Implementing a Process for Measuring Student Support in the Faculty of Health Science

1. Implementing a Process for Measuring Student Support in the Faculty of Health Science Sara Booth, Justin Walls, Craig Zimitat, Ellen Ennever and Jo-Anne Kelder University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia

2. The overall HE student experience plays a critical role in student success • Student experience can be defined as; • ‘All experiences of facets of the university experienced by an individual student’ (Baird and Gordon, 2009) • Difficult to identify ‘the student experience’ as a single construct • Includes; pre-enrolment engagement, experience of first-year and subsequent years of study, graduate studies and graduate outcomes • How do HE providers know students are receiving a quality experience? • University Experience Survey (UES) • Australian Graduate Survey (AGS) • MyUniversity website • Development of performance measurement instruments • Higher Education Standards Framework (TEQSA) • A standard may be defined as; • ‘A specification or other precise criteria designed to be used consistently as a rule, guideline or definition of a level of performance or achievement’ (AUQA, 2007) • The Origin of Standards in HE

3. Domains Threshold Standards • HE Standards Framework • TEQSA will register and evaluate the performance of HE providers against the Higher Education Standards Framework • Increased transparency, accountability and monitoring of performance indicators and measures •  transparency informs student choice • Monitoring of standards improves student success and HE performance

4. Sector-wide standards projects: • Macquarie University: • DISSRTE-funded development of a Teaching Standards Framework and online tool (Sachs, J et al. 2012) • Proposes teaching standards and data collection frameworks • University of Melbourne: • Verification of standards project (Patterson, P et al.) • University of Sydney: • Assessing and assuring graduate learning outcomes: Principles and practices within and across the disciplines (Barrie, S et al. 2011) • Investigation of types of assessment tasks and assurance processes that provide evidence of student achievement • University of Western Sydney: • A sector-wide model for assuring final year subject and program achievement standards through inter-universitymoderation (Krause, KL and Scott, G 2011) • 11 universities across 11 disciplines • Inter-university peer review and moderation of coursework at unit and program level • Current Research in HE Standards

5. Discipline-specific initiatives: • Queensland University of Technology: • Navigating a pathway between the academic standards and a framework for authentic, collaborative, outcomes focusedthinking in Engineering Education (Boles, W) • University of Adelaide: • Harmonising higher education and professional quality assurance processes for the assessment of learning outcomes inhealth (O’Keefe, M) • University of Technology Sydney: • Curriculum renewal and inter-professional health education: Establishing capabilities, outcomes andstandards (Lee, A and Manidis, M) • Current Research in HE Standards

6. Australian HE Institutions developing and implementing a Standards Framework: • Charles Sturt University • The next steps: Defining standards in learning and teaching, research and professional engagement (Burnett, P, Chambers, R and Gorman, L 2008) • Monitoring and promoting progress towards achieving CSU standards (Chambers, R 2008) • Curtin University • Curriculum, Staff, Learning Environment, Students, Ethics, Equity and Social Justice • Macquarie University • Teaching, Learning Environment and Curriculum • RMIT • Academic Standards Framework • University of Canberra • Teaching Quality, Research Quality, Administration & Management Quality • University of South Australia • Institutional climate & Systems, Diversity & Inclusivity, Engagement & Learning Outcomes and Assessment • University of Western Sydney • Course Design, Support, Delivery and Impact • Implementation of Standards at the Institutional Level

7. UTAS Academic Standards Framework was approved by University Learning and Teaching Committee (UL&TC) in August 2011 • Academic Standards Sub-Committee was established to: • Develop the ASF • Ensure that the ASF aligns with current HE practices nationally and internationally • Ensure that the ASF aligns to TEQSA requirements • A comprehensive framework has been developed that encompasses 6 key dimensions • UTAS Academic Standards Framework (ASF)

8. Dimensions- The Student Support Dimension is currently being trialled in the Faculty of Health Science at UTAS • UTAS Academic Standards Framework (ASF)

9. Student Support Dimension: • Important component of overall student experience • Encompasses pre-enrolment, undergraduate and graduate studies and graduate outcomes • Composed of 14 standards • Indicators and performance measures of each standard have been developed based on their capacity to measure and improve practice • ASF Student Support Dimension Table 1: Examples of standards in the ASF Student Support dimension

10. FHS is comprised of 5 Schools; • Department of Rural Health • Human Life Sciences • Medicine • Nursing and Midwifery • Pharmacy • A FHS Academic Standards Working Group was established to oversee the monitoring of Student Support performance indicators and measures • Individuals within each School were designated responsibility for collecting and collating evidence against each performance indicator • ASF Evaluation and Benchmarking Tool was also developed: • Web-based resource: • Hosted on UTAS server • Secure MySQL • System to evaluate and benchmark current practices against a set of standards • Faculty of Health Science (FHS) ASF trial

11. Institutional Faculty School Course • Evaluate • ASF Online Evaluation and Benchmarking Tool • Benchmark • Report Continual improvement and better outcomes across UTAS

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13. Data from each School was uploaded and utilised to generate a School Report: • Department of Rural Health • Human Life Sciences • Medicine • Nursing and Midwifery • Pharmacy • ASF Reports; • Identified areas; • of best practice • for improvement • for development • Highlighted areas where some Schools are performing better than others • Provide an opportunity to share best practices • Leads to enhancement of Student Support practices across Faculty School reports utilised to generate a Faculty Report • Reporting and Utilisation of Data At School, Faculty and Institutional level

14. Areas of Best Practice across Faculty of Health Science: • Accurate and timely information is provided to students on all aspects of a program • Students admitted to the Faculty satisfy minimum entry requirements • The range and quality of Support Services available is provided to students • A range of pathways are provided to students to promote access and participation • Areas for improvement at School level: • Training is required for information collectors to develop knowledge of what data is available and how to access it • Utilisation of data from external student surveys should inform practices • Areas for improvement at Faculty level: • Design a Faculty student progression database template to be implemented across all Schools to allow consistent tracking of student cohorts and demographic groups • Areas for improvement at Institutional level: • Implement communication processes for reporting results of external student surveys to Faculties and Schools (e.g. AGS, AUSSE, ISB, UES) • Targets to be set for admission and completion of specific cohorts • Provision of student demographic data (e.g. low SES, Indigenous or TSI origin, CALD) to Schools to allow tracking of specific cohorts • PASS reports to be provided to Heads of School • Project Findings

15. Final report to be presented to the FHS Academic Standards Working Group identifying operational recommendations and actions at the School and Faculty levels. • Student Support framework to be revised; • Performance indicators and measures made more explicit • Adjustment and further alignment of performance indicators and measures with standards • A User Guide for the online ASF Evaluation and Benchmarking Tool is currently in development • Next Phase