The Role of the Course Director - University of Ulster

The Role of the Course
Director
Dr Stephen Hagan
Ms Ruth Fee

Key Issues
• Course Management (auditable)
• Currency of Course Documentation
• Information required by Faculty Heads
of Collaborative Courses (FHCC)

Course Management
• How do you manage your programme?
– Course committee/team structure
• Allocation of tasks
– Student representation: committee/forum
– Student induction
– Moderation of student work
• internal
• external (External Examiner; UU subject-link)
– Feedback on assessment
– Audit trail: Minutes

Academic Progress
• Review of academic progress
Formal meetings:
» Progress Boards
» Boards of Examiners
• Module mark profiles
» Pre-Examination Board
» Role of the Consortium

Academic Standard
• Module evaluation/monitoring
• External Examiners Reports &
Responses (sent to FHCC)
• Annual Subject Monitoring

Currency of Course Documentation
• Course Revisions (CA3)
• Notification to withdraw a programme of
study (CA5)
• Proposal for new programme (CA2 or
CA4 if Access programme)
• Revalidation documentation
– New design for course documentation

Information Required by FHCC
• Why do we need this information?
• What information is kept by UU at an
Institutional level?
– List of courses operating in each Faculty
– Any changes to college contact details
– Generic UU policies

Information Required by FHCC
• Course level information that FHCC
require:
– staff linked to the programme (CVs for new
and PT staff)
– course calendar and handbook
– meeting agendas, minutes and papers
– any assessment schemes or moderation
proformas

Information Required by FHCC
• Course level information that FHCC
require:
– information on student enrolments
– outcome of module evaluations
– physical resources update (IT,
library,student services)
– any examples of good practice
– consortium information
(membership/calendar)

Appendix 18
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF COURSE DIRECTORS OF VALIDATED COURSES
The Course Director will be responsible for the organisation and management of the course. In particular
the Course Director will:
1 act as Chairman of the Course Committee;
2 in consultation with senior management as appropriate, keep under review the provision of human and
physical resources for the course;
3 in consultation with senior management as appropriate, ensure that a module co-ordinator is
appointed for each course module;
4 ensure regular liaison with the Faculty Head of Collaborative Courses and other University staff as
appropriate;
5 ensure that the Course Committee carries out its functions and be responsible in collaboration with
other members of the Course Committee for:
a) preparation of course publicity material;
b) ensuring that information held on the University module database is updated to take account of
revisions which affect the modules taught in the course (Edexcel courses only);
c) oversight of the selection of applicants;
d) the timetabling of the course;
e) arrangements for student induction programmes, including the preparation and distribution of
course handbooks and other material to students;
f) ensuring that students are adequately informed of both general health and safety matters and
those specific to their course of study and for communicating relevant information to them;
g) allocation of advisers of studies to students;
h) the regular review of student attendance and progress and presentation of reports on such
matters to the Course Committee, including evidence of extenuating circumstances submitted
by students in relation to performance in examinations and assessment in semester one;
i) implementation of the Course Committee’s decision regarding the method of staff/student
consultation;
j) consideration of requests for permission for late submission of coursework on behalf of the
course committee;
k) collation of draft examination papers and collaboration with external examiners and the
University in the approval and moderation of examination papers and other forms of
assessment;
l) confirmation of the examination timetable;
m) arrangements for meetings of Boards of Examiners and for the attendance of external
examiners;
n) arrangements for the preparation of students' results profiles for presentation to the Board of
Examiners;
o) communicating to unsuccessful students the Board of Examiners' decisions about their
performance and progress;
p) preparation for consideration by the Course Committee of a draft response to the report(s) of
external examiner(s);
q) preparation and submission of appropriate documentation, for initial consideration by the Course
Committee, for annual monitoring and re-validation and for proposed revisions to the course.
The Course Director may be required to participate in the registration and enrolment of students and
associated administrative procedures.
106