSA is delighted to be participating in this international event by hosting a panel discussion on: 

A Window of Opportunity: COVID and Contract Cheating – an Australian approach

When: Wednesday 21 October at 2.00pm (Melbourne time)

Panellists:

Rosemary Marcon, Manager, Executive Office, TEQSA
Greg Simmons, Director, Policy and Analysis Group, TEQSA
Karen Treloar, Director, Engagement Group, TEQSA

• Please register online

TEQSA recently finalised its compliance assessment of Murdoch University (Murdoch) under section 59 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act). 

The compliance assessment focused on Murdoch’s international student admissions and relevant English language proficiency requirements with reference to the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards).

TEQSA found that Murdoch had been at risk of non-compliance due to an inconsistent application of its own Admissions practices, which resulted in the admission of some international students (in 2018) who were ill-equipped to progress through their course of study. 

TEQSA is satisfied that Murdoch responded appropriately in addressing these issues, having:

• identified the causal and contributing factors that resulted in the admission of this cohort in 2018, and having implemented comprehensive changes to mitigate future risks
• subsequently demonstrated continuous improvement in relation to its international admissions practices in 2019 and 2020
• ensured the international students impacted were adequately supported.

The finalisation of this compliance assessment is distinct from a renewal of registration application. 

TEQSA has made this statement in light of the general public interest in the matters covered by the assessment. This disclosure is made under s196 of the TEQSA Act.

The Minister for Education the Hon. Dan Tehan MP has announced the appointment of Alistair Maclean as TEQSA’s new CEO.

Mr Maclean brings extensive public and private sector leadership experience to TEQSA, as well as strong skills in international engagement and negotiations developed during his 25 years working as a diplomat and advisor.

Prior to his appointment at TEQSA, Mr Maclean was the inaugural CEO of Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) from 2013-20, where he was responsible for the management of IBAC’s activities and functions. From 2008-13, he was General Manager (External Affairs) with PanAust Ltd, an ASX-listed gold and copper producer.

Mr Maclean was previously an Australian diplomat, serving as Ambassador to Laos from 2004-07, with prior postings to Washington DC and Bangkok. In between, he fulfilled various roles in Canberra, including as a senior advisor to the Prime Minister.

Mr Maclean will commence with TEQSA on 1 September 2020.