Overview
Includes: expectations of the School
Reports arising from reviews conducted by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) are valuable sources of information on the quality and standards of courses.
Schools are expected to take them fully into account as part of their own internal review processes and to report on the outcome.
Procedure
Includes: notification; receipt of report; consideration of recommendations; key roles and responsibilities
1. The School is notified by the Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) of its re-accreditation decision; if that is anything other than full approval then the Head of School must as a matter of urgency inform the Chair of Quality and Standards Committee (QSC), the Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC) for Education and Student Experience and the Registrar;
Where a course is the responsibility of two or more Schools (e.g. joint honours) then the relevant Heads of School should agree a suitable means of dealing with the report so that all Schools involved have a full opportunity to consider it, but only one 'School response' (para iv) should be produced.
"Full approval" means that the accrediting body expresses no reservations about the quality and standards of the course(s). It is the normal expectation in certain subject areas (e.g. Engineering) that full approval will only be granted when a course has produced graduates. Until that point, "Provisional Accreditation" is granted by the PSRB. This University procedure also applies to 'provisional accreditation'.
2. the School receives the PSRB report;
3. the School considers the recommendations of the PSRB report through its existing committee structure and agrees any actions;
4. the Head of School sends a copy of the full PSRB report together with a written School response where required (comprising a note of actions taken or planned, and any other relevant points) to Student Services Development (Academic Processes) for consideration on behalf of QSC;
5. QSC confirms that it is content with the School response, or if not engages in dialogue with the Head of School to resolve the issue;
6. the School will take PSRB reports into consideration in its next full Periodic Review.