Professional Accreditation

Overview

The primary purpose of professional accreditation is to ensure that graduates from specific undergraduate programs are professionally qualified and competent. The University also recognises that external accreditation of its programs by professional bodies is an important component of a quality assurance framework. During the process of professional accreditation a program is assessed against predetermined criteria within certain specified categories (for example, objectives, curriculum content, resourcing, staff profile), with the aim of reaching a conclusion about whether the program meets minimum standards set by the relevant accrediting body.

National and State Accreditation

In recent years there has been a strong tendency for state registration authorities and professional bodies to delegate their accreditation functions to national authorities. Most programs at the University requiring accreditation are accredited at the national level. Nursing, however, is accredited at the state level.

Regulated and Non-regulated Professions

Professional accreditation can either be regulated or non-regulated. Regulation is enforced by government on behalf of the public in occupations where public safety needs to be ensured. Professions such as architecture, nursing, medicine, and psychology are regulated whereas engineering, accountancy and journalism are unregulated. In regulated professions, accreditation authorities are established by state or federal government but responsibility for operational procedures is delegated in large part to members of the profession. In unregulated professions, national professional associations themselves may establish an accreditation function as part of their wider professional services and operations. In a profession such as engineering, accreditation involves an evaluation of undergraduate programs offered by universities. However, such accreditation, unlike accreditation in regulated professions, is at the request of the individual university and is not obligatory.

Accreditation and Registration

Accreditation and Registration are two separate and different processes. The purpose of Accreditation is to ensure that a program of study meets essential criteria in the training and education of its graduates in particular fields. Registration, however, is the licensing of the individual graduate to work as a professional. Most professional areas require both accreditation and registration but some such as teaching have registration but do not require accreditation of teaching education programs.

Benefits of Accreditation

Professional accreditation provides programs conducted by the University with the following benefits:

• recognition by employers of graduates;
• adherence to a code of ethics;
• independent quality assurance:
• currency of curriculum content and standards;
• a standard for national and international comparison;
• employment mobility for graduates.

Value of National Accreditation

• Ensures compliance with national guidelines and standards;
• Ensures nationally compatible and comparable registration standards and qualifications;
• Promotes transparency, visibility and ongoing quality enhancement;
• Promotes collaboration with universities to ensure on-going improvements to programs and response to new developments;
• Promotes collaboration with accreditation systems in other countries (mutual recognition). Promotion of greater transnational consistency;
• Audits workforce supply and demand with the aim of advising on requirements for places in universities.

Professional Accreditation at the University of Adelaide

The professional accreditation of programs offered by the University is conducted by a variety of accrediting bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, Engineers Australia and the Australian Medical Council. The University has no influence over the accreditation process and fully recognises the independence of the accrediting bodies. However, the University has established certain procedural practices to ensure that all instances of accreditation are recorded, that a schedule of impending accreditations is maintained and that issues identified through accreditation are formally addressed by the University.

The University also recognises that reports by accrediting bodies are a valuable source of information about the quality of programs offered by the University. This information is of interest to external organisations such as TEQSA and issues identified during an accreditation are relevant to program reviews and annual monitoring. For these reasons copies of all reports provided by professional accreditation bodies and any associated documentation are to be held centrally within the University.

In order to facilitate this process, the University has adopted the following principles:

Principles

The University:

1. recognises the independence of all organisations conducting the professional accreditation of a program.
2. supports the seeking of professional accreditation of a program where and whenever such accreditation improves the quality of a program and/or enhances the employment opportunities of graduates.
3. requires that all issues identified through professional accreditation are reported the appropriate University committee(s).
4. is to maintain a schedule of all impending professional accreditations.
5. is to maintain a record of all previous accreditations for a period of seven years.
6. requires that information obtained from professional accreditations is available for quality assurance purposes in program reviews and AUQA audits.
7. requires that issues identified through accreditation processes are addressed promptly and systematically.

Accreditation Procedures

The accreditation procedures used by the various professional bodies vary significantly. Some are very formal, involve lengthy site visits and require significant input by several staff members whereas others are less formal and involve limited staff input. Although the University has no control over the actual accreditation process of an individual professional body, the University requires that the following procedures are observed for all programs being accredited:

1. The Executive Dean in each faculty will confirm with the DVC &VP (A) during the second semester of all accreditations that will occur during the following academic year.
2. A schedule of accreditation over the next three years is to be maintained online by Learning and Quality Support.
3. Details of all accreditations conducted during the previous seven years will also be maintained on the Learning and Quality Support website.

Documentation

Documentation required by accrediting bodies will need to be prepared within the relevant school and the final draft approved by the Executive Dean and forwarded under the Vice-Chancellor's signature to the accrediting body. As part of the University's quality assurance processes, a copy of the draft accreditation submission is to be provided to the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic) and to the Director, Learning and Quality Support Unit for checking, at least two weeks prior to the planned sign-off by the Vice- Chancellor. This will ensure that senior management is fully aware of all accreditations.

