Standards guide TEQSA-compliant library services across Monash University: a case study

Monash University's national and transnational education programs are delivered through many campuses, countries and partnerships. The University Library is a key contributor to these programs, providing quality library resources, programs and services to Monash staff and students, in or involved with the University and its partner organisations. In preparation for the implementation of the new Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) in January 2017, the Library has actively mapped the areas and the principles of library provision from the current TEQSA Standards to the new Higher Education Standards. In this process, it has aligned outcomes and identified potential gaps. The Library is most active in Domains 1-5, namely: Student Participation and Attainment; Learning Environment; Teaching; Research and Research Training; and Institutional Quality Assurance. The Library has collaborated with the University’s quality, risk and compliance stakeholders through this analysis process and has drawn the attention of University senior management to partner-related issues through a position paper. The paper's key concerns were well received by the University, leading to an enhanced understanding of library and information services provision and a more sustainable approach to the management of library provision to partnerships. This case study highlights the value of collaboration across the University to achieve the requirements of the HES Framework relating to library provision and learning resources. The Library’s key collaborators were the Quality Unit to inform the University's quality management processes and the Risk and Compliance Unit to identify and chart the associated risks and to implement mitigation strategies. Through this engagement, consistent with Monash’s guiding principles and approach that ‘managing risk is everyone's responsibility', the Library contributes to the achievement of the University's aspirations to be excellent, international, enterprising and inclusive, underpinned by the national Higher Education Standards Framework.