Staff recruitment and induction

Staff recruitment and induction

1. Recruitment
1. Staff are recruited on the basis of their expertise, their suitability for the vacancy, and referrals through credible sources.
2. Acceptance onto staff is open to qualified applicants regardless of gender, social position, age, physical disability, or racial, ethnic or linguistic background.
2. Employment commitments: Centre
1. Senior employees of the Centre shall be appointed by the Board.
2. The Executive Committee must approve employment arrangements for junior employees.
1. The Centre will have a written employment agreement with each junior employee.
2. Junior employees are casual. They shall maintain a timesheet and will be paid by the hour.
3. The Board may accept persons on an independent contract basis if written terms are agreed upon beforehand.
4. Other staff of the Centre will be deemed to be voluntary.
3. Employment commitments: Member colleges
1. All staff shall be deemed to be volunteers of their respective colleges, unless they have an employment contract or independent contractor agreement with their respective college.
2. Other than the requirements laid down in these policies, the terms of appointment of all staff of all colleges shall be determined internally by their college, and ACAS shall be free of all employment-related liability whatsoever deriving therefrom.
4. Induction
1. All new staff shall be given induction.
2. New instructors who do not have the the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment shall be given the opportunity to obtain it.
3. Besides the formal policy component, incoming staff should also have opportunity to meet other staff and ask any questions of senior staff arising from induction materials.
4. Resource people (e.g. guest speakers, mentors, workplace supervisors) for a unit do not need to be inducted as staff members, but an inducted staff member will be responsible for the unit.

Professional Development

Professional Development

1. All staff are required to participate in Professional Development. This may include:
1. short courses and conferences appropriate to their roles
2. course materials development
3. personal reading programs
4. in-service mentoring
5. field orientation visits
6. writing and research
7. continuing academic studies (including RPL)
2. They may be required to:
1. follow any Professional Development priorities necessary for ASQA Standard compliance
2. submit written plans for professional development, both corporate and individual
3. report professional development in writing at the end of each semester.
3. Persons accepted as Academic Staff of the Centre may pursue higher qualifications of the Centre exempt of tuition fees. Exemption of fees does not apply to staff of member colleges.

Staff code of conduct

Staff code of conduct

1. This code is intended to guide all ACAS staff to identify and resolve ethical issues. It stands beside but does not exclude or replace the rights and obligations of students and staff under the law.
2. If formal procedures have not been established, or if staff are in doubt about any aspect of their conduct or that of others, they should raise these matters with their supervisors in the first instance. If it is the conduct of the supervisor that is the subject of concern, the matter should be taken up with the person to whom the supervisor reports.
3. For the purpose of this code of conduct "college" refers both the ACAS and to the staff member's member college.
4. Academic freedom
1. Academic freedom brings a duty to be responsible and honest in searching for and disseminating knowledge and truth. It includes the freedom into make informed comment on social mores and practice and in challenging beliefs, policies and structures.
2. Staff are encouraged to contribute to public debate as concerned citizens. Members of staff writing or speaking publicly in professional or expert capacities may identify themselves by their college appointment or qualifications and may, for that purpose, use the name of the college on condition that they clarify that any views expressed are their own.
3. However, staff members commenting publicly on issues other than in professional or expert capacities must do so from private addresses and should not use the name of the college, or otherwise identify themselves with the college.
5. Acceptance of gifts or benefits
1. Staff may not solicit any gifts or benefits for themselves, or accept gifts or benefits that might in any way compromise or influence them in carrying out their duties, or which might reasonably be seen by others as an inducement that places a staff member under an obligation.
2. Staff may accept gifts of nominal value, generally used for promotional purposes by the donor, or moderate acts of hospitality.
3. Staff should send gifts of significant value to their employing college, where they can be acknowledged and accepted on behalf of the college.
6. Close personal relationships
1. Close personal relationships between staff and student members can compromise professional standards and might reasonably be seen by others to involve a breach of trust and/or a conflict of interest.
2. Consequently, staff should avoid supervising or assessing students or other members of staff who are members of their family or with whom they have, or have had, a personal or other significant relationship.
3. If it is unavoidable, supervision must be openly seen to be of the highest professional standard and neither unfairly advantaging nor disadvantaging the supervisee.
7. Confidentiality of information
1. Staff are required to respect individuals' rights to privacy and undertake to treat in confidence all information supplied to them on that basis.
2. In particular, unless required by law, personal and official information (such as academic records) provided by and about staff and students must not be given to third parties without the informed written consent of the individuals concerned.
8. Conflict of interest
1. Confidence in ACAS and in the member college is put at risk when the conduct of a staff member involves, or appear to involve, a conflict between their private interests and their duties as a staff member.
2. Conflict of interest refers to not only to personal financial interests but to any other interests and actions that appear to conflict with their duties as a staff member.
3. The meeting minutes will record the declaration of interest.
4. Before the discussion of the matter by a college committee, staff must:
1. declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest before the discussion of the matter,
2. withdraw from the meeting during that discussion unless given leave to remain, and,
3. abstain from voting on the matter.
9. Harassment
1. State and federal legislation requires the college to provide students and staff with an environment that is free from all forms of harassment and discrimination. There are penalties for non-compliance.
2. Staff have an obligation to:
1. treat each other and students with respect and, in particular, to respect the beliefs and cultural mores of others;
2. consider the impact of their decisions on others; and
3. refrain from acting in any way so as to, or with the intention to, unfairly harm the reputation or career prospects of other staff members and students
4. require students to act in this way .
3. Although internal procedures will hopefully resolve all complaints, those involved retain their right at any stage to seek the intervention of external bodies such as the Equal Opportunity Commission and the Ombudsman.
10. Use of the college's resources
1. Staff are expected to be efficient and economical in their use of resources, and not permit the abuse of these resources by others.
2. College property must not be used for private purposes unless this is approved according to college policy.
11. Use of the college's name
1. The use of the college's name in the promotion or advertising of commercial products will only be approved if seen to be direct benefit to the College. Members of staff may not use or allow the use of the name of the college or identify themselves as staff of the college in the public promotion or advertising of commercial products without prior written approval.

