News Archive

• The general picture
• Development of new undergraduate majors
• Some general issues arising

The general picture

It is just over a year since the Vice-Chancellor established an Implementation Committee to ensure that the recommendations of the Review of Course Structures are followed through in a timely and coordinated way.

So far the complex process of preparing the University for such a fundamental and far-reaching set of changes has, in general, gone very smoothly. We are meeting our timeline targets, and feedback from the recent Senior Leadership Day, which focused on the Future Framework, confirmed that the great majority of staff members across the whole UWA community are working together towards the new courses in a constructive spirit of shared responsibility and distributed leadership. There are various practical difficulties, academic and administrative, that should not be underestimated; but at this stage they seem to be manageable. Boards, committees, faculties and central support areas alike are systematically engaging with the challenge of absorbing implementation work into the mainstream of their respective activities.

Development of new undergraduate majors

At the centre of the Future Framework reforms is the large task of devising a full new suite of undergraduate courses. Over the last few months academic staff members across all faculties have expended a great deal of effort on this, and outcomes so far are generally very positive.

In Phase 1 of the process, expressions of interest for the development of new undergraduate majors, submitted by 30 November 2009, have been thoroughly considered by the Interim Boards of Studies (IBoS), and proposers have received feedback.

The two-phase course development process enables applicants to put forward draft concept plans of their proposed majors, guided by the structural requirements of the new framework, and then to receive feedback before developing these plans further. The IBoS have now provided feedback on all submissions. The detailed Phase 2 proposals, to be lodged on the new Callista Approval and Publishing System (CAPS), are due on 27 April along with proposals for Honours and for individual units (whether within or outside majors).

Some general issues arising

• Achieving a balance between disciplinary distinctiveness and sensible unit-sharing. Some proposed majors consist entirely of units unique to the major, but some share a substantial proportion of their units with other majors. IBoS consideration of submissions has avoided any rigid application of rules, acknowledging that circumstances may legitimately differ from one discipline to another. In some cases the balance is best achieved through streaming within a major, particularly at Level 3.
• Ensuring clear progression through different levels while permitting reasonable flexibility where appropriate . Those proposing a major with loose prerequisites and numerous optional units may find it more difficult to demonstrate in Phase 2 how each possible pathway will meet the requirements of the new course structures (most notably a coherent discipline-specific developmental learning sequence, and systematic embedding of research and communication skills). IBoS feedback has emphasised this while also recognising that in some cases the provision of alternative pathways may be appropriate.
• Requiring that proposals for double majors be justified with strong academic rationale. IBoS members agreed that proposers must show clearly what advantages a double-major structure would have for students over the completion of two single majors.

Read the full document [RTF document, 92.9KB]