External reference points
The QAA defines collaborative provision as ‘educational provision leading to an award, or to specific credit towards an award, of an awarding institution delivered and/or supported and/or assessed through an arrangement with a partner organisation.’ This Framework uses the phrase ‘collaborative provision’ in this sense. Arrangements which the School currently has in place which meet this definition are listed on the Details of existing academic partnerships pages.
Section 2 of the QAA Code states that ‘the arrangements for assuring quality and standards [of collaborative provision] should be as rigorous, secure and open to scrutiny as those for programmes provided wholly within the responsibility of a single institution.’ This, it says, ‘creates particular challenges…in the management of the potential risks associated with the complexity of such arrangements.’ (paragraph 16)
In order to minimise the risks involved in such arrangements, the QAA Code offers advice on how institutions can design separate processes for the consideration of partnerships and of programmes. A new academic partnership which is to include collaborative provision should not be considered only as part of the programme approval process, but should itself be subject to scrutiny. In June 2009 the School's Governing Body noted that SOAS did not at that time have such a separation of approval processes, and asked that one be established.
Partnerships which do not include collaborative provision (and where it is not considered likely to be developed in the future) are listed on the Details of existing academic partnerships pages. Some though not all, of these arrangements include placement learning, defined in the QAA Code (section 9)as 'the learning achieved during an agreed and negotiated period of learning that takes place outside the institution'. The Code highlights the particular risks associated with placements outside the UK.
The risks associated with both these types of provision need to be managed effectively through an agreed School framework. The QAA states that its guidance is not intended to undermine the maturity of some long-standing relationships with equal partners but that a UK HEI is under an obligation to be able to demonstrate at institutional level that its academic standards are secure and that the quality of the student experience is maintained. This is the School's intention and the purpose of this Framework.
Another crucial reference point for the School is the regulations of the University of London (UoL). The UoL allows Colleges to collaborate in offering degrees, as long as responsibilities for academic standards are clear:
Each College shall be responsible for the University of London degrees/diplomas/certificates awarded to its Students and shall share with the other Colleges a collective responsibility for maintaining the standard of the University of London degree/diploma/certificate wherever awarded.
The University’s regulations also allow Colleges to develop partnerships and to offer collaborative provision with external institutions, provided that its procedures are followed and full disclosure is made to the University:
A College awarding a degree jointly with an institution other than another College of the University shall do so in accordance with its procedures, and shall notify the Vice-Chancellor of the University of such joint degrees as have been approved. The Vice-Chancellor shall inform the Collegiate Council of any notifications received.
These and other regulations of the University underpin the School’s procedures on the development of academic partnerships.
