Te Komiti Whakahaere Ako
Academic Administration Committee
_____________________________________________
Ngā āmiki | Minutes
Rā | Date
Monday, 24 July 2023
Wā | Time
1.00pm
Wāhi | Venue
Council Chamber, Level 6, Matariki
Tāngata i tae
S 9(2)(a) OIA
mai | Present
, Professor C Moran, S 9(2)(a)
OIA
Whakapāha
S 9(2)(a) OIA
| Apologies
,
Ērā atu i
S 9(2)(a) OIA
tae mai | In
attendance
.
1.
WELCOME
The Acting Chair opened the meeting in te reo Māori and apologies were noted.
2.
CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING ON 26 JUNE 2023
Moved by the Chair:
That, the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2023 are a true and accurate record.
Carried
3.
MATTERS ARISING
The Acting Chair thanked all those involved in the Audit and noted the process was considered a
success. The Audit Panel noted their appreciation of the process and the openness and frankness of
those they met with. The draft preliminary report is positive with no major areas of concern being
raised.
The Moderation Policy for the Faculty of Education that was approved at a previous AAC had not
gone through the appropriate approvals before being put on the AAC agenda. This will come back to
AAC at some stage, after being considered by the Education Faculty Board and Learning and
Teaching Committee.
S 9(2)(a) OIA
raised the point that the processes within Examiner’s meetings and
the role of the Associate Dean Academic in these meetings needs to be discussed due to the
inconsistent practices across Departments/Schools. This was noted as a point of discussion for the
next Associate Dean Academic’s meeting.
4.
BUSINESS FROM THE ACTING CHAIR
The Acting Chair shared that CUAP would be trialling three rounds of CUAP in 2024. The first round
would be in March which would allow for new or changed qualifications to be taught from semester 2
of 2024. This update was only received earlier today so more information from Academic Quality on
deadlines to utilise this new round will follow.
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Professor Moran gave an update on CUAP Round 1 2023, all University of Canterbury proposals
have been approved.
5.
GRADUATING YEAR REVIEWS
5.1 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts
S 9(2)(a) OIA
was welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made. S 9(2)(a)
gave a short summary of the Panel Report, noting that the Panel had OIA
representatives from School of Music, the Faculty of Arts, a graduated student and an external
stakeholder. The moderation reports and appendices provided were helpful and demonstrated that
year by year any issues were being handled well. S 9(2)(a) OIA
noted that the
recommendations section is more areas in which to enhance or explore and he finally noted that the
S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
are an area of ongoing development.
S 9(2)(a) commended the Panel Chair for a succinct report. The Review Process section of the
repo rt should be amended to describe the process the review panel went through, and reference
should be made to the dashboard data provided. The Graduate Profile and the Grade Distribution
Table should be completed in the appendix. Student names should be redacted for privacy. These
edits will be actioned prior submitting the report to Academic Board.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Graduating Year Review for the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts
(Honours), and Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts be approved subject to editorial changes
and forwarded to Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
5.2 Master of Business Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration
S 9(2)(a) OIA
was welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made. S 9(2)(a)
gave a short summary of the Panel Report, noting that these qualifications w
OIA ere first
offered in 1983 and recently underwent a review to become more responsive and connected to
industry. They are cross-disciplinary and much of the coherence comes from the fact they are co-
taught between academic and industry leads. They are quite unusual in that they have been heavily
reviewed, AMBA reviewed the degree in 2020 and 2023, and EQUIS reviewed the degree in 2022
and have been successfully reviewed with accrediting bodies.
S 9(2)(a) OIA
queried if Table A should be edited to reflect the qualifications as
they were originally approved. It was agreed that the two new courses should be removed from this
table and a note added. The Graduate Profile and the Grade Distribution Table should be completed
in the appendix.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Graduating Year Review for the Master of Business Administration and Postgraduate
Diploma in Business Administration be approved subject to editorial changes and forwarded
to Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
5.3 Postgraduate Diploma in Information Systems and Technology and Postgraduate
Certificate in Information Systems and Technology
S 9(2)
was welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made
S 9(2)
gave a s
ummary of the Panel Report, commenting that the qualifications wereS 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA (a)
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S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
S 9(2)(a) OIA
S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
S 9(2)(a) OIA noted that the Faculty of Science would be open to supporting the promotion of this
programme.