Conflict resolution and dismissal

Conflict resolution and dismissal

1. The procedures for conflict resolution and dismissal shall apply equally for employees and volunteers.
2. In this section, "college" shall refer to the member college or the Centre, whichever is the employer.
3. Conflict resolution:
1. In the case of a conflict, staff should first approach their immediate superior.
2. If this does not produce a satisfactory resolution, staff may approach the Principal of their college or the Principal's delegate.
3. Staff retain the right of written appeal to the board of management of their college, whose written determination shall be final.
4. Procedure for termination
1. Serious breaches of standards may require immediate termination.
2. The Principal (or the Principal's delegate) of the staff member's college shall normally retain the right to determine a dismissal.
3. The written determination of the board of management of the staff members college shall be final, subject to legislation.

Staff qualifications

Staff qualifications

General

1. Instructors and assessors shall have current experience in the field in which they teach and one of the following:
1. a formal qualification
2. a statement of attainment
3. a transcript through either the training sector or the higher education sector
4. an industry certification or
5. the equivalent in formally documented expertise.
2. Instructors must either:
1. hold a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, or
2. hold a higher qualification in adult education, or
3. teach under the direct supervision of a person who does.
3. Assessors must either:
1. hold the units in planning, conducting and validating assessment of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, or
2. hold documentation of the competencies of those units, or
3. assess under the direct supervision of a person who does.
4. The Centre shall maintain up-to-date records of the verified qualifications and experience of all academic staff and assessors:
1. "Verified" shall mean a photocopy of each relevant graduation diploma that is either marked "Original sighted" and signed or initialed, or is a certified true copy, or is a verification statement from the issuing institution.
2. Experience is normally evidenced by either a Curriculum Vitae or references. A Curriculum Vitae should be verified by a person with personal knowledge of  the staff members activities, by countersigning the filed CV.
3. Experience may also be certified by a suitable reference in cases where a formal qualification is not necessary.
5. Instructors and assessors have an ethical obligation:
1. to identify their areas of expertise, including changes in expertise due to updating, further studies and writing, etc. and
2. to work within their expertise.

Higher education qualifications

1. Holders of Higher Education (HE) qualifications frequently face particular problems when seeking equivalence or recognition in the VET sector. This most often applies to instructors who require evidence that they have attained the specific outcomes that they are to teach and/or assess. It can also apply to recognition of HE qualifications for admission to programs accredited in the VET sector.
2. The particular difficulties are:
1. HE qualifications are seldom defined in outcomes.
2. HE qualifications that are defined in outcomes do not normally have one-to-one correspondence with other HE qualifications, or with the current version of the equivalent training sector competencies.
3. Unit and course names seldom have a one-to-one correspondence between institutions.
4. HE institutions seldom describe programs strictly in terms of vocational skills.
5. It is seldom, if ever, possible to identify teaching areas on a strictly unit-by-unit basis.
3. ACAS shall identify teaching areas of each instructor on the basis of HE qualifications using the following principles:
1. Where possible, HE qualifications will be viewed according to their ability to demonstrate the outcomes of the VET program in which the instructor teaches.
2. Establishment of equivalence should normally include relevant professional experience.
3. Equivalence will generally be based of the way HE institutions describe their qualifications and units, including ways such as content, prospectuses, nomenclature, and Statements of Academic Record.
4. Different qualifications can be equivalent.
5. Qualifications of the same name are not necessarily equivalent.
6. Qualifications at a very much higher AQF level might not reflect lower level competencies in the same field of study.
4. ACAS retains the rights to choose to conduct an RPL assessment and to issue a new qualification.

