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Policy Paper10 Assuring qualityThe international reputation of Australia’s higher education sector must
be maintained to ensure our graduates have the world-class skills to compete
in the global economy and to protect and grow our position in the education
export market, which is currently worth $5 billion a year. Given the
expanded choice that will be available to prospective students as a result
of initiatives in this package, it is imperative that information about the
relative strengths of institutions be readily accessible. Employers should
also have access to information about the capabilities of recent graduates.
10.1 Overseas auditsThe Commonwealth currently contributes to the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) under a MCEETYA formula for State/Territories/Commonwealth contributions. The AUQA is charged with conducting whole-of-institution audits that include the international operations of universities. Most Australian universities have international activities and, increasingly, these are being offered off-shore in several countries. Significant future growth in international operations is likely to take place off-shore. From 2005, the Commonwealth will commission the
AUQA to conduct audits of overseas higher education provision by Australian
providers on a whole-of-country basis. The audits will be on a cyclical
basis and the reports produced will be made available for consultation in
the context of domestic institutional audits where relevant. This
initiative, underpinned by funding of $590,000 per year, will assure the
continued quality of Australian higher education provision in the
international market. 10.2 Enhancements to the Graduate Destination Survey and Course Experience QuestionnaireIn a partially deregulated higher education system, there will be strong demand among prospective students and their parents for information about institutional and course performance. The Commonwealth currently has a contract with the Graduate Careers Council of Australia to conduct the Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) and Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and publish outcomes data in both hard copy and electronic form. The data serve three main purposes – providing national accountability for the sector, ensuring quality and performance management within institutions and informing student choice. The Commonwealth will maintain funding for the
Graduate Destination Survey and Course Experience Questionnaire to support
the research and publication of data that inform institutional and sectoral
performance. A number of enhancements will be made, including an extended
version of the CEQ, more intensive use of qualitative data from the CEQ and
a shift towards greater electronic delivery and publication of results. 10.3 Enhancement of the Graduate Skills AssessmentThe Graduate Skills Assessment instrument has been developed for the Commonwealth by the Australian Council for Educational Research to test generic skills of graduates in the domains of logical thinking, critical reasoning, written communication and interpersonal understanding. Motivating students to take the test has been difficult, and universities have been reluctant to put resources into administering a test that students largely do not want to take. While some employers have been supportive in principle, to date they have expected universities to run the test. Consultations with representatives from business and industry during the Review revealed that many employers knew nothing about the GSA. The Commonwealth will provide $270,000 per year from 2005 to promote the test to employers and support its use in selection processes. Employers and graduates will initially benefit from broader use of the GSA as a standard recruitment tool. As usage expands, the Commonwealth will be able to collect valuable information on the quality of higher education as measured by graduate skills.
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Any comments or
queries should be sent to:
highered@dest.gov.au
Department of Education, Science and Training
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