The committee asked for the numbers of enrolments in the courses themselves to be added to the
report S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
The Graduate Profile and the Grade Distribution Table should be
completed in the appendix.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Graduating Year Review for the Postgraduate Diploma in Information Systems and
Technology and Postgraduate Certificate in Information Systems and Technology be
approved subject to editorial changes and forwarded to Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
Professor Becker joined the meeting.
5.4 Bachelor of Product Design
S 9(2)(a) OIA was welcomed to the meeting, in place of the Panel Chair S 9(2)(a) OIA
, and introductions were made. S 9(2)(a) OIA gave a summary of the Panel Report, noting
S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
S 9(2)(a) commented that some edits were needed for consistency on the UC website and noted
that his p
eer completed this qualification and was snapped up for a job prior to finishing the degree.
The committee asked for a comment to be added to the Programme Evaluation section to explain the
lack of recommendations. The Graduate Profile and the Grade Distribution Table should be
completed in the appendix.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Graduating Year Review for the Bachelor of Product Design be approved subject to
editorial changes and forwarded to Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
5.5 Master of Engineering Studies (Renewable Energy)
The Panel Chair S 9(2)(a) OIA
was out of the country, S 9(2)(a) OIA
presented this
review and gave a summary of the Panel Report. S 9(2)(a) OIA
commented that this is a taught
masters. The Master of Engineering Studies now has three endorsements with Renewable Energy
being one. The qualification is undergoing regulation changes to provide clarity and avoid
misinterpretation. Feedback has been toS 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
S 9(2)(a) noted the Panel Report exceeded the page limit and would need edited. S 9(2)(a) OIA also
noted that the change to core courses went through in 2020 during COVID and it went from
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Engineering Faculty Board to Academic Board, therefore it has been approved but skipped AAC in
the confusion of that time. This comment can be amended in the Panel Report.
The committee asked for the numbers of enrolments in the courses themselves to be added to the
report S 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA
Minor correction needed to page 53 it should state S 9(2) and S
and some typos need fixing.
9(
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Graduating Year Review for the Master of Engineering Studies (Renewable Energy)
be approved subject to editorial changes and forwarded to Academic Board, Council and
CUAP.
Carried
S 9(2)(a) OIA
thanked the GYR Panels and the Faculties for completing these Graduating Year
Reviews early so edits and refinements can be made prior to submitting to CUAP for scrutineering.
6.
MID-YEAR EXAMS REPORT 2023
S 9(2)(a) OIA and S 9(2)(a) were welcomed to the meeting and introductions were made. A
summary of the report w
as given noting that the exam requests for Semester 1 2023 coincided with
significant media coverage of ChatGPT which seems to have influenced a swing to invigilated
assessment, and on campus on computer exams. There was also a large increase in students
needing alternative arrangements. A number of departments and course coordinators approved these
despite students not meeting the requirements. It was emphasised that only the Exams Office should
be approving special arrangements. An area of difficulty identified by the Exams Office was the
changes to the timetable after its release, such as room changes and last-minute exams.
S 9(2)(a) OIA
noted this was a great report and would like to see such reports
regularly and queried how many of the students requesting alternative arrangements were online
offshore. S 9(2)(a) responded that none were online offshore students as they were categorised
differently and
thus not included in this count.
It was noted that consistent terminology was needed surrounding mid-semester tests, exams, etc.
Push back is needed to those scheduling large tests on the last day of term and not in the exam
period.
A process is needed to have online exams proofread and checked by the Future Learning and
Development Team. Some tests/exams are requiring things that cannot be supported in Learn or by
process rules. An example being students needing to take pictures of their working and uploading but
students are not allowed their phones so this is not possible. These situations cause stress for
students and supervisors. Blended Learning are in support of checking of online exams as it allows
them to solve problems pre-emptively and design a consistent experience. The committee responded
that a template for online exam design would also be helpful.
The short timeframe for exam period and marking was noted. There was general support for finding a
solution to extend assessment period and a workshop was suggested to consider ways to mitigate
this stress to students and staff. Options mentioned were S 9(2)(g)(i) OIA
A
concern was noted for student wellbeing when receiving exam results on Fridays with no access to
support services.
S 9(2)(a)
thanked the Exams Office for this report and all their work commenting that student
feed back is that the Saturday Exam on Matariki weekend should be reconsidered as should exams
after 5pm.
S 9(2)(a) OIA
departed the meeting.