New qualifications

1. The purpose of this procedure is to enable the commencement of new qualifications when no staff member has an acceptable equivalent qualification.
2. The introduction of new qualifications shall take the steps listed below.
3. Key staff member(s) shall be selected to begin the qualification. They shall have current experience and any other requirements specified in the training package. Their vocational competencies relating to the new qualification may be documented formally as:
1. other equivalent units or
2. certifications that comprise parts of or aspects of the new qualification or
3. industry certifications or
4. verified Curriculum Vitae.
4. External persons may be appointed to meet any expertise shortfall, and ACAS shall retain documentation thereof.
5. Any other staff wishing to obtain the qualification shall register as students after scope as been obtained. They will be eligible to obtain the qualification as students on condition that there are no conflicts of interest.

Intellectual Property: General

Intellectual Property: General

1. These provisions apply to all staff of any category who produce materials and other intellectual property of any kind to be used in the programs of ACAS and its colleges.
2. Courses submitted for accreditation by ACAS in ACAS's name shall remain the property of ACAS regardless of authorship or any special arrangements with member colleges.
3. Staff must comply with legislation on intellectual property.
4. Writers should include their names on any intellectual property that they produce.
5. When intellectual property is produced through a partnership, the terms of ownership will be agreed upon in writing at the time by the parties.
6. As a condition of appointment to their position, the writers authorize without restriction ACAS and its colleges to use, modify, publish and reproduce those materials for the purpose for which they are written.
1. This specifically includes, but is not limited to, the instigation of any changes and/or subsequent changes deemed necessary or desirable through ACAS's quality management procedure.
2. The author should clearly state any specific purpose in the copyright page of the materials.
3. General purposes will be deemed to apply in the absence of stated specific purposes.
7. Subject to these provisions, staff may assign publication and circulation rights as they choose.
8. Recognizing these copyright requirements, ACAS strongly encourages colleges to work at ways to share coursework structures and lesson materials rather than duplicate similar material in isolation.

Staff employed directly by ACAS

1. When an employee who is employed directly by ACAS produces intellectual property as part of their paid work, ACAS shall own that intellectual property absolutely.
2. When an employee who is employed directly by ACAS produces intellectual property outside their paid work, they shall own that intellectual property absolutely.
3. When ACAS is paid for consultancy services:
1. The ownership of specific intellectual property shall become the property of the party paying for the consultancy.
2. The specific intellectual property shall not include copyright on templates, forms and proformas used for its generation.

ACAS publications

1. If ACAS acts as commercial publisher, then ACAS shall retain 5% (five percent) of income received from the distributor as commission. The remainder of the funds shall be paid to the copyright owner, normally the author.

Other staff

1. When an employee who is employed directly by a member college produces intellectual property as part of their paid work, the member college shall own that intellectual property subject to these policies in force at the time and any additional provisions made in writing by the member college.
2. When a staff member other than an employee who is employed directly by a member college produces intellectual property, the staff member shall own that intellectual property unless other provisions have been made in writing by the member college.

Knowledge policy

Knowledge policy

1. "Knowledge" refers to any kind of intellectual property, including information not covered by intellectual property legislation. It includes:
1. documents,
2. information (apart form its written form),
3. computer code and text,
4. graphics,
5. research,
6. information on clients, students, and staff,
7. URLs (Universal Resource Locators) of hidden websites,
8. innovations and procedures, whether written or not, including approaches to providing training and assessment of any kind,
9. knowledge items that are in keeping of ACAS, whether or not they are owned by ACAS
2. Staff may provide enrolled students with the information and/or documents that relate directly to their courses.
3. Staff may not divulge knowledge to parties outside ACAS if it could compromise the commercial advantage of ACAS.
4. The policies and procedures of ACAS shall normally determine what is to be written down, how it is circulated and to whom.
5. Except in the conduct of ACAS business, documents may not be taken off the premises where they are kept. normally stored according to ACAS policies.
6. Documents may not be copied except in the conduct of ACAS business.
7. Staff members may not use client information for any purpose other that for which it was obtained or approved by the student, including tacit approval through disclosure of use on the ACAS public website.
8. Except when the staff member personally own Intellectual Property, staff members leaving ACAS may not take or subsequently use ACAS knowledge items for any purpose whatsoever.
9. Staff members who fail to comply with the knowledge policy shall be personally liable for any financial loss to ACAS, including direct, and indirect/consequential loss.

