1. FROM International Friends TO International Educational PARTNERS
Deborah Tyler
Associate Director Educational Quality Improvement
Centre for Collaborative Learning and Teaching
Enriching Partnerships: A Spotlight on Teaching, Learning and Research for Global Graduates.
vu.edu.au
CRICOS Provider No: 00124K

2. Transnational Education, (TNE) means:
TNE is defined as an arrangement for provision of higher education where students acquire an award in one country issued by a higher education institution based in another country.
For transnational education to be successful for students, academic leaders and teaching colleagues, an internationalised curricula is one key.
Also key are sound quality assurance measures (how well are we doing, what can we improve, how will we do that, how do we measure outcomes)
And : those involved require recognition, reward and support for the challenging work they undertake that supports the goals of an internationalised education for our students and graduates.
A little different than the older model of `off-shore education’…

3. Victoria University in 2013
Victoria University was established as a university in 1990, drawing together predecessor institutions, with the oldest dating from 1916.
Two of those predecessor institutions were accredited higher education providers (Footscray Institute and Western Institute)
VU offers qualifications from Certificates to the PhD or across the Australian Qualifications Framework Level 1-10.
In the Australian context, VU’s 55,000 students are characterised by cultural diversity.
Around 50% of our students are from homes where English is not the first language
VU also has a strong reputation for participation amongst students whose families are new to university education
VU has more offshore international students than on-shore international students

4. A brief history of Off-Shore Education at VU…
VU, and its predecessor institutions, were in the Australian context, engaged early in `off-shore’ education
Like universities who entered later, `off-shore’ was part of the landscape ahead of an `International Strategy’, or Senior Management responsibility for `off-shore’
`Off-shore’ programs were often created by individual academic staff, able to gain the support of a Head of Department.
They were also created through connections made through international research students, returning home and gaining positions of influence through their Australian qualifications.
Seen as a `good thing’, but not part of the institutional profile or planning
Relationship reliant on individual academics or course teams, and often `owned’ at that level

5. Consolidation ( )
In the lead up to the Australian Universities Quality Audit (AUQA), programs were reviewed and over a period of several years, some were finalised.
As at many Australian universities, AUQA increased the VU focus on quality assurance and university level responsibility for off-shore education.
The room for disconnected and loosely coordinated individuals and teams acting at the course level in the TNE environment curtailed (almost).
Those TNE partnerships that remained were institutionally significant for both partners.
A culture of trust and long term working relationships characterises many of these partnerships, and a number are now (in 2013)mature partnerships of between years.
But much has also changed for our partners in years.

6. International Strategy 2006-2012- moving to TNE
An integrated approach, connecting the core business of the university in learning, teaching, research and knowledge exchange with international partnerships and engagement
Offshore strategy
Onshore strategy
Intercultural exchange
Student mobility
Research
Gaining traction through quality assurance, systems alignment and Academic Board oversight of transnational education course approval.
Sound VU base for the new regulator – TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency)

7. Sector Outcomes of AUQA Cycle 1
IEAA Good Practice Guide for Offshore Delivery (2008)
Followed from a series of Australian government funded projects
VU contribution was research conducted with our partners in China, including interviews with students, colleagues, and students transferring to Melbourne, around the Academic Language Learning Support needs of VE Diploma students to enable student success.
Outcomes included an integrated model of language learning with disciplinary based learning, replacing English then…award course
From 2005, this collaborative learning and teaching conference with China partners has been noted for good practice
Collaborative learning and teaching grants
Development of self accredited Diplomas replacing VEToffshore
Adoption of the model (with modifications) at VU Melbourne.

8. The centrality of Business degrees in developing economies
Business degrees, with various specialisations have been sought after qualifications for a range of reasons
A key to both individual social mobility, economic growth, and the provision of services.
In the context of TNE, Business degrees are lead courses, along with the educational underpinnings required for student success in either partner institutions or on-shore in Melbourne.
Also has the advantage of being relatively low cost in the resources and facilities required, relatively low investment for either partner, low risk
Different landscape : added value now and in the future for VU and TNE partners may be to connect more with internationalising ambitions - expectations change, motivations change, student cohorts change.

9. Equivalence – from the learning and teaching perspective
Course proponents (aside from Vocational Education) when proposing to the Academic Board that a course be offered off-shore have usually answered the question about any customisation, initially, with `none required’
The assumption was the course is `good to go’, anywhere, anytime
This rarely turned out to be the case – especially where applied or experiential learning is part of the design of units – and reflected in learning outcomes and assessment tasks
Partners input is welcome and necessary at the design stage
Positive, rather than `negative’ customisation, requires confidence in curriculum mapping and identifying spaces, rather than finding gaps and holes later on.
Professional Development opportunities and needs for both partners to be considered.

