ABSTRACT

Benchmarking is a formalised evaluation process by which a university can measure the standard of their policies, processes, programmes or strategies through comparison with other universities. Currently, there is a paucity of research that focuses on the documentation associated with external benchmarking undertaken by Australian universities. Given that Australia’s higher education regulatory body requires universities to reflect the purposes of external benchmarking within policy frameworks and for external referencing to be overseen by peak academic governance bodies such limited research is of significance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating whether documented structures, policies and guidelines are in place to inform learning and teaching external referencing processes. Using a qualitative documentary thematic analysis, policies, procedures and guidelines found on university governance websites were investigated and analysed. The findings indicate that many Australian universities are at risk of not meeting mandatory regulatory requirements.

摘要

基准测试是一种正式的评估过程，大学可以通过它与其他大学进行比较来衡量其政策、流程、计划或战略的标准。目前，很少有研究关注与澳大利亚大学进行的外部基准测试相关的文件。鉴于澳大利亚的高等教育监管机构要求大学在政策框架内反映外部基准测试的目的，并且外部参考由最高学术治理机构监督，因此有限的研究具有重要意义。本文通过调查是否有文件化的结构、政策和指南来为学习和教学外部参考过程提供信息，从而为文献做出贡献。使用定性文献专题分析，对大学治理网站上的政策、程序和指南进行了调查和分析。调查结果表明，许多澳大利亚大学面临无法满足强制性监管要求的风险。