As with all things, units of competency and training packages go through periods of review and change. Some are deemed equivalent and others are not equivalent. To ensure maintence of compliance the RTO must ensure it follows a well structured transition process.
There are some legal obligations to be mindful of for automatic equivalent updated training products such as a transition period that all changes, updates and new product, process etc must be completed within 12 months of the publication of the package on the national register (training.gov.au)
Most RTO professionals start to look at the content in the course. However, it is not just about changes to content, but all systems that are needed to ensure self-assurance throughout the RTO practices during this time that will ensure compliance.
Depending on where your responsibilities lie in the RTO system will depend on what you will be looking at. It is important to note at this point that collectively the RTO team and system needs to all come together to really make a transition process seamless and maintain compliance. It is not just the job of one person.
Don't create another process
I am a believer that RTO's can make their lives more complicated than they need, out of fear and concern of audit outcomes, and transition is not a time to make more processes and procedures. You have everything you need in the validation process. It is the perfect place to ensure all aspects of the transition are covered in a timely manner for all stakeholders as well as maintenance of compliance. Validation is to include a schedule of review of training products, full assessment system and be focused on improving student outcomes. All things that need to be considered when transitioning from an old to a new UOC / Training product.
Your quality system should already have a clear communication strategy so when these activities take place it is as streamlined as possible and includes a sustainable notification process to stakeholders, maintaining a clear and accurate information flow. A simple example could be a new update on a course notice board and an encouragement to your students to contact the RTO support services for assistance as a start.
Other stakeholders include employer groups and internal staff. The complexity of the changes to the unit of competency or the training product will determine the number and type of the transition actions.
Where to start
Each student journey milestone will be affected in the transition process. When the validation process is utilised a full student-centred process will ensure all the aspects of the quality system is considered. Here are a few things to considered under each area of the journey.
Marketing and Recruitment
All the places and methods of marketing and recruitment, from websites, to flyers, to advertisements in all media methods will need to be considered and updated. The RTO systems and processes in place to monitor and review marketing and recruitment materials and practices including third parties will need to be checked for content accuracy. Consideration at this point should be focused on informing and protecting students.
Enrolment
For all those students currently enrolled in the superseded course or unit of competency the RTO will need to identify which transition process is appropriate. There are 2 main processes to be familiar with here, teach out and transition – checkout the definitions on the ASQA website for more details.
- Its important to have a Learner Management System (LMS) that can clearly identify which students will be affected, dates, unit codes and other data that needs to be changed, complete students in units affected and issuance of statements of attainment and certificates as required.
- Alternatively transfer the continuing students into the new codes. Other administration processes may also be effected such as funding reconciliation processes to be considered, reporting codes and data management, policy and procedures, checklist and schedules. Contact your LMS provider for assistance if you are unsure on how this works in your RTO.
Student support and progression.
It is the RTO’s legal obligation to transfer any students enrolled and participating in the training product that has been superseded to be placed into the new course within the 12-month transition period. It is one thing to do it internally, it is another to externally notify everyone affected to know of the changes to the courses and units. It is so important to have a clear process of other system that need to be updated.
Consider here the systems you have in place to manage your students, the Learner Management system (LMS), Finance links with any funding or fee arrangement, assessment gathering process support, Third party arrangements etc all new to be updated.
Training and Assessment
The Regulator clearly notes that RTO’s may continue to deliver the superseded product until the new equivalent product is ready to be delivered as long as the process occurs within the 12-month time frame. During this transition period, both the superseded and new equivalent training package will remain on the RTO’s scope of registration.
This is an area that is usually at the forefront of the changes that are to take place due to unit or training product transition. Depending on your RTO structure and team size will depend on who, how and when these important management tools are affected, and changes implemented.
- All areas of the specific resources will need to be reviewed BUT FIRST make the amendments to the strategy. The strategy changes can include the specific new unit code (if applicable) or the changes needed to reflect the relationship of the new unit with the other units, for example some changes may include the introduction of a prerequisite so this may change the flow or the sequence and order that students, delivery and assessment flow.
Ensure the Volume of Learning is also considered if the unit is more complex than the old one and may need longer to deliver, longer or shorter to enable the learning transference, assessment methods may vary as well.
Once you have the strategy and overall changes mapped out you then need to start the amendments to Training resources includes everything from
* Amend current or create of new class / session plans,
* Resources (including lists),
* Purchasing or creation of new delivery material or amendment of current material
* Assessment tools, methods, timeframes instruments will all need reviewing.
A gap analysis is the best method of this and ensures the mapping is updated to reflect any changes. Now is a good time to review the effectiveness of the assessment and possibly consider clustering for a more holistic and streamline approach. The use of innovation here, like #Valid8ed, makes this process much easier and quicker.
Human Resources
It is critical that the HR for all training products is included in the validation process, and this is the same for actions of amendment during a transition process. With an update of a unit comes the need for professional development of the human resources that are delivering and assessing students. Ensure you schedule in Professional Development that reflects the changes, discussion with industry to increase the skill in industry currency and competency of all staff, training and assessment and administration of the changes or new unit.
Certification
When Students have got to this stage all the LMS should have been updated. There should also be built-in systems that will ensure no student is enrolled in a training product that is no longer current. All fees should have been obtained, all AVETMISS data is checked again for accuracy.
This includes the content on the certificate reflects the new training product, including codes, titles and other relevant information to meet the AQF requirements
