Minutes
College Education Committee
MEETING NO.
CEC 5/2022
DATE / TIME
7 September 2022, 2.00pm
VENUE
Building 7, Law School, Room 7.3.9, Boardroom
ATTENDING
Wayne Morgan
Associate Dean (Education)
James Stellios
Head of School
Anne Macduff
Director, Teaching & Learning
Ron Levy
Director, LLB(Hons) and JD programs
Nicole King
Manager, Student and Education Support
Sharon El iott
Education Development
Lajawn Moon
PARSA Representative
Tristan Yip
PARSA Representative
Henry Palmerlee
LSS Student Representative
Russell Atkinson
Secretariat
OBSERVERS
Benjamin Kooyman
Learning Adviser, ANU Academic Skills (Observer)
Ben Yates
ANUSA General Secretary
APOLOGIES
Niamh Brazil
LSS Student Representative
Ntina Tzouvala
Director, PG Programs
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3.
Report from the Chair
Our return to campus this semester, particularly in the undergraduate space, has gone very well.
Student attendance in classes has not yet reached the pre COVID level and hopefully over time,
attendance wil pick up. There have been some COVID cases, both among academic staff and
students, which has meant that a small number of classes have had to revert to online delivery.
Interestingly, a common question from parents on open day concerned whether we were teaching
back on campus. It appears there is dislike of university classes remaining online.
There are some big projects currently underway across the university. Each of the three working
groups focused on the graduate attributes have now sent a report to the DVC(A).
The curriculum reform working group wil continue to work through the proposed reforms to the
undergraduate programs here at the university, including the LLB program. Professional degrees
are producing some difficulties fitting the university’s plans. Working groups have not yet discussed
professional degrees so it’s not yet clear what impacts the graduate attributes and curriculum
reforms will have for the college.
The Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) periodically has a process whereby all law schools in
Australia can receive accreditation with CALD in terms of satisfying the CALD Standards for Legal
Education. These standards relate to a broad range of matters, including our facilities (including
classrooms), our library and library col ection, through to our educational programs. The college is
currently going through this CALD accreditation process. This involves organising the necessary
documentation and our accreditation report will be submitted to CALD in November.
The Chair thanked all those involved in the work for CALD accreditation: professional staff overseen
by Nicole King as College Student and Education Support Manager, Sharon Elliott as Senior
Education Developer, who have both done an enormous amount of work with respect to the report.
In addition, the College Finance and HR teams and the Executive Officer have assisted in providing
material for the report.
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• LAWS6204 Property
• LAWS2205 Equity & Trusts
• LAWS6205 Equity & Trusts
• LAWS2207 Evidence
• LAWS6207 Evidence
• LAWS2244 Litigation & Dispute Management
• LAWS6244 Litigation & Dispute Management
• LAWS2249 Legal Theory
• LAWS6249 Legal Theory
• LAWS2250 International Law
• LAWS6250 International Law
Clinical Course Amendments
Update to learning outcomes of the clinical courses to align to the 2022 course review
recommendations.
• LAWS4302 International Law Clinic
• LAWS6302 International Law Clinic
• LAWS4304 Prison Legal Literacy Clinic
• LAWS6304 Prison Legal Literacy Clinic
• LAWS4268 Community Law Clinic
• LAWS6268 Community Law Clinic
• LAWS4284 Public Interest Law Clinic
• LAWS6284 Public Interest Law Clinic
• LAWS4313 Kimberley Aboriginal Justice Clinic
• LAWS6313 Kimberley Aboriginal Justice Clinic
• LAWS4267 Youth Law Clinic
• LAWS6267 Youth Law Clinic
• LAWS4278 Indigenous Community Legal Clinic
• LAWS6278 Indigenous Community Legal Clinic
• LAWS4281 Environmental Law Clinic
• LAWS6281 Environmental Law Clinic
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Part 3
Items for Discussion/Noting
5.
Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) Certification
The ANU College of Law is currently working towards the CALD certification process in the second
half of 2022.
The intention underlying the certification process is to encourage Law Schools to pursue excel ence
in their operations, culture, mission and vision. The CALD support this, in part, by providing a set of
Standards against which Law Schools can measure their performance.
In recognition of diversity, the Standards seek to acknowledge the unique identity of each Law
School and are designed to be broad enough to accommodate differences between them. It is a
guiding principle that the Standards should be interpreted sufficiently flexibly so as not to inhibit
innovation or local application.
The Standards are wide-ranging and cover not only educational matters and infrastructure
requirements, but also broader matters such as the Law School’s mission and the values it embodies
and promotes. In these broader areas, the Standards are concerned in essence with academic
leadership and aspirational pursuits; recognising the importance of equipping graduates to serve the
community as good lawyers in more ways than simply technical competence.
Final y, the Standards are intended to complement, rather than supplant, other standards or
regulatory documents.
The Committee noted the substantial work being completed by Col ege Student and Education
Support, and other professional staff of the college under the co-ordination of the AD(E).
6.
Minimum course enrolment numbers for application of scaling
The University’s Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy details the policy framework for
assessment and grading at the ANU. The grades, numerical marks and standards set out in Table 1 of
the Policy apply to ANU College of Law coursework programs.