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The committee agreed that for Semester 2 online exams will need to undergo a process for
checking/approval and templates will be provided. It was also agreed that distance students should
not be expected to come to campus for exams if they are in Christchurch.
This report will be sent to Learning and Teaching Committee for further discussion and a workshop
will be organised to discuss options for improving the timeframes surrounding mid-year exams.
7.
REPORTS TO CUAP
7.1 Deletion of Master of Engineering in Transportation
S 9(2)(a) OIA
introduced this report noting that the qualification has been taught out and replaced
by the Master of Engineering with an endorsement in Transportation.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Deletion of Master of Engineering in Transportation be approved subject to editorial
changes and forwarded to Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
7.2 Deletion of the endorsements in the Master of Civil Engineering: Smart Infrastructure and
Digital Civil Engineering
S 9(2)(a) OIA
introduced this report noting that a suite of endorsements were introduced to the
Master of Civil Engineering in 2019, however with the arrival of COVID resources were lost and these
were put on pause. There is no current plan to offer these so they will be deleted and if the Faculty of
Engineering wishes to bring these back in the future they will be redeveloped.
Moved by the Acting Chair:
That the Deletion of endorsements in the Master of Civil Engineering: Smart Infrastructure
and Digital Civil Engineering be approved subject to editorial changes and forwarded to
Academic Board, Council and CUAP.
Carried
8.
HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING: REQUEST TO CREATE NEW COURSE CODE ENHE
S 9(2)(a) OIA
introduced this memo. Humanitarian Engineering is an add on, students take
courses throughout their undergraduate degree and there is then a capstone qualification of the
Postgraduate Diploma in Humanitarian Engineering. The Programme administrators and coordinators
would like to introduce the course code of ENHE to enable them to better identify students in this
programme. This is expected to ad clarification for both staff and students. Approximately three
courses are expected, two currently under development.
S 9(2)(a) commented that with only three courses there is not a significant demand for this course
code
but as it will be associated with a specific qualification, the Postgraduate Diploma in
Humanitarian Engineering he could see the benefit.
The committee was in support of the introduction of the new course code ENHE.
9.
REQUEST TO CREATE SOME 7.5 ELECTIVE COURSES IN THE FINAL YEAR OF THE
CHEMICAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING DEGREE
This item of business will be deferred to the next meeting and S 9(2)(a) will contactS 9(2)(a) OIA
directly with some questions regarding this.
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10.
GENERAL BUSINESS
There were no items of General Business.
11.
SECTION B
Item 11.25 Proposal to ensure that the regulations for qualifications with the Psychology major
or requiring a Psychology major to enrol in them are amended to include changes to the
course codes at 300 level and the introduction of a new 100-level course – BA, BA(Hons), BSc,
BSc(Hons), PGDipClinPsyc, PGDipSc, MSc
This proposal was withdrawn from consideration by S 9(2)(a) OIA .
Item 11.13 Proposal to change the requirement for a Finance Minor within the BCom
This was brought forward from Section B by S 9(2)(a) as the number of points required for the minor
as too low to meet CUAP regulations. This will be
discussed between S 9(2)(a) OIA
and the department.
Item 11.17 Proposal to correct inconsistencies in the MBA, MBIS, MPA, PGDip Business and
PGCert Business
This was brought forward from Section B by S 9(2)(a) to query the removal of the English Language
requirement. The justification should be edited to r
eflect why this is no longer needed.
Moved by the Chair:
That subject to changes the proposal to correct inconsistencies in the MBA, MBIS, MPA, PGDip
Business and PGCert Business be approved and forwarded to Academic Board.
Carried
Items 11.21 Proposal to align the regulations for the BSc Finance major with the BCom
Finance major and
11.22 Proposal to add required courses at 200 and 300 level for the BSc Finance major
These were brought forward from Section B byS 9(2)(a) as the titles appear incorrect, clarification
needed as to whether referring to Finance or Statist
ics.
Moved by the Chair:
That subject to changes the proposal to align the regulations for the BSc Finance major with
the BCom Finance major and the proposal to add required courses at 200 and 300 level for the
BSc Statistics major be approved and forwarded to Academic Board.
Carried
Moved by the Chair:
That the remaining Regulations, One Year on Reports, Scholarships and Prizes reports in
Section B were received and approved.
Carried
The meeting closed at 3pm
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