10. Policy on Equivalence :Policy Setting
In September 2012, VU’s Academic Board endorsed the Policy on Equivalence, which refers to our partnerships:
The implementation of this policy is to ensure the University’s commitment to:
robust quality assurance in all aspects of delivery
achievement of equivalent learning outcomes to those of courses delivered directly by VU
educational experience that focuses on students
collegial collaboration with partner staff in course delivery
consideration of local circumstances in all matters of course delivery
This can’t be achieved without the full involvement of our partners

11. Shifting institutional cultures to TNE: one step at a time?
A recent course proposal for a new course with an established partner recommended:
`In line with VU priorities for internationalisation of the
curriculum and its delivery, it is expected that (Partner XXX) will provide additional information to students on local industry cases and related documents’.
This is not quite the principle of the VU Curriculum Blueprint, but is not uncommon across the sector
Local context to be provided locally, as a form of add on, without requiring actual collaboration in the design of units etc
Assumed that the program will `translate’ via the unit guide into a different country, and that the partner will `translate’ the course for students.

12. But…can go the other way
A different course, with a long established Transnational Education partner, and many more TNE students than local students:
Worked with the VU library to locate learning resources that reflect the TNE context, and include comparative materials
VU library worked with TNE partner library to establish a web presence for these resources, and each provided Professional Development to enhance student access to on-line resources
Has purposively and progressively involved the Melbourne unit coordinators in the TNE experience
Has purposively and progressively involved the TNE partner in research supervision mentoring and training.
Is conducting a review of the curricula, learning and teaching approaches, assessment tasks with the aim of drawing on the successes of the TNE program in the Melbourne program.

13. Collaborating on internationalisation?2012-2016
VU has over 100 mobility partners, and the UK, US, Europe are dominant.
Our TNE partners also include Germany, but Asia is dominant.
Short term mobility programs have boosted student mobility, with China experiencing considerable growth.
Melbourne based students are interested in internationalising their education through an international learning experience.
The scope for student mobility to add a further dimension to our TNE partnerships is significant, and will be enhanced by students encountering disciplinary content, with learning and teaching strategies contextualised to the local context.
Many of our partners have signalled this would add further breadth and depth to the TNE partnerships

14. Moving TNE into the Educational Centre of Contemporary Universities
Victoria University experience:
16% of our students study offshore in collaboration with partner institutions
A range of models, but a combination of direct VU delivery of a section of each unit, with the balance delivered through local colleagues at partner institutions is common
That means, looking at it a different way, that 16% of VU students rely on the capability of academic staff at the partner in learning and teaching to navigate successfully VU courses.
That’s a significant increase in academic staff with international learning and teaching experience. .

15. A Brief Word on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
The AQF details the required outcomes of graduates from Certificate 1 to the PhD
It describes outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and application of knowledge of skills
The AQF can be thought of as a ladder, with each step on the ladder leading to the next educational step as well as employment outcomes
A graduate from a Bachelor’s degree is required to have the educational outcomes that provide entry to a Masters degree, and so on.
This applies to all Australian education providers, and ensures a parity of outcomes for graduates across the sector.

16. What does the AQF mean for VU and our partners?
You, our partners are engaged in transnational education by definition.
To put it another way, you, our partners are involved in delivering qualifications that do or will meet the Australian Qualifications Framework by 2015.
The AQF is outcomes focussed, not input focussed. It concentrates on what graduates are able to do, the learning outcomes they have achieved, and the demonstration of that, rather than what they have been taught, in a more narrow sense.
The VU Principles of the Equivalence reflects the AQF, and TEQSA, as the Australian regulators.
And this creates new transnational educational spaces for collaboration, renewal and innovation to graduate adaptable and capable 21st century citizens (VU Graduate Capabilities)

17. Centre for Collaborative Learning and Teaching
A new VU Centre for new educational times and new regulatory environments, and which recognises transnational education at the centre of the contemporary university.
Support for the VU Colleges and TNE partners in learning and teaching, curriculum renewal, curriculum design
Support for the VU Colleges and TNE partners in quality assurance and quality improvement
Support for the VU Colleges and TNE partners in professional development
Support for the VU Colleges and TNE partners in developing an internationalised scholarship of teaching and learning
Support for the VU Colleges and TNE partners in continuing to build a shared reputation for excellence in TNE

18. CONTACT DETAILS Deborah Tyler
Associate Director Educational Quality Improvement
Centre for Collaborative Learning and Teaching
Victoria University
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