Compliance with student progression and academic support requirements in an online setting: tensions, challenges and solutions

Dr Mo Kader¹

¹Consultica Worldwide, Sydney South, Australia

One of the compliance requirements of the ESOS Act is the monitoring, provision and reporting of student academic support services with the intent of ensuring student progression is achieved. The significant move to online learning environments as a result of the pandemic has affected both the scope and the delivery tactics of those support services and introduced a range of practical, pedagogical and compliance challenges. This paper examines those challenges in a practical context and presents possible solutions that are relevant to an online setting.
The sources of tension between student academic support and the remoteness of part of the online experience are discussed and linked with the compliance requirements of the ESOS Act. Those challenges are also contextualized for both higher education and vocational education environments, taking into account the role of technology in delivering such support. Experiences with viable solutions for support including structured and semi-structured forms of support are also addressed based on work conducted in 2020 and 2021.
Initial findings indicate possible improvements in the delivery of student academic support through a mixture of planned, structured and semi-structured online support functions blended with phone support. This may lead to improved compliance with ESOS requirements.
This research may be useful for both compliance managers and academic support staff in the delivery and recording of academic support services.

Biography:
Dr Mo Kader is an academic and education management professional. He has worked in higher education, vocational education and in business management in Sydney since 2000. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Training and Development, a Chartered Manager, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute. He is also a Certified Human Resources Professional and a Certified Practicing Marketer. Mo is a member of the board of directors and a committee member of several educational institutions in Australia. He is the managing director of a private management consultancy based in Sydney and is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.