Chapter 5 - Management, Delivery and Monitoring

Management, Delivery and Monitoring

New Systems and Procedures

Faculties should focus on safeguarding the student experience for partnership students and developing procedures that facilitate their success.
As well as programme development and approval as detailed in section 4.6 above, particular consideration will be need to be given to:

Admissions arrangements	Entry criteria, appplication, offers and acceptances, criminal record checks, visas, etc.
Registration processes	UCAS? Direct to the College or via Partner? How is registration information shared?
Financial arrangements	Are there any tutition fee rate discounts? Do students pay fees to the University or the partner? For PGR: Who covers research costs, registration fees, expenses?
Student records	Transcript arrangements, credit transfer (UG/PGT), specific requirements for the award certificates, etc.
Information flow between the partners	When are details of student numbers and names known? HESA data?
Additional training or induction required	Where gaps in students’ academic knowledge or skills may be apparent.
Student orientation	Support provided, mentors, requirements to help the students to adjust to their new environment including suitable accommodation, handbooks, etc.
Student representation	How partnership students will give feedback e.g. a specific Student Staff Liaison Commiittee or PGR Liaison Forum?
Partnership monitoring arrangements (could be a Partnership Board)	Ongoing monitoring of partnership students and the operation of the partnership, annual assessment of student performance as a cohort, differentiation of partnership students from standard students to assess performance, etc.
For PGR: Thesis and viva arrangements	Will these need to deviate from standard processes? Please see Minimum compliance checklist for more information.
For PGR: Supervision arrangements and progress monitoring	Does the partner require progress monitoring or the completion of training courses (in addition to Exeter’s own supervision and upgrade requirements – see PGR Handbook)? How will this be recorded/ in what systems (e.g. MyPGR)?

Student Handbooks
1. A Student Handbook must be provided to all students at the start of each cohort and annually thereafter, including the set of information as described in the Code of Good Practice – Provision of Information by Colleges to Students. Handbooks may be electronic or in paper format. The rights and responsibilities of students and all partner institutions regarding student records, mentoring, complaints, appeals and disciplinary matters, must be clearly described. If a standard Handbook is used then any variations (e.g. for students undertaking a year abroad) must be clearly identified. The Faculty is responsible for ensuring these are produced. These are sometimes also referred to as “information sheets”.
Partnership Boards (or equivalent)
1. For complex partnerships, a Partnership Board will be required. The Board is set up with each partner and oversees all programmes delivered through that partnership. They are responsible for the strategic management and ongoing quality assurance monitoring of the partnership.
2. Membership of the Board consists of representatives from each institution in the partnership. Specific staff are identified by Faculty and Terms of Reference agreed for each Board, bearing in mind the complexity and level of risk associated with the partnership. The level of involvement of the Associate Dean for Taught Students or the Dean of Graduate Research, and the Taught or PGR-focused Academic Partnerships teams will be determined according to level of risk and nature of the partnership. The Board normally meets once or twice per year (may be virtual, via video conferencing) and specific details are normally included in the signed Legal Agreement.
3. The Partnership Board is responsible for the management of the relationship, academic provision and student experience, which may include, for example:
  1. quality assurance of the partnership;
  2. oversight of the programme(s) including monitoring and evaluation;
  3. setting entry criteria for students;
  4. admissions;
  5. marketing;
  6. student progression and attainment;
  7. communication to the students and monitoring student feedback;
  8. ensuring resources and facilities are available and appropriate.
4. Each Partnership Board reviews the formal Agreement once per year and this is a standing item on the agenda. Reports and minutes from Partnership Boards should be submitted to the Academic Partnerships team (UG/PGT), or PGR Partnerships Team.
5. The QST Academic Partnerships Teams (UG/PGT and PGR) coordinates UK/domestic Partnership Boards. International Partnership Boards are coordinated by the Global Partnerships Team and/or Doctoral College for PGR.
Programme Monitoring
1. Faculties are responsible for monitoring partnership provision in the same way that they monitor their standard provision. Monitoring therefore should be undertaken using normal procedures, e.g. Quality Review, Annual Module Review (AMR) - taught, Annual Monitoring Review (AMR) - research, etc., or their equivalents, as well as monitoring via the Partnership Board where relevant.
Student Representation and Feedback
1. The University is responsible for safeguarding the student experience of all students involved in provision that contributes towards a University award, whether based at one of the University’s campuses or offered elsewhere or via another organisation or institution. This must be monitored through:
  1. Partnership Boards where relevant;
  2. Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs) or PGR Liaison Forum;
  3. other feedback and evaluation mechanisms (e.g. Accelerate system or other survey tools);
  4. representation in meetings and on committees.
External Examiners– Taught Programmes (UG/PGT).
1. In accordance with standard University procedures, partnership programmes must be reviewed by an External Examiner. Where the partnership provision is similar to, or the same as, University of Exeter provision, then normally the same External Examiner should be invited to review the partnership provision alongside the standard provision. If the partnership element is sufficiently different, or if the existing External Examiner is not available to consider the partnership provision, then a further External Examiner must be appointed.
2. Each formal partnership agreement must define the appointment process for External Examiners if this is different to the University’s standard procedure.
3. For full information, please see the TQA Manual External Examining Handbook.
External Examiners - Research Programmes (PGR)
1. For PGR Partnerships for non-taught programmes, separate consideration should be given to the make-up of any examination board for the examination of the student’s thesis, via Viva. Please contact PGR Quality and Standards and the Doctoral College for more information. http://as.exeter.ac.uk/academic-policy-standards/tqa-manual/pgr/pgrexaminations/
Specific Monitoring Requirements for Validation Partnerships
1. Validation partnerships are those where the University of Exeter has delegated delivery of a programme to another organisation, having evaluated and deemed the programme to be of an equivalent standard and quality as its own provision.
2. Delegation of delivery means that there are specific requirements for monitoring (such as those listed in 5.4) to ensure that these programmes are of an equivalent standard to those delivered at the University of Exeter. This includes those programmes that receive additional monitoring as they are a part of the University’s Ofsted rating, such as our PGCE.
3. These are usually only appropriate for taught programmes; not PGR.
Publicity and Marketing of Partnership Programmes
1. The requirements for the approval of promotional materials, publicity, and marketing are normally set out in the partnership agreement.
2. Publicity and marketing materials includes newspapers, journals, prospectuses, handbooks, websites and e-documents, with reference to:
  1. The logo of the University of Exeter;
  2. Any programme or module delivered or validated by the University of Exeter;
  3. Any award made by the University of Exeter;
  4. The University of Exeter through job adverts.
3. Use of the logo or University name must only be used in relation to programmes validated by, or offered in conjunction with, the University of Exeter.
4. All publicity and marketing materials, whether external or internal to the partner institution, must be approved by the University of Exeter prior to their publication or general circulation.