Program monitoring

Program monitoring

1. ACAS employs various means to monitor the academic quality of programs and their consistency in development and implementation.
2. For each courses on offer, the person in charge of an ACAS program is responsible to work in consultation with stakeholders to develop and implement appropriate learning and assessment strategies to meet student needs. This is documented in the Program Application Form.
3. Assessors shall at least annually validate assessment using the procedure prescribed at the time. This will normally include a review of programs for purposes of general improvement, and will include any of the following that are relevant:
1. suggested program modifications
2. suggested changes arising from students comments and from the complaints and appeals procedures, and,
3. issues of administrative concern, such as policy, procedures, risks, occupational health and safety, etc.

Assessment planning

Assessment planning

1. Member colleges shall comply with templates and proformas supplied by the Academic Dean.¹
2. Prior to each unit being taught, teaching staff will submit to the Academic Dean or member college Principal a unit description that includes an assessment procedure. The statement will be checked for compliance with relevant assessment and version control policies, and filed appropriately in the document register.
3. At the time of assessment, the assessor shall make a record that includes:
1. the identity of the assessor,
2. the identities of persons other than the assessor who contribute expertise to the assessment and their relevant credentials (if applicable),
3. the identity of the student,
4. the name and code of the unit assessed,
5. the date,
6. the results of the assessment,
7. the nature of any deficiency where the student did not demonstrate competence  (if applicable),
8. an explanation of the reasons for the grade (if graded assessment is used), and,
9. the signature of the assessor
10. the signature(s) of any joint assessors (if applicable).
4. If persons other than the assessor contribute to the assessment process in formal written form, this may be appended or attached to the record. These records shall become part of the student’s records and the basis for issuing Statements of Attainment, qualifications, transcripts, and formal letters stating equivalence.

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¹ Explanation: Proformas are designed to comply with current accreditation requirements and may also reflect legal considerations e.g. permissions, acknowledgements and disclaimers.

Fellows: Nature and purpose of program

Fellows: Nature and purpose of program

1. The Collegium comprises Fellows whose research is recognized as being of suitable standard.
2. The activities of the Collegium do not comprise part of the activities of ACAS as a Registered Training Organisation.
3. The purpose of the Fellow program through study is to provide specialized training for Christian workers in ministries that will benefit from the training when the Graduate Diploma will not suffice.
4. The Collegium is not an administrative body.
5. The ACAS Board reserves the right to award the honorary status of Fellow to persons associated with ACAS and issue them a testamur who:
1. have a postgraduate qualification of Masters with research or higher.
2. agree to be publicly listed as an ACAS Fellow.
6. ACAS will keep records of other Fellows (inducted staff members with Master degrees with research or doctoral degrees) but will not issue them with testamurs.
7. Fellows shall be entitled to wear academic dress, which the Academic Council shall from time to time determine.

Admission and fees

1. Admission to the course of studies for becoming a Fellow is by invitation only.
2. No fees of any kind are attached to the course of studies. However, fees may be attached to other courses of study done concurrently.
3. Applicants can become Fellows and receive a graduation testamur through two channels:
1. applying to become a candidate for the status of Fellow and studying under ACAS supervision.
2. submitting existing research for assessment.

Studies

1. The course of studies shall comprise a shorter qualifying thesis and a larger research thesis.
2. The larger thesis shall be assessed at the standard not lower than that of a research thesis for a Master degree by coursework and minor thesis in an Australian university.
3. Research may be submitted in languages other than English if acceptable supervisors and assessors are available.

Assessment

1. Assessment of candidates may be done internally within ACAS subject to the following:
1. There shall be two assessors, who may co-opt other advice.
2. The assessors shall not be supervisors for the particular work being assessed.
3. Assessors may consult with the supervisors.
4. A written assessment report must be lodged.
5. ACAS shall determine with assessors a timeframe for the assessment, not normally more than two months.
6. Other normal ACAS rules shall apply.
7. The assessors should either:
1. have a doctoral qualification recognised by ACAS for that purpose or
2. be Fellows of the Collegium.
8. ACAS shall determine with assessors a timeframe for the assessment, not normally more than two months.
9. A written assessment report must be lodged.
2. Assessment results will be:
1. Passed unconditionally.
2. Passed subject to viva voce examination.
3. Passed subject to viva voce examination and specified minor corrections within a specified time for which reassessment is not required.
4. Passed subject to specified minor corrections within a specified time for which reassessment is not required.
5. Resubmit with major alterations within a specified time for which reassessment is not required.
6. Resubmit with major alterations within a specified time for which full reassessment is required.
7. Recommended for a lower award, subject to an accepted application, or
8. Not passed.