Site Visits

Individual schools will coordinate site visits and meetings with school staff in accordance with the requirements of the accrediting body. Upon completion of the visit, the members of the accrediting body will meet with the Executive Dean and Vice-Chancellor to discuss major issues identified during the visit.

Responses

Upon completion of the accreditation process the accrediting body considers the information that it has collected and produces a report that identifies any issues that need attention by the University in order to satisfy the requirements for accreditation.

The relevant Executive Dean is to ensure that a response addressing these issues is forwarded to the accrediting body within 60 days or earlier if specified in the report. The Executive Dean is also to ensure that an implementation plan to resolve these is also developed and put into effect by the end of the following semester.

Copies of the report, the faculty's response and the implementation plan are to be forwarded by the Executive Dean to the DVC & VP (A), who will refer the documents to Academic Board through the University Learning Committee (ULC), in order that they are made aware of any University-wide issues identified through the accreditation process. The DVC & VP (A) will also ensure that all documentation relating to any accreditation undertaking is made available for the purpose of quality improvement and authorise the display of this information on the Learning and Quality Support website.

Responsibilities

In order to facilitate the accreditation process the University has identified the following responsibilities:

Responsibility of Learning and Quality Support

Through the DVC & VP (A) Learning and Quality Support will contact each Executive Dean during semester two in order to obtain details of all accreditations occurring during the following year.

Responsibility of the Executive Dean

The Executive Dean will oversee the accreditation process, which includes preparation of the accreditation submission, coordination of site visits and the lodging of copies of all correspondence, reports, implementation plans and accreditation certificates with the RMO. Furthermore, the Executive Dean will ensure that all submissions for professional accreditation have been provided to the Learning and Quality Support Unit at least two weeks prior to planned sign-off by the VC, that all submissions for professional accreditation are signed by the Vice-Chancellor, and that an exit interview occurs with the accrediting body and the Vice-Chancellor following a site visit.

Additional documentation such as the response to the report will be signed by the Executive Dean. In order to ensure that the University is fully informed of all accreditations and associated issues the Executive Dean will present through the DVC &VP (A) copies of the accreditation report, the response and any associated implementation plan to Academic Board through QEC.

Accreditation Process

The following checklist details the accreditation process at the University of Adelaide. You can also download the checklist in Microsoft Word format.

Action Required	Responsible Staff Member/Unit	Time Period	Task Complete
Through the Office of the DVC&VP(A), Learning & Quality Support is to contact each faculty annually for the purpose of identifying all accreditations scheduled for the following year	Learning & Quality Support	Second Semester
Preparation of Professional Accreditation submission	Executive Dean / Head of School	Semester prior to Accreditation period
Draft accreditation submission provided to the Director, Learning & Quality Support for checking, at least two weeks prior to the planned sign-off	Executive Dean	At least two weeks prior to VC sign-off
Submission forwarded to VC with draft covering letter for signature	Executive Dean	As per Schedule
Submission sent to accrediting body	Executive Dean	As per Schedule
Organise and host site visit	Executive Dean / Head of School	As per Schedule
Summary findings reported to VC by Accreditation team at end of site visit	Executive Dean	At time of visit
Upon receipt of Accreditation Report draft a Response and submit to Executive Dean	Executive Dean / Head of School	Within 60 days of receiving Report
Sign response and forward to accrediting body	Executive Dean	Within 60 days of receiving Report
Develop and implement a plan addressing all issues identified as a result of the Accreditation process	Executive Dean / Head of School	Within 6 months of receiving Report
Send a copy of the Accreditation Report, the Response and the Implementation Plan to the VC, DVC&VP(A), PVC(SE) and Learning & Quality Support	Executive Dean	Within 6 months of receiving Report
Present details of Accreditation Report and subsequent Implement Plan to Academic Board and QEC	DVC&VP(A)	Within 12 months of receiving Report
Ensure that Accreditation Reports are made available to Program Review Committees and to Audit Panels	DVC&VP(A)	At time of Review or Audit

Accreditation Reporting Schedules

Programs at the university are accredited by professional organisations. Such accreditation ensures that graduates of a program are professionally qualified and competent to work in their chosen vocation. It also serves as a quality measure for individual programs.

The individual professional organisations accredit programs for varying periods of time. Accreditation schedules for each of the University Faculties are detailed below. (Please note: to view reports a staff login is required.)

Also available to staff (login required) is a list of programs due for re-accreditation in the current year.

Useful References

The following references provide background information on Professional Accreditation in other Australian and International universities.

• Benchmarking by Accreditation (University of Sydney)
• Professional Accreditation and Audit (Melbourne University Private)
• Balancing Quality Agendas: Professional Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Health (Monash University)