Clause 65 of the Policy sets out an obligation to review/moderate student results before they are
finalised. That clause states:
The assessment tasks and the judgements made of student learning in a course are
reviewed before the final mark or grade is approved to ensure that the judgements of
student performance are appropriate, consistent, transparent, reliable and valid.
The method of moderation in the ANU College of Law involves the application of a mandatory
distribution of grades guideline for all LLB/LLBHons and JD law courses.
ANU Col ege of Law Grading Distribution Policy
The ANU College of Law will continue to work with a statistician and educational experts to advise
on scaling practices and the development of a final scaling policy consistent with the use of criteria-
based assessment.
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The proposed amendments are included in the agenda for AQAC5/2022 for the Committee’s review.
Feedback is to be sent through by 29 September 2022. A final version of the policy and procedure
will be tabled at AQAC6/2022 seeking the committee’s endorsement to send the policy documents
to Academic Board for approval at 6/2022 (29 November 2022).
The committee noted that the proposed amendments were technical in nature and did not
substantively change the policy. The committee discussed the fact that the policy remained one of
crucial interest to both law academic staff and students, with many staff seeing a link between the
recording policy and a lack of student attendance and engagement. There were increasing requests
from academic staff that the AD(E) exempt specific courses from recording.
Student representatives noted the importance of recording to students.
The Chair noted that a University Working Group would be convened in 2023 to further review the
policy. The Chair would represent the col ege on that Working Group and convey the views of the
college.
7.2
Standardisation of word limit penalties in Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and
Procedure
The Chair invited the ANUSA General Secretary to speak to this item.
ANUSA has received feedback that dramatically divergent approaches to word limit penalties across
different areas of the University confuses students and has, at least in some circumstances, led to
students receiving penalties because of misunderstandings as to what policy applied. Students are
also reporting that some staff members share this confusion.
As no there is no standardised policy position on word limit penalties, ANUSA is of the view that a
policy position is needed for consistency. A consistent policy on word limits and penalties could be
clearly communicated and would ease the transition for first year students, rather than being
obliged to learn a range of policies and navigate courses where no obvious policy applies.
Amendments could be made to the Student Assessment (Coursework) policy and procedure.
ANUSA investigated what policies are in use across the University. Two key college-wide policies
were obvious: the CASS policy and ANU CoL policy. The CASS policy is that students may write 10%
more or less than the set word limit. A paper falling outside this bracket is penalised 10%. The ANU
CoL policy provides that “the mark which is awarded initially will be reduced by half the proportion
by which the word limit has been exceeded, e.g. if the word limit is 2,000 words, and the paper
submitted is 3,000 words long, then the initial mark would be reduced by 25% of that mark”.
The CASS policy has the advantage of simplicity; however students were concerned that there is
something of a harsh arbitrariness to the flat penalty imposed on the word that goes beyond 110%
of the word limit. However, the policy is, anecdotally, applied in a number of other Colleges and
disciplines and is the policy with which students are most familiar. The College of Law policy
produces the most proportional result by keeping a smooth ‘marginal penalty’ for each extra word
over the word limit. However, it is technical and may be confusing for some convenors to apply. It
would also be more difficult to communicate to students.
ANUSA has consulted with students in different discipline areas in producing a recommendation
that ANU should harmonise penalty policy. ANUSA believes that a standardised policy would reduce
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confusion, especially for students studying across multiple disciplines (e.g. Flexible Double Degrees).
Moreover, ANUSA notes that a standardised proportionate policy would avoid outlier cases of
students being excessively penalised.
ANUSA seeks feedback by 29 September with a view towards bringing drafted policy to AQAC
6/2022, depending on feedback.
The committee discussed the proposal and the Chair noted that he would provide feedback to AQAC
that, should the University adopt a standardised policy, the current policy of the ANU College of Law
should be adopted.
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Part 4
Reports
8.
Reports and Issues raised by Student Representatives
8.1
The committee received reports from Student Representatives
Law Students’ Society (LSS)
• Feedback received from students applauding the decline in problem based COVID scenarios
in Exams. Students have been overwhelmed by these scenarios and are grateful for the
decline.
• Some students are tentative about paying hundreds of dol ars for textbooks and would
appreciate a reason being provided as to why a Convenor has selected a certain textbook.
o The committee wil pass along this feedback to Convenors.
o The college has advised that the textbook bursary was undersubscribed this year
with low student uptake. This bursary has been advertised in multiple channels
and will assist with the cost of textbooks.
ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA)
• No report received
Postgraduate and Research Students’ Association (PARSA)
• Recurring complaints have been received from students regarding discrepancies in some
Courses regarding word limits.
o Two separate word limits are being posted for a course (assuming a copy and
paste between LLB and JD Course versions).
o PARSA will find out what courses were affected and notify the College for review
in the future.
9.
Reports from Col ege Directors and Heads of School
9.1
The Committee received a report from College Directors and Head of School
Head of School
• Nothing to report
Director - LLB/JD
• Nothing to report
Director - LLM
• Nothing to report
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