Introduction

1. The University’s Module Approval Process is overseen by the Academic Board. Faculties are responsible for approving new and restructured modules, minor changes to modules and the suspension and withdrawal of modules. Proposals for new and restructured modules should be made online using the APEX Module Management system and submitted to the relevant Faculty for consideration. Proposals should be scrutinised by an independent academic member of staff; the reviewer will be nominated as part of the module approval workflow and they should complete the review section before the module is considered by the appropriate faculty committee. Following approval by the Faculty, the Student Administration Office will be notified of the changes which will be recorded in the module database. Proposals for Distance Learning modules based on existing campus-based modules, and Welsh-Medium modules which are direct replicas of an approved module, or vice-versa, should be made using the APEX system.

2. All new and restructured modules should be approved by Faculties and information updated on the module and scheme database for the following academic session by the end of the spring term or no later than 31 March where the spring term ends after this date.

3. Minor changes should be done using the APEX Module Management system but will not require an internal reviewer, for example a change of title, small changes in content, changes in assessment weighting where this does not affect learning outcomes, and changes to semester. The full approval process must be completed if there are significant changes to module content, learning outcomes or assessment.

4. Proposals to withdraw and/or suspend modules should be submitted to the Faculty for approval. Enquiries regarding withdrawal or suspension of modules should be directed to the Faculty in the first instance. The module should be updated in APEX to request the withdrawal/suspension, which will then be considered by the Faculty.

5. As part of the approval process, the Faculty responsible for the teaching should ensure that it has the necessary resources available to deliver the module.

6. The AQH does not intend to provide a prescriptive form of words for module approval, but aims to clarify some of the frequently asked questions. Changes to a module requiring Faculty approval include:

(i) Substantial revision of module content

(ii) Any change in the designated level

(iii) Any change in the credit weighting

(iv) Any change in the learning outcomes and/or methods of assessment.

7. The need for a new or restructured module is recognised at departmental or subject level, and a Module Co-ordinator is identified to lead on drafting the proposal.

8. Using the APEX Module Management system and the guidance provided in section 2.2 of the Academic Quality Handbook, a draft proposal is prepared.

9. The proposal should be submitted to a module reviewer (to be nominated by the Associate Dean/Faculty). The review process is separate to any departmental scrutiny of a module proposal. Faculties should ensure that module proposals are scrutinised by an independent academic member of staff who has not been involved in writing the module or any prior departmental scrutiny or approval process.

10. The assessor should consider the module, provide constructive feedback within APEX and recommend one of the following actions:

(i) Approval of the proposal

(ii) Referral to the Faculty for further or a broader discussion, or approval subject to specified amendments having been made

(iii) Referral back to the module co-ordinator for further development.

11. The completed module proposal/restructure, including comments from the independent reviewer, should be approved by the appropriate Faculty committee.

12. Once a module has been fully approved the module/changes will be added to the module database. Information Services, the Timetable Office and the Student Support and Careers Service will automatically be notified via the workflow in APEX.

13. No module will appear on the database until the formal approval process has been completed at faculty level.

14. In cases where a minimum threshold may be applied to an option module, the academic department must inform students that the module cannot be guaranteed to run with low numbers of registered students, and that students may be asked to choose again. Equally, students should be informed where the number of registrations on a module may be capped, with a clear explanation provided.