Dear Ray
I can confirm all sections of the policy have been considerably amended, extended, deleted and revised… over and over… due to feedback that we have received from many very helpful people, including your own feedback. As I¹m sure you know, it is not easy to reach a complete consensus as different people have very different views. The working group and I have an important role in listening to all of the feedback from those diverse perspectives, weighing it up and collectively working out the right direction for the University. We have been deeply engaged in and committed to that process since late March. I¹m very grateful to the 14 working party members for their hard work benchmarking and >discussing with their colleagues in the various faculties their views and bringing these views back to the working group to consider. In addition to improving assessment pedagogy, we have been very much focussed on bringing a level of consistency to the practices around assessment, where appropriate, to enhance the student experience. This will require some compromise.
Thank you very much for your commentary on the draft new University Policy on Assessment that I provided to you. I thought our conversation on the phone the other day was very helpful too. I have now carefully read your letter and 8 page document and appreciate the time you put into preparing your comments. We have taken your comments into consideration as we have revised the policy and certainly will continue to take your comments and those of others into consideration as we work toward presenting the final revised draft policy to Academic Council. Moreover, there is a 16 month period of implementation where we will work on further engagement with staff, good practice guides and professional learning.
I have taken some time today to respond to your specific points in the attached document. You will note that I have pointed out several places where the draft policy has been amended. I am sure the Education Committee members also will have feedback before the policy goes to Council.
Thank you again for your support and feedback for the working group to consider.
Kind regards
Grady.
Professor Grady Venville
Dean of Coursework Studies