Re-accreditation 23 November 2017

Renewal of course accreditation

Report on renewal of accreditation of four higher education courses of study offered by Harvest Bible College

TEQSA has renewed, under section 56 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), the accreditation of the following higher education courses of study offered by Harvest for a period of four years until 23 November 2021:

• Associate Degree of Ministry
• Bachelor of Arts (Ministry)
• Graduate Certificate in Theology
• Graduate Diploma in Theology

TEQSA has imposed, under section 53 of the TEQSA Act, five conditions on the accreditation of the courses

Condition 1:

Within six months of receiving the Notice of Decision, HBC must:

1. undertake a review of graduate attributes for the courses and revise those attributes to ensure that each one is focused on academic knowledge that can be assessed within the courses,
2. ensure that the review and revisions are considered and reviewed by the Academic Board, and
3. provide TEQSA with evidence of the review and revisions, as well as evidence of consideration and approval by the Academic Board.

Condition 2:

HBC's total student enrolments for the courses must not exceed official census figures as at 30 October 2017.

Condition 3:

HBC must not enrol any commencing online students in the courses until TEQSA notifies HBC that TEQSA is satisfied that the following issue has been resolved:

1. all students completing the courses online must have access to all the reading materials that are required to achieve the learning outcomes of the courses.

Condition 4:

On 31 December each year (commencing in 2018), HBC must provide to TEQSA:

1. a report on its online delivery of the courses for the past calendar year, which includes:
   
   1. online delivery framework
   2. student feedback
   3. course performance data (including student progression, attrition and course completion data), and
   4. benchmarking of data against other cohorts and other higher education providers.
2. evidence of the Academic Board's consideration of, and response to, the report.

Condition 5:

HBC must provide TEQSA

1. with a report, not later than 2 weeks prior to the commencement of each teaching period for the courses, which, in relation to each staff member at each location proposed to teach one or more units in one of the provider's higher education courses, describes:
   
   1. the highest qualification in the discipline of the course being taught
   2. the unit(s) proposed to be taught and/or assessed
   3. the professional experience held
   4. a summary of how the provider's "Guidelines for Determining the Equivalence of Professional Experience to Australian Qualifications Framework Levels" has been applied to that staff member.
   5. the professional development and training undertaken by that staff member in the previous 6 months.
2. Where a report ('report b') shows a substantial change in staffing compared with the previous report ('report a'), the provider must provide with 'report b' evidence of analysis, and action taken, in relation to the staffing profile.

Main reasons for the decision

The issues which led TEQSA to impose the conditions are:

a) graduate attributes are not focused on academic knowledge that can be assessed within the courses

b) students do not have access to the appropriate resources to enable them to achieve the expected learning outcomes, and staff have limited expertise in the design and delivery of online education

c) poor course performance data and minimal evidence that the provider monitors and acts upon this data.

TEQSA's assessment considered Harvest Bible College's arrangements for delivery at all Australian sites.