Etapas de formulación de las políticas públicas sectoriales

1.1 Joint awards are a partnership arrangement whereby two or more awarding bodies together provide a programme leading to a single award made jointly by both, or all, participants. A single certificate or document (signed by the competent authorities) attests to the successful completion of the jointly delivered programme, replacing the separate institutional or national qualifications. Key characteristics are as follows:  Each partner must have the legal ability to award a joint degree

 There is usually shared ownership of the curriculum and related IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)

 Students register with both/all institutions but one normally provides the lead for administrative purposes or students are free to select their designated home institution

 Students have the right of access to learning resources at both/all institutions  The degree programme is subject to both/all institutions’ quality assurance

processes, although there may be a pooling/sharing of processes

 There is some form of joint committee, responsible for overseeing and reviewing arrangements and which reports into the relevant structure at both/all institutions  There is a joint examination board/process which reports into the relevant

structure at both/all institutions

 Arrangements (including the student lifecycle) should be fully specified in the MoA 2. Principles underlying joint award programmes

2.1 The arrangement entered into should fit with the goals of the College’s strategic plan including the College’s international strategy.

2.2 The partner(s) must be of equal status and enhance the reputation of the College. The arrangement entered into must be fully compliant with King’s governance

arrangements.

2.3 The arrangement entered into must be compliant with King’s policies and procedures and meet the requirements of the Academic regulations and the Core code of practice for postgraduate research degrees.

2.4 The partner institution must be legally empowered to award a joint degree or

equivalent and compliant with the laws of the country in which it is based and able to satisfy the academic standards of the degree awarding body, which cannot be shared amongst partners, ensuring that the standards of all jurisdictions are met. Therefore, solving the issue of the power to award joint degrees is the first step in the academic, financial and legal due diligence required in considering such collaborations.

2.5 Partnership arrangements should be based on shared academic interests and complementary expertise and be organised between specific academic units in both institutions. Risk management strategies should be established, appropriate and proportionate safeguards should be put in place to manage the risks involved. Joint degrees will only be considered where there is a demonstrable strategic imperative. For this reason cotutelle arrangements will only be considered for strategic

Guidance on joint awards

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2.6 Proposals must undergo the appropriate due diligence processes, as indicated in the College’s procedures for the approval and monitoring of collaborative provision, that are proportionate and relevant in nature and intensity to ensure the academic standing of the partner is satisfactory, and that staff are appropriately qualified to deliver those parts of the programme for which they are responsible and the appropriate resources are in place. The arrangements for access to learning resources should be clearly communicated to students.

2.7 The roles, responsibilities and obligations of each partner in respect of the jointly awarded programme(s) must be clearly set out in the Memorandum of Agreement and the programme specification.

2.8 The proposal should ensure that no serial arrangements are undertaken without the express written permission of the College to safeguard the academic standards of the award from the College’s perspective.

2.9 Arrangements should be put in place to ensure that students are able to complete their programme of study and be granted the joint award in the event that one or other of the partners withdraws from the arrangement.

2.10 Student records are set up and maintained to indicate the progress of the student and their expected award.

2.11 Joint awards should only be contemplated with a partner of the same academic standing or higher as the College and where awards are conferred at the same level as the College and are consistent with UK national requirements.

2.12 Where appropriate, the nature of the awards offered take into account any requirements set out in the College’s guidance on Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) reporting.

2.13 The programme specification should be submitted in accordance with the College’s procedures for programme and module approval (taught degrees) or procedures for postgraduate research degrees approval (research degrees). Details should be

provided of the approval process for the programme, and, where appropriate, modules undertaken at the partner institution(s) as part of this approval process.

2.14 Partners should determine the division of responsibilities for the management of the admissions process and how these responsibilities are shared. The obligations of each partner should be recorded in the Memorandum of Agreement and communicated to students in their offer letter. The arrangement should clearly indicate the ‘home’ and

‘host institution for the delivery of the programme, with the home institution being designated as the administrative lead.

2.15 Partners should determine the division of responsibilities relating to assessment and regulations and which requirements apply; any deviation from the College’s published regulations must be explicitly approved as part of the programme approval process. 2.16 The appointment, induction and role of the external examiners must be clearly defined

at the outset and conform to the requirements of the College regulations.

2.17 Arrangements should be put in place to ensure the effective monitoring of the joint award programme and attached modules. Monitoring arrangements should be the same as the monitoring procedures in place at the College e.g. annual programme review – any proposed deviation from these will need to be explicitly approved as part of the programme approval process.

2.18 The arrangements for marketing and publicising the programmes should be clearly defined in the Memorandum of Agreement to ensure the College has effective control over the accuracy of public information, publicity and promotional material.

2.19 In the interests of transparency, the certificate and/or record of achievement should list the names of all awarding bodies involved in granting the award and bear the

signatures of the competent authorities in each awarding body. The formal record of achievement should indicate at which higher education provider the different parts of the programme were studied. From September 2014, the normal requirement for the issuing of certificates for joint awards is that a certificate will be produced in two (or more) parts by each partner(s) clearly stating that ‘This certificate is not valid unless accompanied by the other part of the certificate from [partner]’ and containing the

signatures of the appropriate officer of the awarding institution. Any proposal to deviate from this practice will need the explicit approval of the Examinations and Awards Office. The award date will be the first of the month following ratification by the relevant exam board where King’s is the home university.