SQC: Reflection and Planning Guidelines

Guidelines for approving and minuting Reflection and Planning (R&P) forms

If you do not know much about the form, then you can also watch (first) the short video for convenors (approx 32 min; from the 27 min mark is focussed on the SQC role ). Help on the system can be found by reading the tooltips next to most questions.

The system allows some flexibility in people involved. So the system calls the committee that reviews the Reflection and Planning forms the School Quality Committee (SQC). For clarity of timelines, this will be the 2nd SAC wherever possible.

If a school only has one SAC per session then both forms will be approved in the same committee. This means that some data may not be present when doing the reflection. In that case, both the convenors and SAC should use the ‘history’ tabs in the data dashboard to look at most recent session for which data is available. Two SACs is preferable since it gives greater time for reflection. However, one SAC is an option for a school with intensive operations with the same subject being offered each session.

For these forms, SAC’s goal is promote continuous improvement of subjects. Policy requires SAC to make sure adequate reflection has occurred primarily for grade distributions, student feedback, assignment return and subject outline publication – https://policy.csu.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=508#minor8

  1. Convenors will be asked to complete the R&P form after subject evaluation survey data is available. The official due date (given in the system) is 9 days after the start of the following session. For example, for 201930, the due date is 24th July. This is 9 days after the start of 201960. It will usually be a few days before the second School Assessment Committee. Timing of your second SAC might require a request to do these earlier. Subject evaluation survey data (for non-WPL subjects) is available as grades are released – so 12th July for 201930.
  2. Anybody with the roles: SAC Member, SQC Member, Head of School or Administrator can run the form progress report. Run the report so that you Show the SAC/SQC comments. The report shows the progress of all the forms. It is primarily the last form that is of interest for this committee.The data can be viewed on screen (use the search feature to find a subject quickly, also sort by columns can help) or downloaded as a CSV file for more detailed filtering or sorting.A quick description of the data. Each row corresponds to a subject. The leftmost columns are the subject information (intake termcode [useful for multi-session subjects], code, name, offering, CASIMS CDAP tags). For each form, the state, due date, completion date (by convenor/moderator) and approval date (by SAC/SQC) are shown. For M&G and R&P forms, relevant notes are shown. In particular the rightmost column shows notes that were entered in to the R&P – these will form the minutes about this form. R&P forms where the state is SQC are ready to be reviewed.
  3. The school allocates SAC members to subjects (the allocation is determined by the school).
  4. BEFORE SAC, each member goes to the form progress report to view the assigned subjects. Use the search filter to find the subjects you are after. Clicking on the subject code will open up the form in a new tab. You will know the R&P form is ready if it has a coloured chip labelled SQC on the left of the floating bar.

    you can alternatively use the landing page to view the subjects. The status is listed on the landing page. Press the action button next to the SQC chip to view the form

  5. In order to review, look at the data dashboard, read the responses to the questions (especially Q2). Also look at the action items (if any). You need to assess if any issues have appropriate responses (especially if action items are appropriate). Action items should be appropriate for both the subject and the course(s) the subject serves.
  6. Any issues and suggested actions should be documented via the “Add note ..” buttons.

    6a. If the form needs amending, or an action item added/changed/deleted use the “Add Note’. Once created, the note appears at the top of the Reflection and Planning form. From 202090 session, anyone with SQC member or HOS role can add/edit/delete new action items.

    Examples:
    Issue: Action item on revamping the online meeting is great. However, the due date needs to be brought forward to get the change happening quicker.
    Response: SAC amended the action item to have an earlier due date. Also increased workload from 0 to 10 hrs so that convenor is properly resourced. AHOS will communicate the change to the convenor.

    7. Issue: Low progression was noted
    Response: Subject team to reflect on the progression rate and create some action items to improve this in the future.

    6b. If there are no problems, use “Add Note” and type “Recommend form is approved.” This helps make it clear what to do in the meeting itself. You could also give an encouraging message to the convenor and subject team.

  7. The notes that are created can be modified or deleted at any time before the form is approved. The notes are visible on the forms to everyone who has access. Also, the minutes of SAC will be generated from the approved version of these notes. Thus keep them formal. Also use the “Issue” and “Response” format of the examples above to make the minutes clear. Remember to give enough context, since others will read the notes without being able to see the answers on the form.
  8. DURING the meeting: the committee goes through all subjects that are ready using the pre-entered notes to speed up the meeting. Each subject has one of the three actions below. Any tricky cases can be discussed as a group. Also, the notes can be edited before actioning if needed. In the report press ‘Refresh’ button to update with values just entered in. (It is advisable to nominate one person present in the meeting with sufficient access to drive the system. They can edit the notes and press the buttons below, but they must do so at the direction of the committee.) Additionally, new action items can added/edited/deleted in the meeting directly (from 202090).

    8a. Approve: if moderation and grades are acceptable then press the APPROVE button. You may still want to leave notes to encourage future reflection and planning. Once approved, only someone with the HOS role may reverse approval.

    8b. Return to Convenor: if something is not right, the form can be sent back to the convenor to address. Make sure a note is added to explain what to do. Thus it is important that the note is clear to everyone. An email is sent to convenor automatically.
  9. AFTER the meeting: The secretary to the SAC uses the form progress report to create the minutes. In particular, the minutes will use all the notes.
  10. Any subjects that were not approved in the meeting can be considered at a later SAC meeting. However, it might be good to review and approve action items executively in order for them to be accepted and thus started.

Important comments

  • Any discussions about subjects that should be minuted should be FIRST recorded in QUASAR’s notes as described above. If minutes are needed, they will then be generated from the notes. These notes will be used to help oversee the quality review process of schools.
  • All forms need to be moved to the APPROVED stage (once all fixed). Compliance to this will be checked by the governance structures (for example school and faculty boards and ULTC).
  • Schools are welcome to get other groups (eg discipline groups) to review the forms before SAC looks at them