Academic Director Counselling (Contract) in North Sydney

Academic Director Counselling (Contract)

Institute of Applied Psychology – North Sydney NSW

Madani Institute of Applied Learning is a new higher education provider seeking registration with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) as an Institute of Higher Education. Its founding course is the Bachelor of Applied Counselling and Therapy, a three-year AQF Level 7 degree of 24 subjects, designed for practice-ready graduates and for pathway entry from the CHC51015 Diploma of Counselling.

Madani is closely associated with the Institute of Applied Psychology (IAP, RTO 70206), an established provider of counselling, hypnotherapy, coaching and business qualifications. The bachelor will draw on IAP's applied, practice-based teaching philosophy while meeting the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 in full.

The course is at the design and development stage. All 24 subjects — subject guides, learning content, assessments, readings and eLearning builds — must be produced to accreditation standard within the contract period. This is a build role, not a steady-state academic leadership role.

About Madani and the project

Madani Institute of Applied Learning is a new higher education provider seeking registration with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) as an Institute of Higher Education. Its founding course is the Bachelor of Applied Counselling and Therapy, a three-year AQF Level 7 degree of 24 subjects, designed for practice-ready graduates and for pathway entry from the CHC51015 Diploma of Counselling.

Madani is closely associated with the Institute of Applied Psychology (IAP, RTO 70206), an established provider of counselling, hypnotherapy, coaching and business qualifications. The bachelor will draw on IAP's applied, practice-based teaching philosophy while meeting the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 in full.

The course is at the design and development stage. All 24 subjects — subject guides, learning content, assessments, readings and eLearning builds — must be produced to accreditation standard within the contract period. This is a build role, not a steady-state academic leadership role.

Purpose of the role

The Academic Director (Project) leads and delivers the full development of the Bachelor of Applied Counselling and Therapy. The Director is accountable for the production of all 24 subjects, to TEQSA course accreditation standard, on time and within budget.

The Director is both project manager and senior academic author. They will personally write a share of the curriculum and will commission, brief, manage and quality-assure a team of contracted Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to write the remainder. They will also provide academic leadership to the Institute's course accreditation application, working with the CEO, the Academic Board and external consultants.

The role suits an experienced counselling or psychotherapy academic who has designed and accredited higher education courses before, enjoys writing, and can run a complex, multi-author production schedule with discipline.

Key responsibilities

1. Course architecture and academic design

• Finalise the course structure, course learning outcomes (CLOs), graduate attributes and the 24-subject sequence, including prerequisites, majors or streams, and placement/practicum subjects.

• Map CLOs to AQF Level 7 descriptors, the Higher Education Standards Framework (Domain 1 and Domain 3) and relevant professional standards (e.g. PACFA and ACA training standards, the Australian Counselling Association scope of practice).

• Design the assessment framework for the course: assessment types, volume of assessment per subject, moderation, academic integrity controls and the capstone/practicum assessment model.

• Define the credit, articulation and recognition of prior learning (RPL) arrangements for the CHC51015 Diploma of Counselling graduates and other pathway entrants.

2. Subject production — delivery of all 24 subjects

• Own the production of every subject to a common template: subject guide, subject learning outcomes (SLOs), weekly topic learning arc, lecture content, learning activities, prescribed and recommended readings, assessment tasks, marking rubrics and tutor notes.

• Personally author a portion of the curriculum, with an expected allocation of approximately 6 subjects or equivalent, concentrated in the foundational and capstone subjects.

• Commission the remaining subjects from contracted SMEs, writing detailed subject briefs so that each SME delivers to specification.

• Review and approve every subject at defined quality gates (brief, outline, first draft, final draft, eLearning build), and return work for revision where it does not meet standard.

• Ensure each subject is ready for conversion to the Institute's online learning format (SCORM/LMS build), working with instructional design and eLearning production staff.

3. SME and team management

• Identify, recruit, contract and onboard SMEs with current academic and clinical credibility in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, ethics, research methods and related fields.

• Negotiate SME scopes of work, fees and timelines within the approved project budget.

• Manage SME performance day to day: briefings, progress check-ins, feedback on drafts, resolution of quality or deadline issues, and replacement of underperforming contributors.

4. Project management

• Build and maintain the project plan: work breakdown for 24 subjects, milestones, dependencies, resourcing and critical path.

• Report progress, risks and budget position to the CEO monthly and to the Academic Board as required.

• Manage the project budget for SME fees, copyright and reading permissions, external review and production.

• Maintain a risk register for the project and elevate early where timelines or quality are at risk.

• Establish the document control, version management and file naming systems for all course materials.

5. Quality assurance and accreditation

• Lead the academic components of the TEQSA course accreditation application, including the course proposal, subject outlines, assessment samples, staffing profile and benchmarking evidence.

• Arrange external peer review of the course and of a sample of subjects by suitably qualified academics from registered higher education providers.

• Benchmark the course against comparable Australian bachelor degrees in counselling and document the results.

• Ensure all materials meet copyright, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA) and academic integrity requirements.

• Respond to Academic Board and external consultant feedback and revise materials accordingly.

6. Academic governance and leadership

• Serve as a member of the Academic Board and its Course Advisory / Teaching and Learning committees during the project.

• Contribute to the development of academic policies required for registration (assessment, academic integrity, moderation, grievance, credit and RPL), in collaboration with the CEO and compliance consultants.

• Advise the CEO on the academic staffing profile required to teach the course on commencement, including minimum qualification levels under HESF 3.2.

• Represent the Institute professionally with external stakeholders including professional associations, peer reviewers and placement partners.

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